364. **364 × 13 = 4,732**, not 2912. It is 2912 ÷ 8 — the right division carried out with the wrong divisor.

285. **285 × 13 = 3,705**, not 2912. Any answer here has to satisfy answer × 13 = 2912, and 285 overshoots.

310. **310 × 13 = 4,030**. Since 13 × 300 is already 3,900, more than 2912, the quotient must sit below 300.

SSC CGL 2024 Tier-I · 26 September 2024, Shift 3 · Quantitative Aptitude · Question 16 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.

Simplify

(a)364
(b)224
(c)285
(d)310

Answer

Why

Correct — B. Cancel before multiplying — the six-figure product is never needed.

8138 = 626 × 13, so 626⁄8138 = 1⁄13

The chain becomes 2912 ÷ 13
13 × 200 = 2600, leaving 312
13 × 24 = 312, so the quotient is 200 + 24 = 224 → option (b).

Why the others are wrong

(a)
364 — 364 × 13 = 4,732, not 2912. It is 2912 ÷ 8 — the right division carried out with the wrong divisor.
(c)
285 — 285 × 13 = 3,705, not 2912. Any answer here has to satisfy answer × 13 = 2912, and 285 overshoots.
(d)
310 — 310 × 13 = 4,030. Since 13 × 300 is already 3,900, more than 2912, the quotient must sit below 300.

Concept

The expression is pure BODMAS: multiplication and division rank equally, so it runs left to right as (626 × 2912) ÷ 8138.

Equal rank also means you may reorder it as 626⁄8138 × 2912 and cancel first. Spotting that 8138 = 626 × 13 turns a six-figure multiplication into one short division.

When a one-mark item prints numbers this large, look for the common factor before reaching for long multiplication.

The division comes out exact, which is the signal that the cancellation was intended: 2912 = 13 × 224 with nothing left over.

If you do multiply out, 626 × 2912 = 1,822,912, and dividing that by 8138 returns the same 224 after far more work.

Key facts

Multiplication and division share one precedence level and are evaluated left to right.
8138 = 626 × 13, so 626⁄8138 reduces to 1⁄13.
2912 = 13 × 224.

Study next

Cancelling common factors before multiplying in mixed multiply-divide chainsDivisibility tests for 13 and other two-digit primesBounding a quotient by estimation to reject options at a glance

Common traps

Computing 626 × 2912 in full and slipping a digit in the six-figure product.
Dividing 626 by 8138 as a decimal instead of keeping it as the fraction 1⁄13.
Doing the division before the multiplication because D precedes M in the mnemonic.

This is a simplification item: the mark is in spotting the cancellation, not in computing. A candidate who reaches for long multiplication here loses a minute and gains nothing, and the exact division is the clue that a factor was planted.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.