A black square PQRS has been cut into two parts. One part of it is shown in Panel I. Which one of the shapes in Panel II is the other part?
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GATE CSE 2026 Set 2 · Q2
Time

Select one answerSingle correct
Solution
Official answer: C) (iii)
Spatial AptitudeTo find the missing piece, we identify the white complement region inside the square in Panel I and see which of the shapes in Panel II can be formed by rotating or reflecting it (standard rigid planar motion/rotation).
Let the square be represented on a grid where is the top-left and is the bottom-right.
The black region in Panel I occupies the outer border and some inner cells, leaving a distinct white shape formed of contiguous unit blocks.
Rotating the white cutout by counterclockwise (or matching its shape directly) yields the exact configuration shown in (iii).
Therefore, shape (iii) is the other part, which corresponds to option (C).
Try the question first, then check your work.
Examiner trap
Analyze the white (unshaded) region inside square in Panel I as a set of connected unit squares, and check which shape in Panel II is a rotated version of this complementary region.
This Spatial Aptitude previous year question is Q2 of the GATE CSE 2026 Set 2 paper. Find more GATE CSE PYQs on Spatial Aptitude in General Aptitude, or browse all GATE CSE PYQs.
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Spatial Aptitude has 16 GATE CSE PYQs across 9 papers from 2017 to 2026. 6 of them are 1-mark MCQs like this one, and GATE CSE 2026 Set 2 has 2.
How GATE tests Spatial AptitudeIndependent practice explanation verified by the GateAI team. GATE is conducted by the IITs; question text follows the official paper.