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Profit and loss questions are important in comprehending the concept of profit and loss. This concept in mathematics has some actual applications in our daily lives, making it more important to have a good understanding of profit and loss. This blog presents profit and loss CAT exam previous year questions, and formulas which will help students escalate their problem-solving skills. Continue reading this blog.
Table of Contents
Formulas of Profit and Loss
There are two main sets of formulas of profit and loss (P&L) are as follows:
| Profit | Selling Price (SP) – Cost Price (CP) |
| Loss | CP – SP |
| Profit Percentage (P%) | (Profit / CP) x 100 |
| Loss Percentage (L%) | (Loss / CP) x 100 |
| Selling Price (SP) | The price at which an item is sold. |
| Cost Price (CP) | The price at which an item is bought. |
Read More: Profit and Loss Formula Questions for Competitive Exams
Previous Year CAT Questions on Profit and Loss
CAT Proft and Loss Question 2023
Gita sells two objects A and B at the same price such that she makes a profit of 20% on object A and a loss of 10% on object B. If she increases the selling price such that objects A and B are still sold at an equal price and a profit of 10% is made on object B, then the profit made on object A will be nearest to
- 42%
- 47%
- 45%
- 49%
Correct Answer: B
Minu purchases a pair of sunglasses at Rs.1000 and sells to Kanu at 20% profit. Then, Kanu sells it back to Minu at 20% loss. Finally, Minu sells the same pair of sunglasses to Tanu. If the total profit made by Minu from all her transactions is Rs.500, then the percentage of profit made by Minu when she sold the pair of sunglasses to Tanu is
- 35.42%
- 31.25%
- 52%
- 26%
Correct Answer: B
A merchant purchases a cloth at a rate of Rs.100 per meter and receives 5 cm length of cloth free for every 100 cm length of cloth purchased by him. He sells the same cloth at a rate of Rs.110 per meter but cheats his customers by giving 95 cm length of cloth for every 100 cm length of cloth purchased by the customers. If the merchant provides a 5% discount, the resulting profit earned by him is
- 4.2%
- 15.5%
- 16%
- 9.7%
Correct Answer: B
CAT Proft and Loss Question 2022
Ankita buys 4 kg cashews, 14 kg peanuts and 6 kg almonds when the cost of 7 kg cashews is the same as that of 30 kg peanuts or 9 kg almonds. She mixes all the three nuts and marks a price for the mixture in order to make a profit of ₹1752. She sells 4 kg of the mixture at this marked price and the remaining at a 20% discount on the marked price, thus making a total profit of ₹744. Then the amount, in rupees, that she had spent in buying almonds is
- 1440
- 1176
- 1680
- 2520
Correct Answer: C
Amal buys 110 kg of syrup and 120 kg of juice, syrup being 20% less costly than juice, per kg. He sells 10 kg of syrup at 10% profit and 20 kg of juice at 20% profit. Mixing the remaining juice and syrup, Amal sells the mixture at ₹ 308.32 per kg and makes an overall profit of 64%. Then, Amal’s cost price for syrup, in rupees per kg, is
Correct Answer: 160
CAT Proft and Loss Question 2021
A person buys tea of three different qualities at ₹ 800, ₹ 500, and ₹ 300 per kg, respectively, and the amounts bought are in the proportion 2 : 3 : 5. She mixes all the tea and sells one-sixth of the mixture at ₹ 700 per kg. The price, in INR per kg, at which she should sell the remaining tea, to make an overall profit of 50%, is
- 653
- 688
- 692
- 675
Correct Answer: B
Anil, Bobby, and Chintu jointly invest in a business and agree to share the overall profit in proportion to their investments. Anil’s share of investment is 70%. His share of profit decreases by ₹ 420 if the overall profit goes down from 18% to 15%. Chintu’s share of profit increases by ₹ 80 if the overall profit goes up from 15% to 17%. The amount, in INR, invested by Bobby is
- 2000
- 2400
- 2200
- 1800
Correct Answer: A
One part of a hostel’s monthly expenses is fixed, and the other part is proportional to the number of its boarders. The hostel collects ₹ 1600 per month from each boarder. When the number of boarders is 50, the profit of the hostel is ₹ 200 per boarder, and when the number of boarders is 75, the profit of the hostel is ₹ 250 per boarder. When the number of boarders is 80, the total profit of the hostel, in INR, will be
- 20200
- 20500
- 20800
- 20000
Correct Answer: B
CAT Proft and Loss Question 2020
A person spent Rs 50000 to purchase a desktop computer and a laptop computer. He sold the desktop at 20% profit and the laptop at 10% loss. If overall he made a 2% profit then the purchase price, in rupees, of the desktop is
Correct Answer: 20000
Anil buys 12 toys and labels each with the same selling price. He sells 8 toys initially at 20% discount on the labeled price. Then he sells the remaining 4 toys at an additional 25% discount on the discounted price. Thus, he gets a total of Rs 2112, and makes a 10% profit. With no discounts, his percentage of profit would have been
- 60
- 55
- 50
- 54
Correct Answer: C
A man buys 35 kg of sugar and sets a marked price in order to make a 20% profit. He sells 5 kg at this price, and 15 kg at a 10% discount. Accidentally, 3 kg of sugar is wasted. He sells the remaining sugar by raising the marked price by p percent so as to make an overall profit of 15%. Then p is nearest to
- 31
- 22
- 35
- 25
Correct Answer: D
On selling a pen at 5% loss and a book at 15% gain, Karim gains Rs. 7. If he sells the pen at 5% gain and the book at 10% gain, he gains Rs. 13. What is the cost price of the book in Rupees?
- 80
- 85
- 100
- 95
Correct Answer: A
Mukesh purchased 10 bicycles in 2017, all at the same price. He sold six of these at a profit of 25% and the remaining four at a loss of 25%. If he made a total profit of Rs. 2000, then his purchase price of a bicycle, in Rupees, was
- 2000
- 6000
- 8000
- 4000
Correct Answer: D
Related Reads on CAT Exam
FAQ’s
The profit is the amount gained by selling an article at a price greater than its cost price. In relation, the loss is the amount lost by selling an article for less than its cost price.
A profit and loss statement comprises a business’s total revenue, gains, expenses, and losses, arriving at net income for a specific accounting period. Management analyzes a P&L to determine how you can increase profitability by increasing revenue, lowering costs or both.
It is mainly used in the estimation of profit and loss calculations in a particular purchase. Different cost price formulas in maths are given below: If in a certain purchase, there is a profit/gain while selling a product. The formula for C. P. is Cost Price = Selling Price – Profit.
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