Lesson 2.2: Profit, Loss & Discount

Objective: Learn to calculate profit, loss, and discount quickly and accurately, which are frequently asked topics in Banking Exams.

1. Basic Concepts

• Cost Price (CP): The price at which an item is purchased.

• Selling Price (SP): The price at which an item is sold.

• Profit: When SP > CP.

  • Profit = SP – CP

  • Profit % = (Profit ÷ CP) × 100

• Loss: When CP > SP.

  • Loss = CP – SP

  • Loss % = (Loss ÷ CP) × 100

2. Discount

• Discount (D): Reduction given on the marked price (MP).

  • Discount = MP – SP

  • Discount % = (Discount ÷ MP) × 100

• Relationship: SP = MP – Discount

Example:

• If the marked price is ₹500 and discount is 10%, SP = 500 – (10% of 500) = 500 – 50 = ₹450

3. Shortcut Tricks

1. Profit/Loss Shortcut Formula:

   • Profit % ≈ (Profit ÷ CP) × 100

   • Loss % ≈ (Loss ÷ CP) × 100

2. Discount Shortcut:

   • SP = MP × (1 – Discount%)

   • Quick calculation for multiple discounts: Multiply successive factors:

     • 10% discount followed by 20% discount = 500 × 0.9 × 0.8

3. Successive Profit/Loss:

   • Net Gain % or Loss % = Sum of percentages when small, approximate for quick calculation.

4. Tips for Banking Exams

• Practice word problems regularly.

• Memorize common percentages and fractions for speed.

• Solve shortcut calculation problems using factorization.

• Always read the question carefully to identify CP, SP, and discount correctly.

✅ Lesson Summary:
Profit, Loss, and Discount are core topics in Quantitative Aptitude. Using shortcut formulas, percentage tricks, and practice with word problems helps solve questions quickly and accurately in Banking Exams.