SSC CGL 2025 Tier-I · 14 September 2025, Shift 2 · Quantitative Aptitude · Question 14 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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A bookseller sells 10 pens for ₹300, but in doing so, he incurs a loss equal to the cost price of 4 pens. The loss percent is:

(a)40%
(b)70%
(c)60%
(d)50%

Answer

Why

Correct — A.
Loss = cost price of 4 pens
Selling price of 10 pens = CP of 10 − CP of 4 = CP of 6 pens

Loss % = CP of 4 ÷ CP of 10 × 100 = 40%

Check in rupees: CP of 6 pens = ₹300, so one pen costs ₹50
CP of 10 = ₹500, loss = ₹200, and 200 ÷ 500 × 100 = 40% → option (a).

Why the others are wrong

(b)
70% — 70% would need a loss equal to the cost of 7 pens out of 10. The stem fixes the loss at the cost of 4 pens, which is 40% of the cost of 10.
(c)
60% — 60% is the selling price as a share of cost, not the loss. The 10 pens sell for the cost of 6, so SP is 60% of CP and the loss is the other 40%.
(d)
50% — 50% would mean a loss equal to the cost of 5 pens, half the 10 sold. Here it is the cost of 4 pens, so the loss is 4⁄10 = 40%.

Concept

When a loss or gain is stated as the cost of some of the articles, measure everything in units of one article's cost.

Selling 10 pens at a loss worth 4 pens means the money received equals the cost of 6 pens. The loss percent is 4 out of 10, taken on cost.

The ₹300 is not needed for the percentage. It fixes the cost of one pen at ₹50.

Key facts

Loss % = loss ÷ cost price × 100, always taken on cost.
If the loss on selling n articles equals the cost of m of them, loss % = m ÷ n × 100.
Here SP of 10 pens = CP of 6 pens, so SP is 60% of CP.

Study next

Gain equal to the selling price of m of n articles: gain % = m ÷ (n − m) × 100Price-of-n-equals-price-of-m comparisons between cost, marked and selling prices

Common traps

Dividing the loss by the selling price instead of the cost: 4 ÷ 6 gives 66.7%.
Treating ₹300 as the cost of the 10 pens, when it is what they sold for.

23 Sep 2024, 12:30, Quant Q.22 also prices in numbers of articles: the marked price of 55 equals the cost of 99, and the selling price of 56 equals the marked price of 35, a 12.5% profit.

18 Sep 2025, 12:30, Quant Q.4 buys 5 novels for the marked price of 4 and sells them at 5% off, an 18.75% profit.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.

Topic: Profit and Loss — all 56 SSC CGL questions on it, every solved shift.