UPSC Prelims 2024 CSAT Paper II · Q26 of 79 Basic Numeracy medium

P's salary is 20% lower than Q's salary which is 20% lower than R's salary. By how much percent is R's salary more than P's salary?

  1. (a) 48·75%
  2. (b) 56·25% ✓ UPSC's answer
  3. (c) 60·50%
  4. (d) 62·25%

Why the answer is (b)

• Let R's salary be 100 units.

• Q's salary is 20% lower than R's, so Q = 100 - 20 = 80 units.

• P's salary is 20% lower than Q's, so P = 80 - (20% of 80) = 80 - 16 = 64 units.

• The difference between R's and P's salary is 100 - 64 = 36 units.

• To find by what percent R is more than P, calculate (Difference / P's Salary) * 100 = (36 / 64) * 100.

• This simplifies to 0.5625 * 100 = 56.25%, which matches option (b).

Why the other options are wrong

(a) 48·75%
48.75% is incorrect because it does not result from the correct calculation of (36/64)*100.
(c) 60·50%
60.50% is incorrect because it does not result from the correct calculation of (36/64)*100.
(d) 62·25%
62.25% is incorrect because it does not result from the correct calculation of (36/64)*100.

Asked in the CSAT Paper II of the UPSC Civil Services Preliminary Examination 2024, held on 16 June 2024. Question and answer key: Union Public Service Commission. Explanation: UPSC Answer Check.

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