27. **27** would need the bracket to come out at 11⁄9, since (27 − 5) ÷ 18 = 11⁄9. The chain 1⁄6 ÷ 1⁄9 × 2⁄3 collapses to exactly **1**.

9. **9** would need the bracket to be 2⁄9, since (9 − 5) ÷ 18 = 2⁄9. But dividing by a fraction **smaller than 1 enlarges** a number — 1⁄6 ÷ 1⁄9 is already 3⁄2 — and the later ×2⁄3 only brings it back to 1.

15. **15** would need the bracket to be 5⁄9, since (15 − 5) ÷ 18 = 5⁄9. Note the **+ 5 sits outside the ×18**: multiply first, add last.

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SSC CGL 2024 Tier-I · 17 September 2024, Shift 1 · Quantitative Aptitude · Question 13 of 98

Text as printed on a candidate's response sheet for this shift; answer per SSC's tentative key as marked on that sheet. Solution last reviewed 6 September 2026.

Where this paper and its answers come from

SSC does not publish CGL question papers or a public answer key. The questions and options here are reproduced as printed on a candidate's own response sheet for this shift — the Commission's text, unchanged. Each answer is SSC's tentative key as marked on that sheet; SSC allowed challenges to it and never publishes a final key. The solutions are written by UnlockIAS.

Simplify:

(a)27
(b)9
(c)23
(d)15

Answer

Why

Correct — C. The expression printed is [(1⁄6 ÷ 1⁄9 × 2⁄3) × 18 + 5]. Inside the round bracket ÷ and × rank equally and run left to right, so the division goes first because it is written first.

1⁄6 ÷ 1⁄9 = 1⁄6 × 9 = 3⁄2
3⁄2 × 2⁄3 = 1

Then 1 × 18 = 18
Finally 18 + 5 = 23 → option (c).

Why the others are wrong

(a)
27 — 27 would need the bracket to come out at 11⁄9, since (27 − 5) ÷ 18 = 11⁄9. The chain 1⁄6 ÷ 1⁄9 × 2⁄3 collapses to exactly 1.
(b)
9 — 9 would need the bracket to be 2⁄9, since (9 − 5) ÷ 18 = 2⁄9. But dividing by a fraction smaller than 1 enlarges a number — 1⁄6 ÷ 1⁄9 is already 3⁄2 — and the later ×2⁄3 only brings it back to 1.
(d)
15 — 15 would need the bracket to be 5⁄9, since (15 − 5) ÷ 18 = 5⁄9. Note the + 5 sits outside the ×18: multiply first, add last.

Concept

BODMAS is not six steps but four, because two pairs share a rank.

Division and multiplication rank together and are worked left to right; addition and subtraction likewise. Only brackets and orders (powers, roots) come ahead of them.

The second half of this item is fraction handling: dividing by a fraction is multiplying by its reciprocal, so 1⁄6 ÷ 1⁄9 becomes 1⁄6 × 9⁄1 = 3⁄2. Invert the divisor, never the dividend.

SSC prints the expression as an image rather than as text, so copy it out before working — a misread of which fraction follows the ÷ sign changes the whole chain.

Key facts

Division and multiplication share one rank in BODMAS and are performed left to right.
Dividing by a fraction means multiplying by its reciprocal: 1⁄6 ÷ 1⁄9 = 1⁄6 × 9 = 3⁄2.
The bracket here evaluates to 1, so the expression reduces to 1 × 18 + 5.

Study next

The word 'of' inside a BODMAS chain, which SSC resolves ahead of ÷Nested brackets, resolved innermost first through (), {} and []Decimal BODMAS chains, where a misplaced point changes the running value

Common traps

Treating ÷ as ranking below ×, which would evaluate 1⁄9 × 2⁄3 first.
Inverting the dividend instead of the divisor when turning ÷ into ×.
Adding the 5 before the ×18 because both sit inside the outer square bracket.

SSC keeps these expressions short and prints them as images, so the marks turn on operator rank rather than on heavy arithmetic.

Comparable simplifications are asked 13 Sep 2024, 16:00, Quant Q.22 (a bare ÷ and × chain with no brackets) and 25 Sep 2024, 12:30, Quant Q.23 (square brackets together with 'of').

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.