A man buys 15 mangoes for a rupee. How many mangoes had he sold for a rupee so that there is a loss of 25 percent?

a) 20
b) 17
c) 28
d) 38

Answer : a) 20

SSC Constable GD Exam – Elementary Mathematics

Solution

We need to find the selling price that results in a 25% loss.

1. Cost Price (CP): The man bought 15 mangoes for 1 rupee. Therefore, the cost price of 1 mango is:
   CP per mango = $ \frac{1 \text{ rupee}}{15 \text{ mangoes}} = \frac{1}{15} \text{ rupee} $
2. Selling Price (SP) with 25% loss: A 25% loss means the selling price is 75% of the cost price.
   $ \text{SP per mango} = \text{CP per mango} \times (1 – 0.25) = \frac{1}{15} \times 0.75 = \frac{3}{60} = \frac{1}{20} \text{ rupee} $
3. Number of mangoes sold for 1 rupee: To find how many mangoes are sold for 1 rupee at this selling price:
   $ \text{Number of mangoes} = \frac{1 \text{ rupee}}{\text{SP per mango}} = \frac{1}{\frac{1}{20}} = 20 \text{ mangoes} $

So, to incur a 25% loss, the man would need to sell 20 mangoes for 1 rupee.