byjusexamprep.

com

General Aptitude Study Notes for GATE Exam

Quantitative Aptitude Study Notes for GATE

Boats & Streams

Boat and Stream is one of the frequently asked topics in the exam. Before learning the concepts of the exam one must be aware of the
terms that are used in the questions.

Upstream

 When the boat moves against the current of the river (i.e. in opposite direction), then the relative speed of the boat is the
difference of the speed of the boat and stream. It is known as upstream speed.
 Remember it with UP as going up the hill means against the direction of the force (speed) of the river.
 If the speed of boat or swimmer is x km/h and the speed of the stream is y km/h then,

Speed of boat upstream = (x − y) km/h

Downstream

 When the boat moves with the current of the river (i.e. in the same direction), then the relative speed of the boat is the sum of
the speed of the boat and stream. It is known as downstream speed.
 Remember it with DOWN as going down the hill means towards the direction of the force (speed) of the river.
 If speed of boat or swimmer is x km/h and the speed of the stream is y km/h then,

Speed of boat downstream = (x + y) km/h

Important Point
 When the speed of the boat is given then it means speed in the still water, unless it is stated otherwise.

Some Basic Formulas

 Speed of boat in still water is = ½ (Downstream Speed + Upstream Speed)
 Speed of stream is = ½ (Downstream Speed – Upstream Speed)

Frequently Asked Types of Questions

 Type 1: When the distance covered by boat in downstream is same as the distance covered by boat upstream. The speed of
boat in still water is x and speed of stream is y then ratio of time taken in going upstream and downstream is,
 Short Trick: Time taken in upstream : Time taken in Downstream = (x+y)/(x-y)

Example: A man can row 9km/h in still water. It takes him twice as long as to row up as to row down. Find the rate of the stream of the
river.

Solution:

1
byjusexamprep.com
Time taken in upstream : Time taken in Downstream = 2 : 1

Downstream speed : Upstream speed = 2 : 1

Let the speed of man = B, & speed of stream = S

B + S : B – S = 2/1

By using Componendo & Dividendo

B/R = 3/1, R = B/3

R = 9/3 = 3km/h

 Type 2: A boat cover certain distance downstream in t1 hours and returns the same distance upstream in t2 hours. If the speed
of stream is y km/h, then the speed of the boat in still water is:
 Short Trick: Speed of Boat = y [(t2 + t1) / (t2 – t1)]

Example: A man can row certain distance downstream in 2 hours and returns the same distance upstream in 6 hours. If the speed of
stream is 1.5 km/h, then the speed of man in still water is

Solution:

By using above formulae = 1.5 [(6+2) / (6-2)] = 1.5 * (8/4) = 1.5 * 2 = 3km/h

 Type 3: A boat’s speed in still water at x km/h. In a stream flowing at y km/h, if it takes it t hours to row to a place and come
back, then the distance between two places is
 Short Trick:Distance = [t*(x2 – y2)]/2x

Example: A motor-boat can move with the speed of 7 km/h. If the river is flowing at 3 km/h, it takes him 14 hours for a round trip. Find
the distance between two places?

Solution: By using above formulae

= [14 * (72 – 32)]/2* 7 = [14 * (49-9)]/2*7

= 14*40/2*7 = 40km

 Type 4: A boat’s speed in still water at x km/h. In a stream flowing at y km/h, if it takes t hours more in upstream than to go
downstream for the same distance, then the distance is
 Short Trick: Distance = [t*(x2 – y2)]/2y

Example: A professional swimmer challenged himself to cross a small river and back. His speed in swimming pool is 3km/h. He
calculated the speed of the river that day was 1km/h. If it took him 15 mins more to cover the distance upstream than downstream, then
find the width of the river?

Solution: By using the above formulae

Distance = [t*(x2 – y2)]/2y

= [(15/60) (32 – 12)]/2*1

= [(1/4) * 8] / 2

= 2/2 = 1 km.

 Type 5: A boat’s speed in still water at x km/h. In a stream flowing at y km/h, if it cover the same distance up and down the
stream, then its average speed is
 Short Trick: Average speed = upstream * downstream / man’s speed in still water

2
byjusexamprep.com
 Note: The average speed is independent of the distance between the places.

Example

Find the average speed of a boat in a round trip between two places 18 km apart. If the speed of the boat in still water is 9km/h and the
speed of the river is 3km/h?

Solution: Average speed = upstream * downstream / man’s speed in still water

Average speed = 6 * 12 / 9 = 8km/h

Mixture & Alligation

Mixture and Alligation is one of the toughest chapters in which candidates are confused. To make the chapter easy we are
providing Concepts and Tricks on Mixture and Allegation which will surely make the chapter easy for all of you.

Alligation
 To find the mean or average value of mixture when the prices of two or more ingredients which may be mixed together and the
proportion in which they mixed are given.
 To find the proportion in which the ingredients at given prices must be mixed to produce a mixture at a given price.

Note:

 The word Alligation literally means linking. The rule takes its name from the lines or links used in working out questions
on mixture.
 Alligation method is applied to the percentage value, ratio, rate, prices, speed etc and not for absolute values. That is, whenever
per cent, per hour, per kg, per km etc, are being compared, we can use Alligation.

Rules of Alligation
 if the gradients are mixed in a ratio, then

We represent it as under:

3
byjusexamprep.com

 Then, (cheaper quantity) : (dearer quantity) = (d – m ) : (m – c)

Solved problems
 Ex1: In what proportion must rice at Rs3.10 per kg be mixed with rice at Rs3.60 per kg, so that the mixture be worth Rs3.25 a
kg?

Solution:

4
byjusexamprep.com
By the alligation rule :

they must be mixed in the ratio 7 :3.

Milk and Water

 Ex2: A mixture of certain quantity of milk with 16 liters of water is worth 90 P per liter. If pure milk be worth Rs1.08 per liter,
how much milk is there in the mixture?

Solution:

 The mean value is 90 P and price of water is 0 P.

By the Alligation Rule, milk and water are in the ratio of 5 :1.

The quantity of milk in the mixture = 5 ×16 = 80 liters.

5
byjusexamprep.com
 Ex3: 300 gm of sugar solution has 40% sugar in it. How much sugar should be added to make it 50% in the solution?

Solution:

The existing solution has 40% sugar, and sugar is to be mixed ; so the other solution has 100% sugar. So, by alligation method;

the two mixture should be added in the ratio 5 :1

Therefore, required sugar =

Direct formula

6
byjusexamprep.com
Quantity of sugar added =

In this case,

Ans =

Percentage

 The percentage is an important part of Quantitative Aptitude. Whether it is DI, Profit & Loss, SI-CI, or Allegation, etc. all these
chapters with the help of percentage can be solved easily.
 You can go through the basics of percentage and previous year asked questions. We will study the percentage in two parts. In
this article, we will discuss the basics of the percentage.

A percentage is a number or ratio expressed as a fraction of 100. It is a proportion per hundred.

 When we say 35 percent in mathematical notation we write 35%.

 When we want to express this in mathematical form, 35% means 35 per 100 or (35/100).
 Important: 50% of 20 can be written 20% of 50 as well.
 You can also represent % into decimal, 50% = 0.5

Conversion of fraction into %.

 To convert fraction into %, we multiply it by 100.

¼ = (¼)× 100 % = 25 %.
1/3 = (1/3) ×100 % = 33(1/3) %
1/14 = (1/14) ×100 % = (100/14)%=(50/7)%= 7 (1/7) %
Note: Never forget to express % notation in the percentage.

We suggest you that you must learn both tables given below.

7
byjusexamprep.com

Percentage Fraction Percentage Fraction Percentage

Fraction
1 100% 1/7 14(2/7) % 1/13 7 (9/13) %

1/2 50% 1/8 12(1/2) % 1/14 7 (1/7) %

1/3 33(1/3) % 1/9 11(1/9) % 1/15 6 (2/3) %

1/4 25% 1/10 10 % 1/16 6 (1/4) %

1/5 20% 1/11 9 (1/11) %

1/6 16(2/3) % 1/12 8 (1/3) %

 Conversion of % into fraction.

To convert % into fraction, we divide it by 100. So, we can express in this way:
100% = (100/100) = 1 1% = (1/100) 2% = (2/100) = (1/50)
50% = 50/100 = ½
20% = 20/100 = 1/5
10% = 10/100 = 1/10
16(2/3)% = (50/3)% =50/(3×100) = 50/300 = 1/6

Fraction Percentage Fraction Percentage Fraction

Percentage
10% 1/10 16 (2/3)% 1/6 15% 3/20

20% 1/5 66 (2/3) % 2/3 7(1/2)% 3/40

40% 2/5 6(1/4)% 1/16 22(1/2)% 9/40

60% 3/5 18(3/4) % 3/16 69(3/13) % 9/13

80% 4/5

In following examples we will try to avoid calculation using above table.

(i) 99% of 840

we can say 10% = 84,So 1% = 8.4
99% of 840 = 840-8.4=831.6

(ii)25% of 320 = (1/4)× 320

=80
(iii) 76% of 400?
76%=50%+25%+1%
= 200+100+4
= 304
(iv) 102% of 720?
1%= 7.2 so 2%= 14.4
102% = 100%+2%= 720+14.4 = 734.4
(v)18% of 300?
18% = 20%-2%= (1/5)×300-6
= 60-6 = 54
or 1% = 3 so 18%= 18×3=54
(vi) 12% of 540?
1%=5.4

8
byjusexamprep.com
12% = 10%+2+
= 54+10.8
= 64.8

Worked Examples
 Example1: Out of his total income, Mr Sharma spends 20% on house rent and 70% of the rest on household expenses. If he
saves Rs 1,800 what is his total income (in rupees)?

Solution: Let Income of Mr Sharma is 100

then he spends 20% on house, so remaining amount is 80.
now he spends 70% of 80 on household expenses, so remaining amount left with him is 30% of 80
30% of 80 = 1800
24 = 1800
1 = 1800/24
1 = 75
100= 7500
hence total income is 7500 Rs.
Or, Let total income is P
(100%-20%)×(100%-70%)× P = 1800
80%× 30%× P=1800
((80×30)/(100*100)) × P = 1800
P = 7500

 Example2: An army lost 10% of its men in war, 10% of the remaining due to diseases died and 10% of the rest were disabled.
Thus, the strength was reduced to 729000 active men. Find the original strength.

Solution: Let army has 100 men.

10% loss in war, so remained are 90 men
then,10% of 90 died due to diseases, remained 90-9 = 81
then again, 10% of 81 again disabled
So, remained men = 90% of 81
90% of 81 = 729000
(90×81)/100 =729000
1= 10000
100 = 1000000
hence total men are 1000000.

 Example3: In a village three people contested for the post of village Sarpanch. Due to their own interest, all the voters voted
and no one vote was invalid. The losing candidate got 30% votes. What could be the minimum absolute margin of votes by
which the winning candidate led by the nearest rival, if each candidate got an integral percent of votes?

Solution: As given, no vote was invalid i.e. 100% votes were polled and all candidate got votes in integer value. There were 3 candidates,
one losing candidate got 30%, so remaining two candidates got 70% vote of the total.
Candidate 1 + candidate 2 = 70%
An important point which is given in the question is minimum absolute margin and integral value.
Case 1: Suppose candidate 1 got 40%, then-candidate 2 had got 30%. But this is not minimum absolute margin.
Case 2: Both got 35% votes, If both got equal votes then there will be no winning candidate.
Case 3: One candidate must have got 34% and another one has got 36%.
Hence absolute margin is 2%.

 Example4: The difference between 4/5 of a number and 45% of the number is 56. What is 65% of the number?

9
byjusexamprep.com
Solution: Let number is P.
we can say 4/5 = 80%
so, (80%-45%) of P = 56
35% of P = 56
P = (56/35%)
65% of P = 56/35 ×65 = 104

 Example5: Deeksha’s science test consists of 85 questions from three sections- i.e. A, B and C. 10 questions from section A, 30
questions from section B and 45 question from section C. Although, she answered 70% of section A, 50% of section B and 60%
of section C correctly. She did not pass the test because she got less than 60% of the total marks. How many more questions she
would have to answer correctly to earn 60% of the marks which is passing grade?

Solution: If she has done 60% of total questions she would have passed.
So, no. of question to be done to pass= 60% of 85 = (3/5)×85 = 51
But she done 70% of A = 70% of 10 = 7
50% of B = 50% of 30 = 15
60% of C = (3/5) of 45 = 27
So , total questions she attempted = (7+15+27) = 49
If she has attempted (51-49) = 2 more questions she would have passed.

 Example6: In an election between 2 candidates, 75% of the voters cast their votes, out of which 2% votes were declared invalid.
A candidate got 18522 votes which were 75% of the valid votes. What was the total number of voters enrolled in the election?

Solution: Let the total number of voters enrolled are P.

Number of votes casted = 75% of P = (75/100) P = 0.75 P
Important: Those votes which were declared invalid are 2% of casted voted not 2% of total votes.
So, valid votes are = (100%-2%) of 0.75P = 98% of 0.75P
Given Candidates got 75% of valid votes = 18522
(75%) × 98% × 0.75 P = 18522
(3/4) * (98/10) * (3/4) P = 18522
P = 42 × 800
P = 33600 votes.

 Example7: An ore contains 20% of an alloy that has 85% iron. Other than this, in the remaining 80% of the ore, there is no
iron. What is the quantity of ore (in kg) needed to obtain 60 kg of pure iron?

Solution: Let quantity of ore is P kg

P × 20% × 85% = 60kg
P × (1/5) × (17/20) = 60
P = (60×5× 20)/17
P = 6000/17 Kg

 Example8: 5% of one number (X) is 25% more than another number (Y). If the difference between the numbers is 96 then find
the value of X?

Solution : Given: 5% of X = Y + 25% of Y

0.05 X = 1.25 Y
X = 25 Y
X-Y=96
25Y-Y =96
24Y=96
Y = 4 so, X = 100

10
byjusexamprep.com

Time & Work

 Time and Work is an important topic of the arithmetic section.We are sharing with you some important questions asked under
Time and work topic along with various approaches that you can follow to solve these questions.
 After going through these questions, make sure that you practice the questions to you understand these concepts clearly. In
case of any query, leave a comment and we will try to solve it for you.

Example 1

 A takes 8 days to finish a piece of work. B takes 10 days to finish the same work. How long will it take to finish the work when
both of them are working together?

Solution

 Basic Approach:

Now for such questions, A’s 1 day work = 1/8

B’s 1 day work = 1/10
Work done by both A and B together in one day = 1/8 + 1/10 = 9/40
Hence, A and B together will finish the work in 40/9 days.

11
byjusexamprep.com
While taking exam, you can express the information provided in the undermentioned form so that it consumes less time and space.

Example 2

 A takes 8 day to finish a piece of work. B takes 10 days to finish the same work. C takes 20 days to finish the work. How long will
it take to finish the work when all are working together?

Solution

Example 3

 A takes 8 day to finish a piece of work. B takes 10 days to finish the same work. C takes 20 days to finish the work. D takes 40
days to finish the work. How long will it take to finish the work when all of them are working together?

Solution

12
byjusexamprep.com

Example 4

 B and C together can complete the work in 8 days. A and B together can complete the same work in 12 days while A and C
together can complete it in 16 days.

Solution

13
byjusexamprep.com

(a) In how many days A, B and C together can complete the same work?

(b) In how many days A alone can complete the work?

14
byjusexamprep.com

(c) In how many days B alone can complete the work?

(d) In how many days C alone can complete the work?

Example 5

15
byjusexamprep.com
If A+B can do a work in 10 days and A alone can complete the same work in 15 days. Find the no. of days taken by B to complete the
work alone?

Solution

Example 6

 If A+B+C can do a work in 6 days, A+B can do a work in 8 days and and A+C can do a work in 10 days.

Solution

16
byjusexamprep.com

17
byjusexamprep.com

Example 7

 Rohit can do a piece of work in 10 days, but with the help of Amit, he can do the same work in 6 days. In what time Amit can do
the same work alone?

Solution

18
byjusexamprep.com

Example 8:

 There are two gardeners A and B. Both plant some no. of trees in a garden in 10 days and 16 days respectively. In how many
days both can complete the work together?

Solution:

Now let’s discuss this same question by a different approach.

19
byjusexamprep.com

 When time taken by A and B respectively is given, we can find the ratio of efficiency of A and B by taking inverse of
their time.

20
byjusexamprep.com

Let’s do some examples to calculate efficiency.

Example 9:

 If A and B alone do the same work in 14 and 18 days respectively, then ratio of efficiency of A and B.

Solution:

Example 10 :

 If A and B together complete the work in 10 days and B alone complete the same work in 15 days. In how many days can A
alone complete the same work?

Solution:

21
byjusexamprep.com

Example: 11

 A is thrice as good as workman as B. Together they can finish a work in 12 days. In how many days will A finish the same work
alone?

Solution:

22
byjusexamprep.com

Thanks

****

23