SSC CGL 2025 Tier-I · 12 September 2025, Shift 3 · General Intelligence and Reasoning · Question 22 of 100

We transcribed this text from the pictures on a candidate's response sheet for this shift; the answer is the key SSC colour-marked on that sheet. Solution last reviewed 11 September 2026.

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After interchanging + & × and 3 & 9, which of the following equations will hold true?

(a)(3+5)×9=48
(b)(9+2)×3=10
(c)(3+7)×9=60
(d)(9+1)×3=15

Answer

Why

Correct — A. Rule: make both swaps first, + ↔ × and 3 ↔ 9, then evaluate.

(3 + 5) × 9 = 48 becomes (9 × 5) + 3 = 48
Bracket: 9 × 5 = 45
Then: 45 + 3 = 48, equal to the right side ✓

The equation holds → option (a)

Why the others are wrong

(b)
(9+2)×3=10 — After the swaps it reads (3 × 2) + 9 = 6 + 9 = 15. The right side is 10, so the equation fails.
(c)
(3+7)×9=60 — After the swaps it reads (9 × 7) + 3 = 63 + 3 = 66. The right side is 60, so the equation fails.
(d)
(9+1)×3=15 — After the swaps it reads (3 × 1) + 9 = 3 + 9 = 12. The right side is 15, so the equation fails.

Concept

An interchange item gives swaps to make before any arithmetic. Here every + becomes ×, every × becomes +, every 3 becomes 9 and every 9 becomes 3.

Rewrite the whole equation, keeping the brackets where they are, and only then evaluate. The bracket is worked first, so 9 × 5 comes before the + 3.

None of the right-hand sides here, 48, 10, 60 and 15, is a 3 or a 9, so they stay as printed.

As printed, before the swaps, none of the four equations is true: (3 + 5) × 9 is 72, not 48. The swaps are what make option (a) balance.

Key facts

After the swaps, option (a) reads (9 × 5) + 3 = 48.
Options (b), (c) and (d) evaluate to 15, 66 and 12 against printed 10, 60 and 15.
Brackets are worked first, then × and ÷, then + and −.

Study next

Sign-interchange items where + and − swap and × and ÷ swapFinding which two numbers must be interchanged to balance an equationSymbol-substitution items evaluated by BODMAS

Common traps

Swapping the signs but not the numbers: (3 × 5) + 9 = 24, not 48.
Swapping in two passes, 3 → 9 and then every 9 → 3, which turns the new 9s straight back into 3s.

The same double swap is set at 14 Sep 2025, 12:30, Reasoning Q.22, with + ↔ × and 15 ↔ 30, where (15 + 4) × 30 = 135 becomes (30 × 4) + 15 = 135.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.

Topic: Numerical Operations — all 92 SSC CGL questions on it, every solved shift.