MKS CMAT · Quantitative Ability
Profit, Loss and Discount for CMAT: Worked Practice
Most profit, loss and discount errors begin before the arithmetic: the percentage is applied to the wrong base. Profit and loss use cost price as their base. Discount uses marked price. The selling price connects the two sides.
The questions below are original MKS practice, not official TU questions or recalled past-paper material.
YOUR LEARNING ROUTE
Build the skill. Then apply it.
Keep the three prices separate
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Cost price (CP) | What the seller paid |
| Marked price (MP) | The listed price before discount |
| Selling price (SP) | What the buyer actually pays |
Profit = SP − CP and profit percentage = profit ÷ CP × 100. Loss = CP − SP and loss percentage = loss ÷ CP × 100. Discount = MP − SP and discount percentage = discount ÷ MP × 100.
If a shop gives successive discounts, multiply the remaining factors. A 20% discount followed by 10% means the buyer pays 0.80 × 0.90 = 0.72 of the marked price, so the effective discount is 28%, not 30%.
Six original questions
Q1. Profit percentage
An item costs NPR 800 and sells for NPR 920. What is the profit percentage?
- A. 12%
- B. 15%
- C. 18%
- D. 20%
Q2. Discounted price
An item marked NPR 1,500 is sold at a 12% discount. What is the selling price?
- A. NPR 1,280
- B. NPR 1,300
- C. NPR 1,320
- D. NPR 1,380
Q3. Successive discounts
A shop gives a 20% discount and then a further 10% discount on the reduced price. What is the effective discount?
- A. 26%
- B. 28%
- C. 30%
- D. 32%
Q4. Find the cost price
An item is sold for NPR 1,080 at a loss of 10%. What was its cost price?
- A. NPR 1,100
- B. NPR 1,188
- C. NPR 1,200
- D. NPR 1,250
Q5. Marked price with profit and discount
A seller wants a 20% profit on an item costing NPR 1,000, even after giving a 20% discount on the marked price. What marked price is required?
- A. NPR 1,250
- B. NPR 1,400
- C. NPR 1,500
- D. NPR 1,600
Q6. Mark-up followed by discount
A price is increased by 25% and then discounted by 20%. Compared with the original price, the final price is:
- A. 5% lower
- B. unchanged
- C. 5% higher
- D. 10% higher
PAUSE · CHECK · IMPROVE
Use the next section as an action step.
Keep your working and source notes. Record what was uncertain, then choose one small correction or verification task before moving on.
Answers and explanations
Q1 — B, 15%. Profit = 920 − 800 = 120. Profit percentage = 120 ÷ 800 × 100 = 15%. Dividing by the selling price would use the wrong base.
Q2 — C, NPR 1,320. The buyer pays 88% of the marked price: 1,500 × 0.88 = 1,320.
Q3 — B, 28%. Remaining price = 0.80 × 0.90 = 0.72 of MP. The discount is therefore 1 − 0.72 = 0.28, or 28%.
Q4 — C, NPR 1,200. After a 10% loss, SP is 90% of CP. CP = 1,080 ÷ 0.90 = 1,200.
Q5 — C, NPR 1,500. The target SP is 1,000 × 1.20 = 1,200. That SP is 80% of MP, so MP = 1,200 ÷ 0.80 = 1,500.
Q6 — B, unchanged. The combined factor is 1.25 × 0.80 = 1.00. The two percentages cancel here because 20% of the increased value equals 25% of the original value; equal-looking changes do not usually cancel.
A reliable solving order
- Label CP, MP and SP.
- Write which value is the percentage base.
- Convert the percentage change into a multiplication factor.
- Estimate whether SP should be above or below CP and MP.
- State the currency or percentage in the final answer.
Continue with the percentage lesson or open the Quantitative Ability guide.
Questions and explanations are original MKS learning material. Study scenes are AI-generated illustrations.
Keep your preparation moving.
Explore the wider CMAT learning route or find current class information with MKSPrep.
