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NCERT Solutions Ganita Prakash (Part 2) Chapter 1 In-text Questions — — Profit and Loss

Book page 17 Updated on2026-09-05

Q1.
Find the profit percentage of the wholesaler and the manufacturer. [From the sweater's journey — Manufacturing unit: CP ₹230, MP ₹255, SP ₹253. Wholesale store: CP ₹253, MP ₹310, SP ₹300. Retail store: CP ₹300, MP ₹480, SP ₹430.]
Answer

Profit percentage is always taken on the cost price of that seller.

Manufacturer: CP ₹230, SP ₹253
Profit = 253 – 230 = ₹23
Profit % = 23/230 × 100 = 10%

Wholesaler: CP ₹253, SP ₹300
Profit = 300 – 253 = ₹47
Profit % = 47/253 × 100 = 4700/253 = 18.58% (18.577…%)

Retailer (Kishanlal, for comparison): CP ₹300, SP ₹430
Profit = ₹130, Profit % = 130/300 × 100 = 43.33%
Why it happens: Notice that one sweater carries three different “cost prices” and three different “selling prices” — the wholesaler's cost price, ₹253, is the manufacturer's selling price. The labels CP, MP and SP are not properties of the sweater; they describe a particular transaction. So each seller's profit percentage must be worked out against their own buying price. The percentages differ widely (10%, 18.58%, 43.33%) even though every step adds a modest amount of rupees.
Check it yourself: Nobody sells at the marked price. The manufacturer marks ₹255 and sells at ₹253; the wholesaler marks ₹310 and sells at ₹300; Kishanlal marks ₹480 and sells at ₹430. The gap between MP and SP is the discount given after bargaining.
Q2.
Shambhavi owns a stationery shop. She procures 200 page notebooks at ₹36 per book. She sells them with a profit margin of 20%. Find the selling price.
Answer
Cost price = ₹36, profit margin = 20% of the cost price
Profit = 20% of 36 = 0.20 × 36 = ₹7.20
Selling price = 36 + 7.20 = ₹43.20

In one step, using the fact that the selling price is 120% of the cost price:

SP = 1.2 × 36 = ₹43.20
Why it happens: “A profit margin of 20%” means the profit is 20% of what she paid. So her selling price is the whole cost (100%) plus the profit (20%) — that is, 120% of ₹36. Adding the percentage to 100 and multiplying once is quicker and less error-prone than finding the profit and adding it separately.
Q3.
She sells crayon boxes at ₹50 per box with a profit margin of 25%. How much did Shambhavi buy them from the wholesaler?
Answer

Here the selling price is known and the cost price is not — so we must undo the mark-up.

SP = 125% of CP
1.25 × CP = 50
CP = 50/1.25 = ₹40

Check: profit = 50 – 40 = ₹10, and 10/40 × 100 = 25%. ✓

Why it happens: A common mistake is to take 25% of ₹50, get ₹12.50, and answer ₹37.50. That is wrong because the 25% is measured on the cost price, not the selling price — the base is the smaller number. Checking confirms it: 12.50 on a cost of 37.50 would be a margin of 33.33%, not 25%.
Q4.
Could we have just calculated the loss percentage per kg instead? Would it be the same? [Raghu bought rice at ₹35 per kg and sold 10 kg for ₹300, a loss of ₹50 on ₹350, i.e. 14.28%.]
Answer

Yes — the loss percentage per kilogram is exactly the same, 14.28%.

Per kg: CP = ₹35, SP = 300/10 = ₹30
Loss per kg = 35 – 30 = ₹5
Loss % = 5/35 × 100 = 500/35 = 14.28% (14.2857…%)

For 10 kg: loss = ₹50 on a cost of ₹350
Loss % = 50/350 × 100 = 14.28%
Why it happens: Going from 1 kg to 10 kg multiplies the loss by 10 and the cost price by 10. In the fraction 50/350 both the numerator and the denominator carry that same factor of 10, so it cancels: 50/350 = 5/35. A percentage is a ratio, and a ratio does not notice how much you scale both of its parts. That is why a shopkeeper can quote one profit percentage for a whole sack and for a single kilogram.
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