SSC CGL 2025 Tier-I · 21 September 2025, Shift 1 · Quantitative Aptitude · Question 2 of 99

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 13 September 2026.

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SSC does not publish CGL question papers or a public answer key. From 2025 the candidate response sheet prints every question and option as a picture, so the text here is transcribed from those pictures for this shift and checked against them independently; where the layout carries meaning, the picture is shown as well. Each answer is the key SSC colour-marked on that sheet. SSC released a tentative key for challenge and later its final one, both only to candidates behind a login, and the sheet does not say which of the two it carries. The solutions are written by UnlockIAS.

A bakery produced 5000 cakes at a total cost of ₹250,000. They gave away 500 cakes for a promotional event. For the remaining cakes, they offered a 20% discount on the market price of ₹75 per cake. Additionally, they gave one cake free with every 9 cakes bought. If all 5000 cakes were distributed, what is their overall gain or loss percentage?

(a)4.5 % profit
(b)2.8 % profit
(c)2.8 % loss
(d)4.5 % loss

Answer

Why

Correct — C. Compare the ₹250,000 cost with the money the paid-for cakes bring in.

Cakes left after the giveaway = 5000 − 500 = 4500
Price after 20% discount = 0.8 × ₹75 = ₹60
1 free with every 9 bought → 9 paid in every 10
Paid cakes = 4500 × 9⁄10 = 4050

Revenue = 4050 × ₹60 = ₹243,000
Loss = 250,000 − 243,000 = ₹7,000
Loss % = 7,000 ÷ 250,000 × 100 = 2.8% loss → option (c)

Why the others are wrong

(a)
4.5 % profit — Revenue (₹243,000) is below cost (₹250,000), so the result is a loss, not a profit. And 4.5% of ₹250,000 would be ₹11,250, not the ₹7,000 gap.
(b)
2.8 % profit — Right size, wrong direction. The ₹7,000 gap is 2.8% of cost, but revenue of ₹243,000 falls short of the ₹250,000 cost, so it is a loss.
(d)
4.5 % loss — A 4.5% loss means losing ₹11,250 on a ₹250,000 cost. The actual shortfall is 250,000 − 243,000 = ₹7,000, which is 2.8%.

Concept

Overall gain or loss compares total revenue with total cost. Every cake is in the cost, but only the cakes someone paid for bring in money.

So remove the free cakes first. The 500 promotional cakes earn nothing, and "one cake free with every 9 cakes bought" means 9 of every 10 cakes handed over are paid for.

Then price the paid cakes at the discounted rate and take the gain or loss as a percentage of cost.

Reading the offer as 1 free cake in every 9 handed over would make 500 of the 4500 free and give ₹240,000, a 4% loss. No option says 4%, and the stem's wording, 9 cakes bought, gives the keyed 2.8%.

Key facts

One free with every 9 bought means 9 of every 10 items handed over are paid for.
Price after a 20% discount = 0.8 × marked price: 0.8 × ₹75 = ₹60.
Gain or loss % is taken on cost: 7,000 ÷ 250,000 × 100 = 2.8%.

Study next

Effective discount of a buy-x-get-y-free offerSuccessive discounts and their single equivalentMarked price, discount and profit on a single article

Common traps

Dividing 4500 by 9 to count the free cakes. One free with every 9 bought makes lots of 10, so 450 are free, not 500.
Charging the 500 promotional cakes at ₹60. They add to the cost but bring in nothing.

The same build (giveaway, discount, then a free-with-purchase offer) is 12 Sep 2025, 09:00, Quant Q.13: 1000 toy cars left, 2 free for every 8 bought, so 800 paid at ₹108, a 4% loss.

It returns at 20 Sep 2025, 12:30, Quant Q.5: 750 licenses left, 1 free for every 9 bought, a 13.94% loss.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.

Topic: Discount — all 78 SSC CGL questions on it, every solved shift.