Mentoring Engineers: Alligation or Mixture
Mentoring Engineers: Alligation or Mixture
mentoring engineers
ALLIGATION OR MIXTURE
1. In what ratio must Basmati rice at Rs93 per kg be mixed with Basmati rice at Rs108 per kg so that the
mixture be worth Rs100 per kg?
(a) 7 : 8 (b) 8 : 7 (c) 31 : 36 (d) 36 : 31
2. In what ratio must wheat at Rs32 per kg be mixed with wheat at Rs29 per kg so that the mixture be
worth Rs30.80 per kg?
(a) 4 : 3 (b) 3 : 4 (c) 2 : 3 (d) 3 : 2
3. A merchant has 1000 kg of sugar, part of which he sells at 8% profit and the rest at 18% profit. He
gains 14% on the whole. The quantity sold at 18% profit is:
(a) 640 kg (b) 600 kg (c) 560 kg (d) 400 kg
4. A sum of Rs31200 was divided among 100 boys and girls in such a way that each boy gets Rs360 and
each girl Rs240. The number of girls is:
(a) 35 (b) 40 (c) 60 (d) 65
5. A mixture of 20 kg of spirit and water contains 10% water. How much water must be added to this
mixture to raise the percentage of water to 25%?
(a) 4 kg (b) 5 kg (c) 8 kg (d) 30 kg
6. In a mixture of 60 liters, the ratio of milk and water is 2 : 1. If the ratio of the milk and water is to
be 1 : 2, then the amount of water to be further added is:
(a) 20 liters (b) 30 liters (c) 40 liters (d) 60 liters
PERCENTAGE
1. 45% of ? + 30% of 90 = 30% of 210
(a) 120 (b) 90 (c) 80 (d) 60
2. Calculation shows that an angle is 37½0. The size obtained by drawing and measurement is 360. The
error percent is:
(a) 2 (b) 3 (c) 4 (d) 5
3. If 90% of A = 30% of B and B = x% of A, then x is equal to:
(a) 900 (b) 800 (c) 600 (d) 300
4. A person spends 40% of his salary on food articles and one-third of the remaining on transport. If he
saves Rs4500 per month which is half of the balance after spending on food items and transport,
what is monthly salary?
(a) Rs45,000 (b) Rs25,000 (c) Rs22,500 (d) Rs20,000
5. From a container having pure milk, 20% is replaced by water and the process is repeated thrice. At
the end of the third operation, the milk is:
(a) 40% pure (b) 50% pure (c) 51.2% pure (d) 58.8% pure
6. The salaries of A and B together amount to Rs20000. A spends 95% of his salary and B, 85% of his. If
now, their savings are the same, what is A’s salary?
(a) Rs16,000 (b) Rs15,000 (c) Rs12,500 (d) Rs7,500
7. 300 grams of sugar solution has 40% sugar in it. How much sugar should be added to make it 50% in
the solution?
(a) 10 grams (b) 40 grams (c) 60 grams (d) 80 grams
8. The price of an article is cut by 20%. To restore it to the former value, the new price must be
increased by:
(a) 20% (b) 24% (c) 25% (d) 30%
9. In a school, (1/5)th of girls and (1/4)th of boys are under 12 years of age. If the total strength of the
school is 1000 and the number of girls is (2/5)th of the total, what part of the total strength of the
school is accounted for by those which are 12 years or more of age?
1. A train 120 meters long travels at 60 km/hr. A man is running at 6 km/hr in the same direction in
which the train is going. The train will cross the man in:
(a) 5 seconds (b) 6 seconds (c) 7 seconds (d) 8 seconds
2. A train 270 meters long is moving at a speed of 25 km/hr. It will cross a man coming from the
opposite direction at a speed of 2 km/hr in:
(a) 36 sec (b) 32 sec (c) 28 sec (d) 24 sec
3. A train 150 meters long crosses a man walking at a speed of 6 km/hr in the opposite direction in 6
seconds. Find the speed of the train?
(a) 66 km/hr (b) 84 km/hr (c) 96 km/hr (d) 106 km/hr
4. A train 120 meters long passes a standing man in 5 seconds. How long will it take to cross a bridge
180 meters long?
(a) 3 sec (b) 6 sec (c) 7½ sec (d) 12½ sec
5. A train 100 meters long completely crosses a bridge 300 meters long in 30 seconds. How many
seconds will it take to pass a telegraph pole?
(a) 10 sec (b) 9 sec (c) 7½ sec (d) 6 sec
6. Two trains 90 meters and 120 meters long are running in opposite directions, one at the rate of 48
km/hr and another one at the rate of 60 km/hr. From the moment they meet, they will cross each
other in:
(a) 6 sec (b) 7 sec (c) 8 sec (d) 9 sec
7. A train of length 150 meters, takes 10 seconds to pass over another train 100 meters long coming
from the opposite direction. If the speed of the first train be 30 km/hr, then the speed of the second
train is:
(a) 36 km/hr (b) 54 km/hr (c) 60 km/hr (d) 72 km/hr
8. Two trains travelling in the same direction at 40 km/hr and 22 km/hr completely pass one another in
1 minute. If the length of the first train is 125 meters, the length of the second train is:
(a) 125 meters (b) 150 meters (c) 175 meters (d) 200
meters
Introduction: Sometimes two or more than two persons agree to run a business jointly. They are called
partners and the deal is known as partnership.
i. When capitals of all the partners are invested for the same time, the gains or losses in the business
are divided among the partners in the ratio of their investments.
ii. When capitals of partners are invested for different time, then equivalent capitals are obtained for 1
unit of time by multiplying the capital with the number of units. The gains or losses are now divided
among partners in the ratio of these capitals.
iii. A partner who manages the business is called a working partner while the one who simply invests
money but does not look after the business is called a sleeping partner.
EXERCISE
1. 4 (A’s capital) = 6 (B’s capital) = 9 (C’s capital). Then the ratio of their capitals is:
(a) 4 : 6 : 9 (b) 12 : 15 : 20 (c) 9 : 6 : 4 (d) 6 : 8 : 10
2. A and B start a business with initial investments in the ratio 12 : 11 and their annual profits were in
the ratio 4 : 1. If A invested the money for 11 months, B invested the money for
(a) 3 months (b) 4 months (c) 5 months (d) 6 months
3. A, B and C started a shop by investing Rs 27000, Rs 81000 and Rs 72000 respectively. At the end of
one year, the profit was distributed. If B’s share was Rs 36000, their total profit was:
(a) Rs 1,16,000 (b) Rs 1,08,000 (c) Rs 80,000 (d) Rs 76,000
4. A and B enter into partnership investing Rs 1,20,000 and Rs 1,60,000 respectively. After 8 months, C
also joins the business with a capital of Rs 1,50,000. Find the share of C in a profit of Rs 4,56,000
after 2 years:
(a) Rs 1,20,000 (b) Rs 1,44,000 (c) Rs 1,92,000 (d)Rs 2,12,000
5. A invested Rs 3,00,000 for a year and B joined him with Rs 2,00,000 after 4 months. After the year
they received a return of Rs 2,60,000. B’ share is:
(a) Rs 80,000 (b) Rs 75000 (c) Rs 60,000 (d) Rs 50,000
6. A started a business with Rs 3,00,000 and 4 months later B joined. If at the end of the year, the
profits are divided by A and B in the proportion of 9 : 4. Find B’s capital?
(a) Rs 1,80,000 (b) Rs 2,00,000 (c) Rs 2,20,000 (d)Rs 2,50,000
7. A, B and C contract a work for Rs 55,000. Together A and B are to do (7/11) of the work. What is C’s
share?
(a) Rs 40,000 (b) Rs 30,000 (c) Rs 20,000 (d) Rs 10,000
8. A invested Rs 3,00,000 for one year in a business. How much B should invest in order that the profit
after 1 year may divided in the ratio 2 : 3?
(a) Rs 2,00,000 (b) Rs 3,00,000 (c) Rs 4,50,000 (d) Rs
6,00,000
9. M got Rs 60,000 as his share out of the total profit of Rs 90,000 which M and R earned at the end of
one year. If M invested Rs 2,00,000 for 6 months, whereas R invested his amount for the whole year,
the amount invested by R was:
(a) Rs 6,00,000 (b) Rs 4,00,000 (c) Rs 1,00,000 (d) Rs 50,000
10. A, B and C entered into partnership. A invested some money at the beginning; B invested double the
amount after 6 months and C invested thrice the amount after 8 months. If the annual profit be Rs
1,80,000, find C’s share?
(a) Rs 50,000 (b) Rs 60,000 (c) Rs 72,000 (d) Rs 75,000
CHAIN RULE
The method of finding the fourth proportional when the other three are given is called Simple Proportion or
Rule of Three. Repeated use of the rule of three is called Compound Proportion.
Direct Proportion: Two quantities are said to be directly proportional if on the increase or decrease of the
one, the other increases or decreases to the same extent. For example
i. Cost of articles is directly proportional to number of articles. i.e., more articles, more cost & less
articles, less cost.
ii. The work done is directly proportional to the number of men employed to do the work. i.e., more
men, more work and less men, less work.
Indirect Proportion: Two quantities are said to be indirectly proportional if on the increase of the one, the
other decreases to the same extent and vice-versa. For example
i. Less number of days required to finish a work, more persons are to be employed.
ii. The time taken to cover a distance is inversely proportional to the speed of the car. i.e., more speed,
less is the time taken.
EXERCISE
1. If 6 men working 8 hours a day earn Rs 8400 per week, then how much 9 men working 6 hours a day
will earn per week:
(a) Rs 8,400 (b) Rs 9,450 (c) Rs 16,200 (d) Rs 16,800
2. If 300 men can do a piece of work in 16 days, how many men would do (1/5) of the work in 15 days?
(a) 56 (b) 60 (c) 64 (d) 72
3. 20 men complete one-third of a piece of work in 20 days. How many more men should be employed
to finish the rest of the work in 25 more days?
(a) 10 (b) 12 (c) 15 (d) 20
4. A contractor undertook to do a piece of work in 9 days. He employed certain number of labourers but
6 of them being absent from the very first day, the rest could finish the work in 15 days. The number
of men originally employed were:
(a) 12 (b) 15 (c) 18 (d) 24
5. A rope makes 140 rounds of the circumference of a cylinder whose radius of the base is 14 cm. How
many times can it go round a cylinder with radius 20 cm:
(a) 17 (b) 50 (c) 98 (d) 200
6. If Andy can walk a distance of 5 km in 20 minutes. How long he can go in 50 minutes?
(a) 10.5 km (b) 12 km (c) 12.5 km (d) 15 km
7. If (4/5)th of a cistern is filled in 1 minute, how much more time will be required to fill the rest of it:
(a) 20 sec (b) 15 sec (c) 12 sec (d) 10 sec
Formulae:
1. If the speed of a boat in still water be x km/hr and the speed of the stream be y km/hr, then:
Speed of boat along the stream (i.e. downstream) = (x + y) km/hour.
Speed of boat against the stream (i.e. upstream) = (x – y) km/hour.
2. If a man rows in still water at x km/hour and the rate of current (or stream) is y km/hour,
then
Man’s rate with the current = (x + y) km/hour
Man’s rate against the current = (x – y) km/hour
3. Rate in still water = ½ [(rate with the current) + (rate against the current)]
4. Rate of current = ½ [(rate with the current) - (rate against the current)]
EXERCISE
1. A man can row with the stream at 10 km/hr and against the stream at 5 km/hr. Man’s rate in still
water is:
(a) 15 km/hr (b) 7.5 km/hr (c) 5 km/hr (d) 2.5 km/hr
17. A sum amount to Rs13520 in 2 years at 4% compound interest. The principal is:
(a) Rs13000 (b) Rs12600 (c) Rs12500 (d) Rs12000
18. At what rate percent compound interest will Rs62500 amount to Rs90000 in 2 years?
(a) 10% (b) 15% (c) 20% (d) 25%
19. The compound interest on a certain sum of money for 2 years at 10% per annum is Rs4200. The
simple interest on the same sum at the same rate and same time will be:
(a) Rs3500 (b) Rs3750 (c) Rs3800 (d) Rs4000
20. Find the difference between simple interest and the compound interest on Rs8000 at 5% per annum
for 1 year?
(a) Nil (b) Rs15 (c) Rs44 (d) Rs65
21. The simple interest on a sum of money for 2 years is Rs100 and the compound interest on the same
sum at the same rate for the same time is Rs104. The rate of interest (per annum) is:
(a) 2% (b) 3% (c) 4% (d) 8%
22. The simple interest on a certain sum for 2 years at 10% per annum is Rs900. The corresponding
compound interest is:
(a) Rs990 (b) Rs956 (c) Rs945 (d) Rs1080
23. The difference between simple interest and the compound interest on a certain sum of money for 2
years at 10% is Rs80. The sum is:
(a) Rs16000 (b) Rs12000 (c) Rs8000 (d) Rs6400
24. A sum of money placed at compound interest doubles itself in 5 years. It will amount to 8 times itself
in:
(a) 20 years (b) 15 years (c) 12 years (d) 10 years