CAT workshop 2- Percentages, Profit & Loss

Question: If p, q, r and s are four numbers such that q is 20% more than p, r is 25% less than q, s is 40%
more than r, and s is k% higher than p, then what is the value of k?
1) 22% 2) 24% 3) 26% 4) 28%

Question: In an election, there are two candidates A and B. Candidate A gets 40% of the total votes and
loses the election by 9800 votes. Find the total number of votes.
1. 36200 2. 49000 3. 29400 4. 39200

Question: At Infosys, 60% of the employees are males and the rest are females. Further, 20% of the males
and 15% of the females are getting bonus. If the number of employees getting bonus is 81, then find the
total number of employees who are not getting bonus.
A. 369 B. 379 C. 387 D. 367

Question: A student who gets 20% marks in an exam fails by 10 marks, but another student who gets 58%
marks in the exam gets 28 marks more than the passing marks. Find the maximum marks.
1. 50 2. 100 3. 150 4. 200

Question: In an examination, A attempted 80% of questions with 50% accuracy and B attempted 60% of
questions with 80% accuracy. A wrong answer attracts negative marking of 25%. There are no negative
marks for unattempted questions.
What is the difference between marks obtained by A and B?
(a) 10 (b) 15 (c) 20 (d) CBD

Question: The salary of a person is Rs. 15,000. But in the next month, he gets a bonus of Rs. 1000. He
decides to save the bonus and, in the process, saves 10% more than the amount he saved the previous
month. If there is no change in his expenses from the previous month, what are his monthly expenses?
1. 5000 2. 1000 3. 6000 4. 9000

Question: A man sells an article at a gain of 10%. If he had bought it at 10% less and sold it for Rs. 132 less,
he would have still gained 10%. The cost price of the article is
1. 1200 2. 1188 3. 1320 4. 1336
Question: A reduction of 20% in the price of candies enables a child to buy 5 candies more for $10. What is
the reduced price per candy now and what was the price earlier?
1.35 cents, 55 cents 2. 40 cents, 50 cents
3. 30 cents, 40 cents 4. 45 cents, 60 cents

Question: After giving a discount of 40%, the profit becomes half (in amount) with respect to the total
profit when there is no discount. What percent discount has to be given if there is no profit and no loss?
1. 40% 2. 60% 3. 80% 4. 44%

Question: Of all the articles manufactured by a company, 5% are defective. If the manufacturing cost of
100 articles is Rs. 1900, what should be the market price of the article so that the company gets 40% profit,
even if it gives the articles to the distributor for 30% less price than the market price?
1. Rs. 40 2. Rs.22 3. Rs.28 4. Rs.34

Question: A and B invested the same amount of money in shares. After one month, A and B both sold their
shares. A got P% loss, whereas B got P% profit. With this amount of money, they again purchased shares
and sold them after one month. But this time, A got P% profit, whereas B got P% loss. Finally, who has
more money?
1. A 2. B 3. Both have equal amts 4. Data sufficient

Question: Income tax department raided a store. They asked the owner what profit he earned on his items.
The shopkeeper gave them a mathematical expression and asked them to calculate the profit themselves.
15(SP) = 18(CP) + 2(Profit)
What is the profit percentage earned by the shopkeeper?
1) 12.5% 2) 50% 3) 65% 4) 23%

Question: As a top performer in the test, Pappu received some chocolates from his teacher as a prize. His
friend Ankit took 1/4 of the chocolates from him. His another friend Raja took 33.33% of the remaining
chocolates from him. Then, his one more friend Bahul took 50% of the remaining chocolates from him,
after which he was left with only 10 chocolates. How many chocolates were taken by Raja?

Question: There are five types of tickets P, Q, R, S and T offered in the Aerijit Singh's concert. The cost of
type P ticket is 20% less than that of type Q ticket and 65% of the cost of type R ticket. The cost of type T
ticket is 80% more than that of type R ticket. The cost of type S ticket is 60% of the cost of type T ticket.
What percent more is the cost of type T ticket as compared to the cost of type P ticket?
A. 174.58% B. 175.92% C. 176.92% D. None of these
Question: Out of five friends A, B, C, D and E, B has 40% more salary than A, who has 30% less salary than
E. Salary of C is 20% more than E. B saves 20% of his salary which is 20% more than what A saves. C saves
30% more salary than D, but 10% less than B. What percent of his salary does D save, if his salary is 20%
less than C and salary of B is Rs. 16,000?
A. 16.28% B. 14.13% C. 13.25% D. 12.13%

Question: In an MBA college, 60% of total students are boys and 45% of boys have been selected for
internship. It is also given that 60% of total students are selected for internship. If x% girls are currently
selected for internship and total number of students selected for internship increases by y% and as a
result, 85% of the batch gets selected for internship, then find x as a percent of y.
A. 198% B. 192% C. 180% D. 170%

Question: There are two machines M1 and M2. M1 can produce 200 articles a day and it costs Rs. 10 to
produce an article, whereas M2 can produce 150 articles a day and it costs Rs. 8 to produce an article. If a
man produces 250 articles in a day and sells each for Rs. 12, then what is the maximum profit percentage
he can earn?
A. 36.36% B. 33.33% C. 50% D. Cannot be determined

Question: Gulnaaz bought some bananas at the rate of 6 per rupee. She bought the same number of
bananas at the rate of 3 per rupee and mixed both the types, and sold them at the rate of 10 for Rs. 3. If in
this transaction, she had a profit of Rs. 5, how many bananas did she buy?
A. 25 B. 70 C. 100 D. 150

Question: When asked about the profit earned on the product sold by two salesmen P and Q, both of them
calculated the profit % and found the result to be the same. However, there was a difference of Rs. 410 in
their profits and their cost prices were the same. While P calculated the profit % taking cost price (CP) as
reference, Q took selling price (SP) as reference. Find the SP, if CP is Rs. 5000.
A. 6432 B. 6536 C. 6618 D. None of these

Question: Rahul gives a discount of x% after marking up the price by (3x + 10)%. Apart from it, he also uses
a faulty balance which shows weight as 1050 gm, when it is actually 840 gm. By this he earns a profit of
64.69%. Find the value of x.
A. 12 B. 15 C. 18 D. 20

Question: In an election for the post of Mayor, there were three candidates P, Q and R. Out of the total
eligible voters, 21% did not vote and 15% of the total votes were declared invalid. The person who came
second secured 15% less votes than the winner and secured 20% more votes than the person who came
third. What percentage of the total eligible voters voted for the person who came third?
A. 19.3% B. 18.6% C. 18.2% D. 17.4%
Question: On a certain day, the cost of an article is 'a' rupees. The next day, it increases by a% and then
decreases by b%. The next day again, it increases by a% and then decreases by b%. Now, the cost of the
article is 'a' rupees again. If b = 20, what can be the value of 'a’?
A. 10 B. 15 C. 20 D. 25

Question: Hemant purchased a phone for Rs. 25000 in the year 2002. Due to some financial problems, he
wanted to sell it in the year 2005. He displayed the selling price as Rs. 22500. Ram wanted to purchase it
and negotiated for a 15% discount on the price. But, Hemant sold him the phone after giving 2 consecutive
discounts of 8% and then, 7% on the displayed selling price. The depreciation for the phone is 15% per
annum. What is the net discount that Hemant offered Ram?
A. 14.44% B. 13.86% C. 12.98% D. 32.54%

Question: There are two shops, A and B. Shop A gives successive discounts of 60% and 40%, whereas shop
B gives successive discounts of 30% and 70%. If the selling price of an article is the same in both the shops,
then what is the ratio of marked prices of the article in the two shops?
1) 3:4 2) 7:8 3) 1:2 4) 1:1

Question: Gopal, a cunning milkman, buys milk from Frontier Dairy Junction and sells it to gullible
housewives. He buys milk at Rs. 35 per litre and adds 250 ml of pure water to a litre of the thick creamy
milk. He sells the mixture so formed at Rs. 45 per litre. What is his approximate profit percentage? It is to
be assumed that it costs him next to nothing to mix the milk in water.
1. 28 2. 45 3. 60 4. None of these

Question: The Maximum Retail Price (MRP) of a product is 55% above its manufacturing cost. The product
is sold through a retailer, who earns 23% profit on his purchase price. What is the profit percentage
(expressed in nearest integer) for the manufacturer who sells his product to the retailer? The retailer gives
10% discount on MRP.
A. 31% B. 22% C. 15% D. 13% E. 11%

Question: Simran, a vegetable vendor, has a faulty weighing balance, the right pan of which weighs 200 gm
more than the left pan. He has a weight of 1 kg only. While buying goods, he keeps the weight on the right
pan. While selling the vegetables, he keeps the weight on the left pan. If he sells the vegetables at their
cost price, what is his percentage gain?
A. 44 B. 33.3 C. 50 D. 66.67

Question: Two candidates were contesting for the post of Rotary Club chairman. In the first round of
voting, 550 members participated. In the second round, again 550 members participated. However, the
number of members opposed to the first candidate increased by 150% and the combined votes of the first
candidate (for both the rounds) exceeded that of the second by 400. How many members opposed the
first candidate in the first round? No votes were invalid.
(a) 450 (b) 350 (c) 300 (d) 100

Question: Mandira made 3 mistakes in an exam and obtained 75% marks. If she had attempted 5 more
questions and made 1 mistake from these 5 questions, then she would have obtained 87.5% marks. If all
the questions carried equal marks and there was no negative marking for wrong answers, then how many
questions were there in the exam?
(a) 32 (b) 28 (c) 34 (d) 36

Question: Padma purchased a box of chocolates. She ate 20% of them and gave 25% of the remaining
chocolates to her friends. Again, she ate 20% of it and gave 25% of the remaining chocolates to her friends.
Then, she gave 8 chocolates to a guest. Finally, she is left with 35% of the chocolates that she initially had.
How many chocolates did Padma eat?
(a) 128 (b) 200 (c) 256 (d) 500

Question: A motorist uses 24% of his fuel in covering the first 20% of his total journey (in city driving
conditions). He has to cover another 25% of his total journey in city driving conditions. What should be the
minimum percentage increase in fuel efficiency for non-city driving over that in city driving, so that he is
just able to cover his entire journey without having to refuel?
(a) 39.2% (b) 43.5% (c) 45.6% (d) 51.2%

Question: Hotel Aditya has 10 single AC rooms, 5 double AC rooms and 18 non-AC rooms. The fixed
monthly rent of the hotel is Rs. 1,50,000. The per day maintenance cost is Rs. 100 for double AC room, Rs.
75 for single AC room and Rs. 40 for non-AC room. All the rooms are maintained everyday, irrespective of
occupancy. The per day charges are Rs. 600 for double AC room, Rs. 400 for single AC room and Rs. 250 for
non-AC room. In April 2003, the occupancy rate of non-AC room was 50%, that of single AC room was 70%
and that of double AC room was 40%. Find the profit or loss percent for that particular month.
(a) 10.33% (profit) (b) 10.33% (loss) (c) 5.67% (loss) (d) No profit no loss

Question: A pharmaceutical company produces 6000 bottles of cough syrup for Rs. 1,32,000. It distributed
20% of the bottles among doctors as samples and sold 2/3 of the remaining bottles at 25% discount. The
remaining bottles were sold to shopkeepers at 10% discount on the printed price of the bottle that was
50% more than the cost price. Find the profit or loss.
(a) 4% loss (b) 2% profit (c) 6% loss (d) 10% profit

Question: There were 800 waiters in a hotel; of which 60% were males and the rest were females. The
male waiters got a tip of 5% of the bill and the female waiters got a tip of 8% of the bill. Find the % change
in the total tip amount, if the ratio of male to female gets reversed next year, but the total number of
waiters remained the same. (You can assume that each male waiter gets an order of Rs. 600 and each
female waiter gets an order of Rs. 500)
(a) Decrease of 5.88% (b) Increase of 5.28%
(c) Increase of 5.88% (d) Decrease of 5.28%

Question: Dan Brown, Paulo Coelho and Ayn Rand go for a party in a restaurant. Dan Brown has five times
as many coins as Paulo Coelho and 8 more than Ayn Rand. When Dan Brown gives away 40% of his coins,
Paulo Coelho and Ayn Rand agree to split those coins up equally. Now, Ayn Rand has twice as many coins
as Paulo Coelho. How many coins did Paulo Coelho start with?

Question: The cost of running a printing machine is Rs. 320 per 1000 copies. The cost of setting is Rs. 2000
for the first 5000 copies and after this, the cost of setting is 30 paise per copy. The other cost is 60 paise
per copy. About 10000 copies of a magazine are printed, but only 8260 copies are sold at the rate of Rs.
1.75 each. What is the amount earned from advertisement, if a profit of 30% on the cost price is made?

Question: Vishal lives in town A. He leaves his house for exactly 10 hours everyday to sell fruits. He
purchases his fruits from either local Town A market or from any of the three neighbouring towns B, C or
D. It takes him 1 hour to reach C and 1.5 hours to reach D from A. The time required for travelling from B to
C, C to D or B to D is 1 hour. In 1 hour, he sells, exactly 1 kg of fruits. The rates of fruits in the four towns
are as follows:
A = Rs. 20/kg, B = Rs. 25/kg, C = Rs. 10/kg, D = Rs. 11/kg
He completes each day without any stock at the end. Assume that the buying and selling price are both the
same.
The maximum profit Vishal can make by selling in town A only is
A. Rs. 75 B. Rs. 100 C. Rs. 80 D. Rs. 60

Question: Company X sells 40 products, out of which 40% are of type A and remaining are of type B. Total
cost of 40 products is Rs. 8000. The company makes a profit of 30% by selling all products and CP of type A
products is double the CP of type B products. If the company makes 20% profit by selling products of type
A, what percent profit does it make by selling products of type B?
A. 43.03% B. 23.14% C. 24.06% D. None of these

Question: The numbers of products, sold by a shopkeeper, of types A, B and C are in the ratio 5 : 7 : 10. If
the shopkeeper earns 45% profit on products of type A, 40% profit on products of type B and 10% loss on
products of type C, then what is the overall percent profit of the shopkeeper by selling all products,
provided CP of products of types A, B and C are in the ratio 5 : 4 : 3?
A. 25.3% B. 23.4% C. 22.9% D. None of these