IPMAT Indore (SA) PYQs

There are numbers $a_1, a_2, a_3, \ldots, a_n$ each of them being $+1$ or $-1$. If it is known that $a_1 a_2 + a_2 a_3 + a_3 a_4 + \ldots a_{n-1} a_n + a_n a_1 = 0$ then

The numbers $-16,2^{x+3}-2^{2 x-1}-16,2^{2 x-1}+16$ are in an arithmetic progression. Then $x$ equals ________.

Let $\alpha, \beta$ be the roots of $x^2 - x + p = 0$ and $\gamma, \delta$ be the roots of $x^2 - 4x + q = 0$ where p and q are integers. If $\alpha, \beta, \gamma, \delta$ are in geometric progression then $p + q$ is