General Aptitude

Profit & Loss Tutorial

Profit and loss questions are exam favorites. Master these patterns to solve them in seconds. Focus on the relationship between CP, SP, and percentage.

Start Quiz All Categories

Key Formulas

Profit = Selling Price - Cost Price
Profit % = (Profit / Cost Price) × 100
Selling Price = Cost Price × (100 + Profit%) / 100
Loss = Cost Price - Selling Price
Selling Price = Cost Price × (100 - Loss%) / 100

Basic Profit & Loss

Open

Calculate profit/loss amount and percentage.

Find SP from Profit/Loss %

Open

Calculate selling price when cost price and profit/loss% given.

False Weight / Fraudulent Seller

Open

Seller uses false weight - find effective profit/loss.

Basic Profit & Loss

Calculate profit/loss amount and percentage.

When to Use: When cost price and selling price are given.

Step-by-Step Method

If SP > CP: Profit = SP - CP.
If CP > SP: Loss = CP - SP.
Profit% = (Profit / CP) × 100.
Loss% = (Loss / CP) × 100.

Worked Example

Question: An item with cost price Rs. 693 is sold at 15% profit. Find selling price.

CP = 693, Profit% = 15%
SP = CP × (100 + 15)/100 = CP × 1.15
SP = 693 × 1.15
693 × 115 ÷ 100 = 693 × 23 ÷ 20
(693 ÷ 20) × 23 = 34.65 × 23 = 796.95

Final Answer: 796

Option Analysis

816 = added 15% of something else
836 = miscalculated
796 is correct: 15% of 693 = 103.95, add to 693

Common Mistakes

Using SP as base for percentage instead of CP.
Wrong formula for profit percentage.
Calculation errors in decimal multiplication.

Quick Shortcut: For 15% profit, multiply CP by 1.15. For 15% loss, multiply CP by 0.85.

Practice This Pattern

5 Q 10 Q 15 Q

Generated 15 focused questions for this pattern.

Q1. Two values are in ratio 4:4. If total is 150, find first value.

Answer: 75

Explanation: Step 1: Total parts = 4+4. Step 2: One part = 150/(8). Step 3: First value = 4 parts = 75.

Q2. Two values are in ratio 4:5. If total is 220, find first value.

Answer: 97

Explanation: Step 1: Total parts = 4+5. Step 2: One part = 220/(9). Step 3: First value = 4 parts = 97.

Q3. Two values are in ratio 7:3. If total is 190, find first value.

Answer: 133

Explanation: Step 1: Total parts = 7+3. Step 2: One part = 190/(10). Step 3: First value = 7 parts = 133.

Q4. Two values are in ratio 5:7. If total is 100, find first value.

Answer: 41

Explanation: Step 1: Total parts = 5+7. Step 2: One part = 100/(12). Step 3: First value = 5 parts = 41.

Q5. Two values are in ratio 6:2. If total is 150, find first value.

Answer: 112

Explanation: Step 1: Total parts = 6+2. Step 2: One part = 150/(8). Step 3: First value = 6 parts = 112.

Q6. Two values are in ratio 7:4. If total is 140, find first value.

Answer: 89

Explanation: Step 1: Total parts = 7+4. Step 2: One part = 140/(11). Step 3: First value = 7 parts = 89.

Q7. Two values are in ratio 2:4. If total is 160, find first value.

Answer: 53

Explanation: Step 1: Total parts = 2+4. Step 2: One part = 160/(6). Step 3: First value = 2 parts = 53.

Q8. Two values are in ratio 4:4. If total is 120, find first value.

Answer: 60

Explanation: Step 1: Total parts = 4+4. Step 2: One part = 120/(8). Step 3: First value = 4 parts = 60.

Q9. Two values are in ratio 2:4. If total is 130, find first value.

Answer: 43

Explanation: Step 1: Total parts = 2+4. Step 2: One part = 130/(6). Step 3: First value = 2 parts = 43.

Q10. Two values are in ratio 6:2. If total is 230, find first value.

Answer: 172

Explanation: Step 1: Total parts = 6+2. Step 2: One part = 230/(8). Step 3: First value = 6 parts = 172.

Q11. Two values are in ratio 6:5. If total is 230, find first value.

Answer: 125

Explanation: Step 1: Total parts = 6+5. Step 2: One part = 230/(11). Step 3: First value = 6 parts = 125.

Q12. Two values are in ratio 4:6. If total is 230, find first value.

Answer: 92

Explanation: Step 1: Total parts = 4+6. Step 2: One part = 230/(10). Step 3: First value = 4 parts = 92.

Q13. Two values are in ratio 6:6. If total is 230, find first value.

Answer: 115

Explanation: Step 1: Total parts = 6+6. Step 2: One part = 230/(12). Step 3: First value = 6 parts = 115.

Q14. Two values are in ratio 4:3. If total is 220, find first value.

Answer: 125

Explanation: Step 1: Total parts = 4+3. Step 2: One part = 220/(7). Step 3: First value = 4 parts = 125.

Q15. Two values are in ratio 4:2. If total is 220, find first value.

Answer: 146

Explanation: Step 1: Total parts = 4+2. Step 2: One part = 220/(6). Step 3: First value = 4 parts = 146.