← Reasoning

Water Image

Reasoning · Non-Verbal Reasoning

7 Part2 worked examples6 practice questions

The picture of a tree standing by a still lake looks upside down in the water: the top of the tree is at the very bottom and the roots are at the top. That is the water image. Left and right of the tree do not change; only top and bottom swap.

In the exam you get a figure with the surface of water below it and four options. You must choose the correct picture seen in the water. It is a sibling of the mirror image, with one difference: here top and bottom flip, not left and right.

Every question is a picture: the question figure on top (the wavy blue line under it is the water) and the options A, B, C, D below. Find the right figure and press the button with the same letter. The figures are drawn and measured from geometry.

How to use this chapter

  1. Read — first the idea, then the way to spot it.
  2. Study the solved example — under every example the figure, the water and the picture are shown together.
  3. Try it yourself — the solution is hidden; think first, then choose.
  4. Know the level — Basic, Standard, Advanced.
NoteIf you have read the Mirror Image chapter first, this one is half an hour of work: read “top-bottom” wherever that chapter said “left-right”.
1

Foundation — how the picture forms in water

The top-bottom flip and the link with the mirror

The definition of the water image, the difference from the mirror image and the link between the two.

What a water image is

Surface line, top ↔ bottom

The rules of the picture on the water surface and the comparison with the mirror image.

The surface of water is a horizontal mirror lying below the object. So the rules are the ones of the mirror, only the direction has changed:

  1. Size and shape do not change — the picture is as big and no part grows or shrinks.
  2. Equal distance from the surface — the part nearest the water (the bottom of the object) is also nearest the water in the picture.
  3. Top and bottom swap; left and right do not. The treetop goes down and the roots go up; the left part stays on the left.
F, the water surface and the water image of F: the arms at the top went to the bottom
Mirror image (side)Water image
LineVerticalHorizontal (surface)
What swapsLeft ↔ rightTop ↔ bottom
What staysTop, bottomLeft, right
Order of a wordReversesStays
RememberIf the water is below the object the picture forms below it; the options show the picture alone. Where it forms does not change its shape — just ask what has become head down.
ABCD
Example 1 · Basic
Water lies below the figure above. Choose its correct water image (the reflection in the water).
Solution, step by step
  1. 1Water below: top ↔ bottom swap, left and right stay.
  2. 2In 4 the crossbar is near the bottom. In the image the crossbar near the top.
  3. 3Answer C. The rest: A = the figure unchanged; B = the left-right flip (a mirror image); D = the figure turned through 180°.
Answer Figure C
All four options show the same letter — only its direction differs.
ABCD
BasicTry it yourself first
Water lies below the figure above. Choose its correct water image (the reflection in the water).
ABCD
BasicTry it yourself first
Water lies below the figure above. Choose its correct water image (the reflection in the water).
ABCD
BasicTry it yourself first
Water lies below the figure above. Choose its correct water image (the reflection in the water).

The link between mirror and water images

Turn one through 180° to get the other

Water image = the mirror image turned through 180°; a trick to check answers.

If you make the side-mirror image of a figure and turn it through 180° (turn the page upside down), you get the water image. Flipping left-right and then top-bottom together make a full half-turn, and the water flip is exactly that last flip.

R, its mirror image, that image turned through 180°, and the water image of R — the last two are the same
A way to check
Think of the mirror imageTurn the page upside downThat is the water image

The reverse is true as well: turn a water image through 180° and you get the mirror image. So whoever finds the mirror image easier can get the water image from it.

TrickAsk yourself: “Has the top part of the letter come to the bottom?” Yes: water image. “Has the left part come to the right?” Yes: mirror image. If both changed it is a figure turned through 180°, not an image of either kind.
ABCD
Example 2 · Standard
Water lies below the figure above. Choose its correct water image (the reflection in the water).
Solution, step by step
  1. 1Water below: top ↔ bottom swap, left and right stay.
  2. 2The sequence is unchanged: JET keeps its characters in the same places, but each one is flipped upside down.
  3. 3A good clue is J: the hook is at the bottom; in the image the hook at the top.
  4. 4Answer B. The rest: A = the figure unchanged; C = the left-right flip (a mirror image); D = the figure turned through 180°.
Answer Figure B
The order of the word stayed; every letter went head down.
ABCD
BasicTry it yourself first
Water lies below the figure above. Choose its correct water image (the reflection in the water).
ABCD
StandardTry it yourself first
Water lies below the figure above. Choose its correct water image (the reflection in the water).
ABCD
StandardTry it yourself first
Water lies below the figure above. Choose its correct water image (the reflection in the water).
2

Letters, words and numbers

Which letters do not change in water

The letters that do not change in water, the order of a word and the shapes of digits.

The water image of one letter

Letters symmetric top-to-bottom

The letters that do not change (BIKE + CODE + H, X) and how to read the ones that do.

🔒

The water image of a word

Same order, letters head down

In water the order of a word does not change, every letter flips; words like BIKE stay as they are.

🔒

Numbers and mixed letters and digits

0, 3 and 8 stay the same in water

The water images of digits and rows such as R5L.

🔒
3

Figures — arrows, triangles, lines

Every part changes place and goes head down

The water image of a figure with many parts and ways of cutting options.

How the parts of a figure change

An arrow pointing up becomes pointing down

The rules for flipping arrows, triangles and lines in water.

🔒

Ways of cutting options

A landmark part, the row rule and common traps

The common wrong options of a water image and how to catch them.

🔒
4

Clocks and the two together

12 ↔ 6 swap; mirror + water = 180°

The hands of a clock in water, and a figure seen first in a mirror and then in water.

A clock in water

The hands flip top-to-bottom

The new places of the numbers and of both hands in a water image.

🔒

When a mirror and water are both used

Left-right + top-bottom = a 180° turn

First a side mirror, then water: two flips together — the figure makes a half-turn.

🔒
5

Strategy guide

The order of checks and the slips to avoid

What to look at first in a water image question and where slips happen.

The order of checks

First recognise the type

A straight order to follow in every type of question.

🔒

Common traps and time-savers

The mistakes that keep happening

The commonest reasons for losing marks in water images.

🔒
6

Mixed practice

All types mixed

Water and mirror questions mixed, in three levels.

Basic practice

One letter, one part, a plain clock

Simple letters, small figures and clocks with round times.

🔒

Standard practice

Words, mixed rows, figures with several parts

Words, mixed rows, clocks and larger figures.

🔒

Advanced practice

Longer words, dense figures, mirror + water

Four-letter words, figures of five parts, awkward clocks and double flips.

🔒
7

Revision — cards

Flip each card and test yourself

Think of the answer yourself first, then flip.

🔒