Profit, Loss & Discount Quiz: Quantitative Aptitude Practice

Spoilers! These are the Starter quiz’s answers. Easy, Medium, Hard and Mixed rounds show their own answers when you finish.

1. An article bought for Rs 640 is sold for Rs 720. What is the profit percentage?

   • 11.11%
   • 12.5%
   • 12%
   • 13.5%

   Answer: 12.5%. Profit = 80, and profit % = 80/640 × 100 = 12.5%. Divide by the cost price, not the selling price.

2. A shopkeeper sells an article for Rs 480 at a loss of 20%. At what price should he sell it to gain 15%?

   • Rs 660
   • Rs 720
   • Rs 552
   • Rs 690

   Answer: Rs 690. CP = 480 ÷ 0.8 = 600. For a 15% gain, SP = 600 × 1.15 = Rs 690.

3. An item is marked at Rs 1,500. Two successive discounts of 20% and 10% are given. What is the selling price?

   • Rs 1,080
   • Rs 1,050
   • Rs 1,125
   • Rs 1,200

   Answer: Rs 1,080. 1,500 × 0.8 = 1,200, then 1,200 × 0.9 = Rs 1,080 (a single discount of 28%, not 30%).

4. A trader marks his goods 40% above cost price and allows a discount of 25%. What is his profit percentage?

   • 15%
   • 10%
   • 5%
   • 3%

   Answer: 5%. Take CP = 100: MP = 140 and SP = 140 × 0.75 = 105, so the profit is 5% (40 - 25 - 10 = 5).

5. The cost price of 15 articles equals the selling price of 12 articles. What is the profit percentage?

   • 20%
   • 30%
   • 15%
   • 25%

   Answer: 25%. Profit % = (15 - 12)/12 × 100 = 25%. The gain of 3 articles is measured against the 12 articles sold.

6. A dishonest shopkeeper claims to sell at cost price but uses a 900 g weight for 1 kg. What is his gain percentage?

   • 11 1/9%
   • 10%
   • 9 1/11%
   • 12.5%

   Answer: 11 1/9%. He gains 100 g on every 900 g he actually gives: 100/900 × 100 = 11 1/9 %.

7. Two articles are sold for Rs 9,900 each, one at a 10% profit and the other at a 10% loss. What is the overall result?

   • No profit, no loss
   • Loss of Rs 198
   • Loss of Rs 200
   • Gain of Rs 100

   Answer: Loss of Rs 200. CPs are 9,900/1.1 = 9,000 and 9,900/0.9 = 11,000, total 20,000. Total SP 19,800, so a loss of Rs 200 (1%, which is 10²/100).

8. A man buys oranges at 6 for Rs 5 and sells them at 5 for Rs 6. What is his profit percentage?

   • 44%
   • 20%
   • 36%
   • 40%

   Answer: 44%. CP per orange = 5/6 and SP = 6/5. Profit % = (6/5 ÷ 5/6 - 1) × 100 = (36/25 - 1) × 100 = 44%.

9. The profit made by selling an article for Rs 425 equals the loss made by selling it for Rs 355. What is the cost price?

   • Rs 380
   • Rs 400
   • Rs 395
   • Rs 390

   Answer: Rs 390. Equal profit and loss put the CP exactly midway: (425 + 355)/2 = Rs 390.

10. A store offers "buy 3, get 1 free". What is the effective discount percentage?

    • 33.33%
    • 25%
    • 20%
    • 30%

    Answer: 25%. You pay for 3 and get 4, so the discount is 1/4 of the value received = 25%.