Two articles at ₹99 — Profit & Loss Aptitude Question
Two articles at ₹99: A shopkeeper sells two articles at ₹99 each, gaining 10% on one and losing 10% on the other. Answer and worked solution on CodeKairo.
- Topic: Profit & Loss
- Section: Quantitative Aptitude
- Difficulty: Medium
- Time target: 75 seconds
Question
A shopkeeper sells two articles at ₹99 each, gaining 10% on one and losing 10% on the other. What is his net loss percent?
Options
- 1%
- 2%
- 5%
- No loss
Show the answer and the worked solution
Correct answer: A. 1%
Worked solution
- CP of the first = 99/1.10 = ₹90; CP of the second = 99/0.90 = ₹110.
- Total CP = ₹200; total SP = ₹198.
- Loss = 2 on 200 = 1%, matching 10²/100. ✓
Answer: 1%.
The idea
The same x²/100 rule as before, with x = 10. Working it out longhand once is worth doing so the shortcut is trusted rather than memorised.
Shortcut. (10/10)² = 1% loss by the equal-selling-price rule; a quick confirmation: 99 = 90 × 1.1 = 110 × 0.9, so cost 200 against sales of 198.
Common trap. "No loss" — letting the 10% gain and 10% loss cancel; the loss is on the ₹110 article and the gain on the ₹90 one.