Rule of Alligation

Alligation is a rule that enables us to find the ratio in which two or more ingredients at the given price must be

mixed to produce a mixture of desired price.

It must be ensured that since there is sectional cut off in almost all competitive exams, it is important that equal
attention is paid on the preparation of each subject.

MIXTURE

A mixture, as the name suggests is mixing two or more things together

To solve mixture and alligation questions, one must know that alligation is used to find the mean value of a mixture
when the ratio and amount of the ingredients mixed are different and also to find the proportion in which the
elements are mixed.

2. Mean Price:

The cost of a unit quantity of the mixture is called the mean price. It will always be higher than cost price of
cheaper quantity and lower than cost price of dearer quantity.

Important Formulas for Mixture and Alligation

To solve any numerical ability question, candidates need to know a set of formulas for each topic which make
solving the questions easier and time-saving. This, given below are a few formulas which will help candidates with
the same and let them solve the mixture and alligation questions more conveniently:

 The basic formula which is used to find the ratio in which the ingredients are mixed is

It is also called the rule of alligation and can also be represented as

. A grocer wishes to sell a mixture of two variety of pulses worth Rs.16 per kg. In what ratio must he mix the pulses
to reach this selling price, when cost of one variety of pulses is Rs.14 per kg and the other is Rs.24 per kg?

1. 2:5
2. 4:3
3. 2:1
4. 4:1
5. 7:6

Answer: (4) 4:1

Cost of two types of pulses is Rs.15 and Rs, 20 per kg, respectively. If both the pulses are mixed together in the
ratio 2:3, then what should be the price of mixed variety of pulses per kg?

1. Rs. 22 per kg
2. Rs. 30 per kg
3. Rs. 10 per kg
4. Rs. 18 per kg
5. Rs. 24 per kg

Answer: (4) Rs. 18 per kg

A dealer has 1000 kg sugar and he sells a part of it at 8% profit and the rest of it at 18% profit. The overall profit he
earns is 14%. What is the quantity which is sold at 18% profit?

1. 250 kg
2. 600 kg
3. 620 kg
4. 400 kg
5. 450 kg

Answer: (2) 600 kg

Solution:

How much coffee of variety A, costing Rs. 5 a kg should be added to 20 kg of Type B coffee at Rs. 12 a kg so that the
cost of the two coffee variety mixture be worth Rs. 7 a kg?

1. 25 kg
2. 34 kg
3. 55 kg
4. 52 kg
5. 50 kg

Answer: (5) 50 kg

How much coffee of variety A, costing Rs. 5 a kg should be added to 20 kg of Type B coffee at Rs. 12 a kg so that the
cost of the two coffee variety mixture be worth Rs. 7 a kg?

1. 25 kg
2. 34 kg
3. 55 kg
4. 52 kg
5. 50 kg

Answer: (5) 50 kg

. Suppose a container contains x of liquid from which y units are taken out and replaced by water.

After n operations, the quantity of pure liquid = units.

A container contains 50 litres of milk. From this container, 10 litres of milk was taken out and replaced by water.

This process is repeated one more time.

How much milk is now left in the container?

1. 24
2. 32
3. 30
4. 36

A container contains 40 liters of milk. From this container, 4 liters of milk were taken out and replaced by water.
This process was repeated further two times. How much milk is now contained in the container?
A. 26 liters

B. 29.16 liters

C. 28 liters

D. 28.2 litres.

Rule of Constant

There are another types of questions on mixtures and alligation where the quantity of
one element in the mixture does not change while adding another element to the first
mixture. For such questions, I recommend an alternate method of using the rule of
constant to get to the answer. The concept uses the simple understanding of
percentages. Let us learn it with the help of an example.

Method 1: School textbook approach

We assume that the quantity of water added to be x litres. The quantity of milk in the
existing solution is 30% of 40 = 12 litres, with the addition of water, the quantity of new
solution becomes (40 + x) litres. As per the problem, the percentage of milk in new
solution should be 15 %. we will get x = 40.