Concept 5 of 9
Figure Matrix: Complete the Grid
Today's big idea
One rule runs along every row, so find it in a full row before using it on the gap.
Rules hide as a shape turning, a count growing, or a part being added on.
How it works
👀 What's going on?
A grid of nine boxes has eight of them filled and one left empty. The eight are not random. Some rule walks across every row, and the empty box is waiting for you to finish it.
💡 Here's the trick
The same rule runs along every row, or down every column. It might be a shape turning, a count growing, or a part being added on. Find it once in a full row, then carry it into the gap.
🪄 How to do it
- 1.Compare the first two boxes of a full row in the picture above and name what changed.
- 2.Test that same rule on a second full row, to be sure it really holds.
- 3.Apply the rule to the row with the empty box.
✍️ Try it
One row runs 1 dot, 2 dots, 3 dots. Another row runs 5 dots, 6 dots, and then a gap. What belongs in the gap, and how do you know?
Each step adds one dot, so the gap holds 7 dots. The first row is what lets you trust that rule before you use it on the second.
⚠️ Watch out
One row on its own can fit more than one rule. A row running 1, 2, 4 might be doubling each time, or it might be adding one and then two. A second row is what settles which, so never commit after reading just one.
🌟 Why this matters
Finishing a pattern from part of it is something you already do. You read a bus timetable that way, you spot how a tiled floor repeats, and you guess the next picture in a comic strip.
Exam tip: If two options both fit the row you checked, you have not found the rule yet, so go and read another row.
Watch me solve one
Quanta solves it
“Watch how I think through one of these — then you try.”
THE PROBLEM
“A row shows 1 star, 2 stars, 3 stars. How many stars come next?”
- 1
Find the rule
The count grows by 1 each cell.
- 2
Apply to the gap
3 + 1 = 4
- 3
Answer ✓
= 4 stars
Now you try one — same steps, different story 👇
See it in action
⚡ Time to play!
Find the repeating unit, then tap the tile that comes next.
PATTERN · ROUND 1 OF 3
Which tile comes next?
Quick check
✅ VERIFICATION
Down each column a shape turns a quarter turn clockwise. The top box shows an arrow pointing UP. What does the third box down show?
⚡ Finish the activity above first to answer.
Keep going!
Up next: Figure Counting
Add the singles, the combos, and the whole outer shape.