The increase in the price of a certain item was 25% . Then the price was decreased by 20% and then again increased by 10% . What is the resultant increase in the price?
- A5%
- B10%Correct
- C12.5%
- D15%
Explanation
Let the original price of the item be 100 units.
-
First increase: The price is increased by 25%. New price = 100 + (25% of 100) = 100 + 25 = 125 units.
-
Second change: The price is then decreased by 20%. This decrease is applied to the new price (125 units). Decrease amount = 20% of 125 = (20/100) * 125 = (1/5) * 125 = 25 units. Price after decrease = 125 - 25 = 100 units.
-
Third change: The price is again increased by 10%. This increase is applied to the current price (100 units). Increase amount = 10% of 100 = (10/100) * 100 = 10 units. Final price = 100 + 10 = 110 units.
The original price was 100 units, and the final price is 110 units. The resultant increase in price = Final price - Original price = 110 - 100 = 10 units.
To express this as a percentage of the original price: Percentage increase = (Resultant increase / Original price) * 100% Percentage increase = (10 / 100) * 100% = 10%.
Therefore, the resultant increase in the price is 10%.
Analyzing the options: A) 5%: Incorrect. This would imply a smaller net change. B) 10%: Correct, as calculated. C) 12.5%: Incorrect. This could be a result of miscalculation or incorrectly applying percentages. D) 15%: Incorrect. This might arise from simply adding the percentage changes (25 - 20 + 10 = 15), which is an incorrect method for successive percentage changes.
The final answer is B.

Related questions
More UPSC Prelims practice from the same subject and topic.
- Prelims 2022CSATQuantitative Aptitude
A bill for ₹1,840 is paid in the denominations of ₹50, ₹20 and ₹10 notes. 50 notes in all are used. Consider the following statements: 1. 25 notes of ₹50 are used and the remaining are in the denomina…
- Prelims 2022CSATQuantitative Aptitude
In a tournament of Chess having 150 entrants, a player is eliminated whenever he loses a match. It is given that no match results in a tie/draw. How many matches are played in the entire tournament?
- Prelims 2022CSATQuantitative Aptitude
On one side of a 1.01 km long road, 101 plants are planted at equal distance from each other. What is the total distance between 5 consecutive plants?
- Prelims 2022CSATQuantitative Aptitude
Consider the Question and two Statements given below in respect of three cities P , Q and R in a State: Question: How far is city P from city Q ? Statement - 1: City Q is 18 km from city R . Statement…
- Prelims 2022CSATQuantitative Aptitude
Five friends P , Q , X , Y and Z purchased some notebooks. The relevant information is given below: 1. Z Purchased 8 notebooks more than X did. 2. P and Q Together purchased 21 notebooks. 3. Q purchas…
- Prelims 2022CSATQuantitative Aptitude
Consider the Question and two Statements given below: Question: What is the age of Manisha? Statement- 1: Manisha is 24 years younger than her mother. Statement- 2: 5 years later, the ages of Manisha …