SSC CGL 2024 Tier-I · 19 September 2024, Shift 1 · Quantitative Aptitude · Question 20 of 100

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 10 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.

The value of 4 1⁄6 ÷ 25 × 75 ÷ 1⁄5 of 125 is:

Answer

Why

Correct — C. 'Of' is settled before ÷ and ×, so the tail collapses to a single number before any division happens.

1⁄5 of 125 = 25
4 1⁄6 = 25⁄6

Now work left to right, ÷ and × ranking equally:
25⁄6 ÷ 25 = 1⁄6
1⁄6 × 75 = 75⁄6 = 12.5
12.5 ÷ 25 = 1⁄2 → option (c)

Why the others are wrong

(a)
1⁄3 comes out of no consistent order of operations here. It is the decoy parked between 1⁄6 and 1⁄2, and recognising the shape of a fraction is not the same as reaching it.
(b)
1⁄6 is the value after only the first division, 25⁄6 ÷ 25. Two operations remain, × 75 and ÷ 25, and stopping early is exactly what this option is placed to reward.
(d)
1⁄4 is 1⁄2 halved: it needs the final divisor to be 50 rather than the 25 that 1⁄5 of 125 actually gives. Recompute the 'of' term before dividing by it.

Concept

Indian exam papers run VBODMAS, and the operator SSC leans on is 'of': it is resolved before division and multiplication. So dividing by 1⁄5 of 125 means dividing by 25 — not dividing by 1⁄5 and then multiplying by 125.

Once 'of' is cleared, ÷ and × rank equally and run strictly left to right, as + and − do against each other.

The order is not multiply-before-divide. That misreading is what turns a two-line simplification into a guess.

The mixed number has to go first as well: 4 1⁄6 is 25⁄6, not 4 × 1⁄6 and not 41⁄6. Both conversions happen before the chain is walked.

Key facts

In VBODMAS, 'of' is settled before division and multiplication.
Division and multiplication rank equally and are performed left to right.
1⁄5 of 125 = 25, and the mixed number 4 1⁄6 equals 25⁄6.

Study next

Simplification chains that place 'of' inside nested bracketsConverting mixed numbers to improper fractions before any operationBracket-order items where a missing operator has to be identified

Common traps

Dividing by 1⁄5 and then multiplying by 125, which ignores the 'of'.
Doing 25 × 75 first because multiplication looks senior to division.
Stopping at 1⁄6, the value after only the first division.

SSC writes these as bare simplification chains with an 'of' planted mid-expression — also asked 13 Sep 2024, 09:00, Quant Q.15 and 26 Sep 2024, 12:30, Quant Q.19, both of which additionally bury an 'of' inside brackets.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.