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.

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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 5 focused questions for this pattern.

Q1. Two values are in ratio 3:4. If total is 150, find first value.

Answer: 64

Explanation: Step 1: Total parts = 3+4. Step 2: One part = 150/(7). Step 3: First value = 3 parts = 64.

Q2. 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.

Q3. Two values are in ratio 4:6. If total is 90, find first value.

Answer: 36

Explanation: Step 1: Total parts = 4+6. Step 2: One part = 90/(10). Step 3: First value = 4 parts = 36.

Q4. Two values are in ratio 5:2. If total is 160, find first value.

Answer: 114

Explanation: Step 1: Total parts = 5+2. Step 2: One part = 160/(7). Step 3: First value = 5 parts = 114.

Q5. Two values are in ratio 7:2. If total is 120, find first value.

Answer: 93

Explanation: Step 1: Total parts = 7+2. Step 2: One part = 120/(9). Step 3: First value = 7 parts = 93.