Join 60,000+ competitive exam aspirants
If a man buys 10 pens for Rs. 50 and sells 8 pens for Rs. 60, what is his profit percentage?
50%
40%
60%
25%
50%
Equalize the number of items by taking the LCM of 10 and 8 (which is 40). Find the total CP and SP for 40 pens to quickly compute the profit percentage.
Cost price of 10 pens = Rs. 50, Selling price of 8 pens = Rs. 60
extProfit%=(CPSPтИТCPтАЛ)imes100
Equalize the number of items by taking the LCM of 10 and 8 (which is 40). Find the total CP and SP for 40 pens to quickly compute the profit percentage.
Students often make the mistake of finding the profit on mismatching quantities, such as comparing the price of 10 pens with 8 pens directly.
Find Cost Price per pen
Calculate the cost price of a single pen by dividing the total cost by the number of pens: CP=1050тАЛ=Rs.┬а5.
CP┬аof┬а1┬аpen=1050тАЛ=5
Find Selling Price per pen
Calculate the selling price of a single pen by dividing the total selling price by the number of pens sold: SP=860тАЛ=Rs.┬а7.5.
SP┬аof┬а1┬аpen=860тАЛ=7.5
Calculate Profit Percentage
Apply the profit percentage formula using the per-unit values: Profit┬а%=57.5тИТ5тАЛimes100=50%.
extProfit%=57.5тИТ5тАЛimes100=50%
A is correct because the calculated profit percentage is 50%.
The equal-quantity or LCM approach is also highly effective in problems involving fractional quantities, mixtures, and unit pricing.