Cheat Sheet – Spatial Reasoning

Spatial reasoning involves composing and decomposing shapes and figures, visualization, or the ability
to mentally manipulate, rotate, twist, or invert pictures or objects, spatial orientation, or the ability to
recognize an object even when the object’s orientation changes, and spatial relations, or the ability to
recognize spatial patterns, to understand spatial hierarchies, and to imagine maps from verbal
descriptions.

Cubes are one of the most frequently asked spatial reasoning questions. These spatial reasoning
questions require us to think visually, which makes it somewhat tougher than other types of spatial
reasoning questions. We will discuss the basic concepts of the cube and few things that we would be
using in the majority of the spatial reasoning questions related to cubes. Cube-related spatial reasoning
questions are asked in many ways unlike other spatial reasoning, where the primary pattern remains the
same. We will illustrate some of the types and the approach one should use to solve such problems. We
will focus on what would happen to a cube when we cut it with a certain number of cuts, the shape of
the cube after the cuts, how many sub-parts are formed, etc.
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When we say Cube, we refer to the three dimensional solid with equal faces (total 6 faces).

Few things to remember while dealing with a cube:

A cube has 6 faces

A cube has 12 edges
A cube has 8 vertices

Let us make a cut parallel to the base of the cube. We get two solids. If we make another cut parallel to
the base, we get three solids. For n cuts mutually parallel to the base (or any other face), we get n+1
solid pieces.

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 Cheat Sheet – Spatial Reasoning

If we make one cut parallel to the base (say x-axis) and another cut
perpendicular to the first cut (say y-axis), the second cut will divide each
of the two solids we get from the first cut into two pieces. We get a total
of 4 pieces or 4 parts of the initial big cube. Similarly, another cut parallel
to both the previous cuts (z-axis) will further divide these 4 pieces into
two pieces each, thus making the total pieces 8. When we analyze this, we see that when we make X
mutually parallel cuts along the x-axis, Y mutually parallel cuts along with the y-axis, and Z mutually
parallel cuts along the Z-axis we get (X+1)*(Y+1)*(Z+1) pieces of the original cube. X cuts along x itself
will produce X+1 pieces and when we cut each of those pieces with Y cuts, each of them will produce
Y+1 pieces and similar with Z cuts.

Total number of pieces obtained with X cuts in the x-axis, Y cuts in the y-axis, and Z cuts in z-axis =
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Note that, all the pieces will not necessarily be cubes. They can be cubes or cuboids. All the pieces are
cubes when X = Y = Z and all the cuts are equidistant. This is the scenario when the number of cuts is
given to us. Sometimes, we are given the sum of X + Y + Z instead of individual values.

MINIMUM NUMBER OF PIECES WITH A GIVEN TOTAL NUMBER OF CUTS

When we are given the total number of cuts, the cuts can be made on any axis. Say if we make a total of
12 cuts, all 12 can be on the x-axis or 6 on the x-axis, and 6 on the y-axis, etc. For a given number of cuts,
we can have several combinations. We get the minimum number of pieces when all the cuts are made
on the same axis. If we make all 12 cuts along the x-axis, a total of 13 pieces is formed. All other
combinations will result in more than 13 pieces. Let’s say, 11 cuts along the x-axis and 1 cut along the y-
axis. The total number of pieces formed is (11+1)*(1+1) = 24.

MAXIMUM NUMBER OF PIECES WITH A GIVEN TOTAL NUMBER OF CUTS

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 Cheat Sheet – Spatial Reasoning

To get the maximum number of pieces with the given number of cuts, divide the total cuts equally
among the three-axis. If we divide 12 cuts equally among the three-axis, we get 4 cuts in each axis
resulting in (4+1)*(4+1)*(4+1) = 125 pieces overall. But what if the total number of cuts cannot be
divided equally among the three-axis. For a number like 14, we cannot distribute equally among all the
three-axis. In such a case, to maximize the total number of pieces, we need to minimize the difference
between the number of cuts in any two axes is minimum. For 14 cuts, we can divide it as X = 5, Y = 5, Z =
4. Any other combination of numbers will result in a lower number of pieces. If we analyze, we see that
in the case of equal cuts, the difference between the numbers of cuts is zero that results in the
maximum number of pieces.

NUMBER OF CUTS FROM TOTAL NUMBER OF PIECES GIVEN

The question can also mention the total number of pieces formed after a certain number of cuts. We
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need to find the number of cuts in different axis based upon the requirement of the question. Suppose,
a cube is cut into 10 pieces. Now 10 = (X+1)*(Y+1)*(Z+1). Now 10 is to be represented as the product of
3 numbers or factors. We can have, 10 = 1*1*10 or 1*2*5.

Minimum numbers of cuts are obtained if we factorize the number of pieces into three equal factors. If
three equal factors are not possible, then we should minimize the difference between the numbers. In
the case of 10 pieces, 1*2*5 gives the minimum difference between factors.

To maximize the total number of cuts, all the cuts are made on one axis. For instance, for 10 pieces,
factors are 10*1*1 that means the x-axis cuts are 9 and no cut is made in the other two axes.

PAINTING THE OUTER SURFACE OF THE CUBE AFTER CUTTING

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 Cheat Sheet – Spatial Reasoning

The most common type of cube question is painting the faces of the cube. Let us say, a cube is painted
black, then it is cut into 64 pieces by 3 cuts in each direction. As we can see, there are 4 rows of 16
pieces (small cubes) each. Few conclusions from the figure cube based puzzles in logical reasoning

The number of cubes with 3 faces painted black = all the corner cubes which are equal to 8 cubes.
Number of cubes with exactly 2 faces painted = (n-2)*(number of edges) = (4-2)*(12) = 24.
Number of cubes with exactly 1 face painted red = cubes on the faces (except on the edge and the
corner) = (n – 2)2*6=24
Number of cubes with 0 faces painted black = (n-2)3 = 8
The number of cubes that remain unaffected with the painting is those, which are not on the outer side.
In other words, if we remove the outer painted shell then the inner structure is what we desire or we
reduce the dimension of the cube by 2 units (remove a painted layer from all the sides or faces) to get
an inner cube of side dimension = n-2 units.

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If the number of cuts are not equal, let’s say if X =5, Y = 6, Z = 7, then:

The number of cubes with 3 faces painted black = all the corner cubes which are equal to 8 cubes.
Number of cubes with exactly 2 faces painted = (X-2)*4 + (Y-2)*4 + (Z-2)*4 {since 4 edges will have each
of (X-2),(Y-2),(Z-2)}= 12 + 16 + 20 = 48.
Number of cubes with exactly 1 face painted red = cubes on the faces (except on the edge and the
corner) = 2*[(X-2)(Y-2) + (Y-2)(Z-2) + (X-2)(Z-2)] = 2*(12 + 20 +15) = 94
Number of cubes with 0 faces painted black = the inner cuboid = (X-2)*(Y-2)*(Z-2)= 3*4*5 = 60
IF FACES ARE PAINTED WITH A DIFFERENT COLOR
In the previous case, we saw the case when all the faces are painted with the same color. The question
can also paint faces with a different color. Let us say the three pairs of adjacent faces are painted with
Red, Blue, and Green respectively. The cube is cut into 64 identical cubes with an identical number of
cuts along the three-axis.

We make the following observations:

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 Cheat Sheet – Spatial Reasoning

The number of cubes with all the three color faces = 2 cubes diagonally opposite to each other.
Number of cubes with only same color faces on two faces = three edges without corner cubes = 3*(n-2)
=6
Total cubes on the edges = 4*n + 8*(n-2) = 32
Number of cubes with only 2 color faces = total cubes on edges – same color on two faces cubes – all
three color face cubes = (3) – (2) = 32 – 6 – 2 = 24
From the above observation, we can say cubes with only Red and Green faces or only blue and green =
24/3 = 8
Number of cubes with exactly one face red = cubes on the two faces of the painted red surface = 2*(n-
2)2 = 8
Number of cubes with faces only red = (2)/3 + (6) = (n-2) + 2*(n-2)2 = 10
Number of cubes with exactly one face painted = 6 faces with (n-2)2 cubes painted on one face = 6*(n-
2)2 = 150.
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Number of cubes with exactly two surfaces painted with different colors = 9 edges with (n-2) cubes =
9*(n-2) = 18

Practice Exercise

1.

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 Cheat Sheet – Spatial Reasoning

2.

3.

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 Cheat Sheet – Spatial Reasoning

4.

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5. What should be the minimum number of cuts to be made on a cube to get 540 smaller pieces?

A. 22 B. 23 C. 24 D. 25

Solutions:

1. Option B. When the shaded square is in the front face and the unshaded square is in the right,
we will have five dots in the top face.

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 Cheat Sheet – Spatial Reasoning

2. Option A. When the given figure is inverted, the shaded square will be towards the left. Hence,
options B and C are eliminated. Option D is different with respect to shading
3. Option B is the only top view of the given figure
4. Option C is the only figure which fits in with the question
5. Minimum numbers of cuts are obtained if we factorize the number of pieces into three equal
factors. If three equal factors are not possible, then we should minimize the difference between
the numbers.
540 pieces = 10*9*6 pieces. Hence, no of cuts = 9 + 8 + 5 = 22 cuts. Option A

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