1

ALLIGATION OR MIXTURE
NATIONALISED BANKS (LIC Assistant Administrative
& IBPS PO/MT/SO Officer (AAO) Exam. 2006)
1. In a mix tu re of mil k and w ater the 2. A man purchased 35 kg of rice at the rate
proportion of water by weight was 75% . If of Rs. 9.50 per kg and 30 kg at the rate of
in the 60 gms mixture 15 gms water was Rs. 10.50 per kg. He mixed the two.
added, what would be the percentage of Approximately, at what price (in Rupees)
water in the new mixture ? per kg should he sell the mixture to make
(1) 75% (2) 88% 35 per cent profit in the transaction ?
(3) 90% (4) 100% (1) 12 (2) 12.50
(5) None of these (3) 13 (4) 13.50
(Indian Overseas Bank PO (LIC Assistant Administrative
Exam. 05.04.2009) Officer (AAO) Exam. 07.06.2009)
3. To m litres of a m% solution of acid, x litres
of water is mixed to yield (m- 10)% solution
SBI PO EXAMS
of acid. If m > 25, then x equals
1. In 1kg mixture of sand and iron, 20% is
iron. How much sand should be added, so 10m 5m
that the proportion of iron becomes 5% ? (1) (2)
m  10 m  10
(1) 3 kg (2) 4 gms
(3) 5 gms (4) 6 kg 2m m
(3) (4)
(5) None of these m  10 m  10
(SBI Associate Banks (New India Assurance
PO Exam. 14.02.1999) AO Exam. 25.10.2009)
2. The wheat sold by a grocer contained 10% 4. When one litre of water is added to a
low quality wheat. What quantity of good mixture of acid and water, the new mixture
quality wheat should be added to 150 kgs contains 20% acid. When one litre of acid
of wheat so that the percentage of low is added to the new mixture, then the
quality wheat becomes 5% ?
1
(1) 150 kgs (2) 135 kgs resulting mixture contains 33 % acid. The
(3) 50 kgs (4) 85 kgs 3
(5) None of these percentage of acid in the original mixture
(SBI Associate Banks PO was
Exam. 21.07.2002) (1) 20% (2) 22%
3. A grocer purchased 2 kg. of rice at the rate (3) 24% (4) 25%
of Rs. 15 per kg. and 3 kg. of rice at the (New India Insurance AAO
rate of Rs. 13 per kg. At what price per kg Exam. 22.05.2011)
5. Two barrels contain a mixture of ethanol
1 and gasoline. The content of the ethanol is
should he sell the mixture to earn 33 %
3 60% in the first barrel and 30% in the
profit on the cost price ? second barrel. In what ratio must the
(1) Rs. 28.00 (2) Rs. 20.00 mixtures from the first and the second
(3) Rs. 18.40 (4) Rs. 17.40 barrel s be take n to form a mix tu re
(5) None of these containing 50% ethanol ?
(SBI PO Exam. 26.11.2006) (1) 1 : 2 (2) 2 : 1
(3) 2 : 3 (4) 3 : 2
INSURANCE EXAMS (General Insurance Corporation
1. The wheat sold by a grocer contained 10% AAO Exam. 11.12.2011)
low quality wheat. What quantity of good 6. To x litres of an x% solution of acid, y litres
quality wheat should be added to 150 kgs of water is added to get (x -10)% solution of
of wheat so that the percentage of low acid. If x > 20, then value of y is
quality wheat becomes 5% ?
x2 10 x
(1) 150 kgs (2) 135 kgs (1) (2)
(3) 50 kgs (4) 85 kgs 100 x  10
(5) None of these

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8. A container has 30 litres of water. If 3 litres
10 x 10 x 2 of water is replaced by 3 litres of spirit and
(3) (4)
x  10 x  10 this operation is repeated twice, what will be
(Oriental Insurance Company the quantity of water in the new mixture ?
AAO Exam. 08.04.2012) (1) 24 litres (2) 23 litres
7. A and B are two alloys of gold and copper (3) 24.3 litres (4) 23.3 litres
prepared by mixing metals in the ratio 7 : 2 (5) None of these
and 7 : 11 respectively. If equal quantities (LIC Assistant Administrative
of the alloys are melted to form a third alloy Officer (AAO) Exam. 12.05.2013)
C, the ratio of gold and copper in C will be :
(1) 5 : 7 (2) 5 : 9
(3) 7 : 5 (4) 9 : 5
(Oriental Insurance Company
AAO Exam. 08.04.2012)

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SHORT ANSWERS 2000
 x= = 4000 gms
5
NATIONALISED BANKS  Required answer = 4000 gms - 1000 gms
& IBPS PO/MT/SO = 3000 gms = 3 kg.
1. (5) 2. (1) Good quality content in 150 kgs of wheat
= 90% of 150 = 135 kg.
SBI PO EXAMS In new mixture, low quality wheat is 5% ,
l. (1) 2. (1) so good quality wheat 95%
3. (3)  5% of the new mixture = 15 kg,
15  100
INSURANCE EXAMS  New mixture = = 300 kg
5
1. (1) 2. (4)
 Good quality of wheat added
3. (1) 4. (4) = (300 - 150)kg. = 150 kg.
5. (2) 6. (2) 3. (3) Mixture : 2 kg of rice at Rs.
7. (3) 8. (3) 15/kg + 3 kg of rice at Rs. 13/kg
Total weight = 2 + 3 = 5 kg
EXPLANATIONS Total cost price = (2 × 15) + (3 × 13)
NATIONALISED BANKS = 30 + 39 = Rs. 69
& IBPS PO/MT/SO Cost price per kg of the mixture
1. (5) In 60 gm of mixture, Quantity of water 69
= = Rs.13.80
75 5
= 60 × = 45gm
100 1
Quantity of milk = 15 gm Selling price to get 33 % profit
3
After mixing 15 gm of more water, Quantity
of water in the new mixture = 45 + 15 1
10  33
= 60 gm 3 × Rs 13.80
=
 Quantity of water in 75 gm of mixture 100
= 60 gm
 100 gm of of mixture will contain 400
= × Rs 13.80
60 3  100
= × 100 = 80% of water
75 4
= × Rs 13.80 = Rs 18.40
SBI PO EXAMS 3
1. (1) Amount of iron in 1 kg mixture = 20%
of 1000 gms INSURANCE EXAMS
20  1000 1. (1) Good quality content in 150 kgs of wheat
= gms = 90% of 150 = 135 kg.
100
In new mixture, low quality wheat is 5% ,
= 200 gms so good quality wheat 95%
 Amount of sand in mixture  5% of the new mixture =15 kg
= (1000 - 200) gms = 800 gms
Now, let the total mixture is x kg in which 15  100
iron is 20%  New mixture = 5
= 300 kg
 According to the question,  Good quality of wheat added
5% of x = 200 gm = (300 - 150) kg. = 150 kg.
 5% of x = 200 2. (4) CP of 65 kg of the mixture
5 x = Rs. (35 × 9.50 + 30 × 10.50)
 = 200 = Rs. (332.5 + 315) = Rs. 647.5
100
 647.5 
200 100  Rate per kg of the mixture = Rs  65 
 x= gms  
5
647.5 135
 Required rate = ×
65 100
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 4
 Rs 13.50/kg
3. (i) Tricky approach x2
Acid =
100
m m2
Acid = m =
100 100 x2
Water = x 
100
m 2 100
New percentage = m  x 100 x2
 
 100 × 100 = x - 10
m2 x y
 = m - 10
m x
x2
 m2 - 10m + mx - 10x = m2  x  y = x - 10
 x (m - 10) = 10m
 x2 = y2 - 10x - y (x - 10)
10m
x= 10 x 10 x
m  10
y= =
4. (4) If there be 1 litre of acid in 4 litres of x  10 x  10
mixture, then in case I. because x > 20
Percentage of acid 7. (3) In 1 kg of alloy A,
1 7
= × 100 = 20% Gold =
4 1 18
Case II,
2
Percentage of acid Copper =
9
2 100 1 In 1 kg of alloy B,
= × 100 = = 33 %
6 3 3
7 11
 Percentage of acid in original mixture Gold = Copper =
= 25% 18 18
5. (2) By alligation,  Ratio of gold and copper in alloy C
Mixture-1 Mixture -II 7 7 2 11
= + : + = 21 : 15 = 7 : 5
3 3 9 18 9 18
Ethanol- Ethanol-
5 10 8. (3) Suppose a container contains x units of
liquid from which y units are taken out and
replaced by water. After n operations, the
quantity of pure liquid
n
 y
= x 1   units
 x
Remaining water
1 3 2 1 3 1 1
- = = - =  3 
2
2 10 10 5 5 2 10
= 30  1  
 Required ratio  30 
1 1 30  9  9
= : =2:1 = = 24.3 litres
5 10 100
6. (2) In litres of solution,

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MODEL EXERCISES
1. several litres of acid were drawn off a 54 L 50% alcohol, to a lotion containing 30%
vessel full of acid and an equal amount of alcohol is :
water added, Again, the same volume of the (1) 5 mL (2) 4 mL
mixture was drawn off and replaced by (3) 3 mL (4) 6 mL
water. As a result the vessel contained 24 (5) None of these
L of pure acid. How much of the acid was 8. A person has a chemical of Rs 25 per litre.
drawn off initially ? In what ratio should water be mixed in that
(1) 12 L (2) 16 L chemical, so that after selling the mixture at
(3) 18 L (4) 24 L Rs 20 per litre he may get a profit of 25% ?
(5) None of these (1) 13 : 16 (2) 12 : 15
2. 37.85% and 92% alcoholic solutions are (3) 16 : 9 (4) 19 : 22
mixed to get 35 L of an 89% alcoholic (5) None of these
solution. How many litres of each solution 9. 50 g of an alloy of gold and silver contains
are there in the new mixture ? 80% gold (by weight). The quantity of gold,
(1) 10 of the first and 25 of the second that is to be mixed up with this alloy, so
(2) 20 of the first and 15 of the second that it may contain 95% gold, is
(3) 15 of the first and 20 of the second (1) 200 g (2) 50 g
(4) None of the above (3) 150 g (4) 10 g
(5) None of these (5) None of these
3. Three containers, A, B and C are having 10. A bottle contains 3/4 of milk and the rest
mixtures of milk and water in the ratio 1 : water. How much of the mixture must be
5, 3 : 5 and 5 : 7 respectively. If the taken away and replaced by an equal
capacities of the containers are in the ratio quantity of water so that the mixture has
5 : 4 : 5, then find the ratio of the milk to half milk and half water ?
the water, if the mixtures of all the three
1
containers are mixed together. (1) 25% (2) 33 %
(1) 51 : 115 (2) 52 : 115 3
(3) 53 : 115 (4) 54 : 115 (3) 45% (4) 50%
(5) None of these (5) None of these
4. A chemist has 10 L of a solution that is 10% 11. A mixture of 45 L of spirit and water
nitric acid by volume. He wants to dilute contains 20% of water in it. How much
the solution to 40% strength by adding water must be added to it make the water
water. How many litres of water must be 25% in the new mixture ?
add ? (1) 5 L (2) 3 L
(1) 15 (2) 20 (3) 4 L (4) 6 L
(3) 18 (4) 25 (5) None of these
(5) None of these 12. In a mixture of 60 L, the ratio of milk and
5. 5 L of water is added to a certain quantity water is 2 : 1. If this ratio is to be 1 : 2, then
of pure milk costing Rs 3/L. If by selling the quantity of water to be further added is
the mixture at the same price as before, a (1) 30 L (2) 20 L
profit of 20% is made, then what is the (3) 40 L (4) 60 L
amount of pure milk in the mixture ? (5) None of these
(1) 20 L (2) 30 L 13. One test tube contains some acid and
(3) 25 L (4) 35 L another test tube contains an equal
(5) None of these quantity of water. To prepare a solution, 20
6. How many kg of sugar costing Rs 5.75 per g of the acid is poured into the second test
kg should be mixed with 75 kg of cheaper tube. Then, two-thirds of the so formed
sugar costing Rs 4.50 per kg so that the solution is poured from the second tube
mixture is worth Rs 5.50 per kg ? into the first. If the fluid in the first test
(1) 350 kg (2) 300 kg tube is four times that in the second, what
(3) 250 kg (4) 325 kg quantity of water was taken initially ?
(5) None of these (1) 80 g (2) 60 g
7. The amount of water (in ml.) that should (3) 40 g (4) None of these
be added to reduce 9 mL lotion, containing (5) All of these

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14. One type of liquid contains 25% of milk, 17. Vijay purchased two different kinds of
the other contains 30% of milk. A container alcohol. In the first mixture the ratio of
is filled with 6 parts of the first liquid and 4 alcohol to water is 3 : 4 and in the second
parts of the second liquid. The percentage mixture it is 5 : 6. If he mixes the two given
of milk in the mixture is— mixtures and makes a third mixture of 18
(1) 27% (2) 31% litres in which the ratio of alcohol to water
(3) 29% (4) 33% is 4 : 5, the quantity of the first mixture
(5) None of these (whose ratio is 3 : 4) that is required to make
15. A solution of sugar syrup has 15% sugar. 18 litres of the third kind of mixture is
Another solution has 5% sugar. How many (1) 6 (2) 7
litres of the second solution must be added (3) 8 (4) 9
to 20 L of the first solution to make a (5) None of these
solution of 20% sugar. 18. Two casks of 48 litres and 42 litres are filled
(1) 10 L (2) 5 L with mixtures of milk and water; the
(3) 15 L (4) 20 L proportions in the two casks being respec-
(5) None of these tively, 13 : 7 and 18 : 17. If the contents of
16. Mixture of milk and water has been kept in the two casks be mixed, and 20 litres of
two separate containers. Ratio of milk to water be added to the whole, what will be
water in one of the containers is 5 : 1 and the proportion of milk and water in the
that in the other container is 7 : 2. In that resulting mixture ?
ratio the mixture of these two containes (1) 5 : 12 (2) 7 : 13
should be added together, so that the quan- (3) 12 : 13 (4) 8 : 15
tity of milk in the new mixture may become (5) None of these
80% ?
(1) 2 : 3 (2) 3 : 2
(3) 4 : 5 (4) 3 : 4
(5) None of these

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SHORT ANSWERS 4
l. (3) 2. (4) Then, (10 + x) × =1
100
3. (3) 4. (1)  x = 15 L
5. (3) 6. (2) 5. (3) Let the quantity of pure milk be x L.
7. (4) 8. (3) If 5 L of water is added to it, then cost of
9. (3) 10. (2) (5 + x)L
11. (2) 12. (4) = Rs (3x + 5)
13. (4) 14. (1)
 Rs Profit = Rs 15
15. (4) 16. (1) Given, 20% of 3x =15
17. (2) 18. (3)
EXPLANATIONS 3x
 = 15
1. (3) According to question, if a container 5
contains y units of liquid and x units of  3x = 75
liquid is taken out. If this operation is  x = 25 L
repeated n times. The final quantity of the  The amount of pure milk in the mixture
luquid in the container is was 25 L.
n
 x 6. (2) Using Alligation Method,
1
x  y  Sugar I Sugar II
5.75 4.50
2
 x 
 24 = 54  1  54 
 
2
 x  24 4
 1   = =
 54  54 9
2
 x  2 5.50 - 4.50 5.75 - 5.50
 1   = 1.00 0.25
 54  3
i.e., 4 : 1
x 1 Hence, the required quantity of Sugar I
 =
54 3
75
 x = 18 L = × 4 = 300 kg
1
2. (4) Let x L of 37.85% of alcoholic solution
7. (4) Required quantity of water
and (35 - x)L of 92% alcoholic solution are
required to get 35 L of 89% solution. 9   50  30 
9  20
= = = 6 mL
 37.85% of x + 92% of (35 - x) 30 30
= 89% of 35 8. (3) Selling price of mixture = Rs 20
 x = 1.94 Cost price of mixture
 1.94 L of 1st solution and 33.06 L of Ilnd
100
solution are there in the new mixture. = × 20 = Rs16
3. (3) By question ratio of milk and water 125
By the rule of alligation,
1 3 5  5 5 7 
=   5   4   5 :   5   4   5 
6 8 12   6 8 12 
= 106 : 230 = 53 : 115
4. (1) According to question, quantity of nitric
acid
1
= 10 × =1L So, required ratio = 16 : 9
10
Water = 10 - 1 = 9 L 9. (3) According to question, quantity of gold
Let x L of water be added. 80
in alloy = 50 × = 40 g
100
Let x g of gold is mixed with this alloy.
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 8
Quantity of water in mixture
40  x
× 100 = 95 1
50  x
= × 60 = 20 L
3
40  x 95
 = Let quantity of water to be further added
50  x 100 be x.
 4000 + 100x = 4750 + 95x
40 1
750 Then, =
20  x 2
x= = 150 g
5  20 + x = 80
10. (2) According to question,  x = 60 L
Ratio of milk and water = 3 : 1 13. (4) Initially, let x g of water and Acid was
1 taken. Initially 1st process
Water = × 100 = 25 First test tube = (x - 20) g
4
Let x L of mixture is taken away, then Second test tube = (x + 20) g
2nd process
 3x 
quantity of milk left =  3   2
 4  First test tube = (x - 20) + (x + 20) ×
3
 x 1
and water left =  1   + x Second test tube = (x + 20) ×
 4 3
3x x A/q,
Given, 3 - =1- +x
4 4 2 1
(x - 20) + (x + 20) = 4× (x + 20)
3x x 3 3
3- 1= - +x
4 4 2
 x - 20 = (x + 20)
6x 3
2=
4  3x - 60 = 2x - 40
4  x = 100 g
x= 14. (1) According to question, milk in mixture
3
25 30 270
4 1 6 × + 4 × =
Required percentage = × 100 = 33 % 100 100 100
3 4 3
11. (2) According to the question, 270  10
For 10 parts = = 27%
Quantity of water in the mixture 100
20 15. (4) Let x L of second solution must be added.
= × 45 = 9 L 15  20  5  x
100
Then, = 10
Let x L of water must be added to make the 20  x
water 25% in the  300 + 5x = 200 + 10x
9 x 100
 × 100 = 25 x = = 20L
45  x 5
9 x 25 16. (1) Percentage of milk in first mixture
 =
45  x 100 5 250
= ×100 = %
 36 + 4x = 45 + x 6 3
 3x = 9 Percentage of milk in second mixture
x = 3L 7 700
12. (4) By question quantity of milk in mixture = × 100 = %
9 9
2 Using Alligation method,
= × 60 = 40 L
3

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18. (3) In mixture A of 48 litres,
13 156
Milk= × 48 = litres
20 5
7 84
Water = × 48 = litres
20 10 20 5
So, required ratio = : =2:3 In mixture B of 42 litres,
9 3
17. (2) Using Alligation method, 18 108
Milk = × 42 = litres
35 5
17 102
Water = × 42 = litres
35 5
In the final mixture,
156 108 264
Milk = + = litres
5 4 1 4 3 1 5 5 5
- = - =
11 9 99 9 7 63
84 102 186
Water = + = litres
1 1 1 1 5 5 5
 Ratio = 99 : 63 = : 7
11  Required ratio
= 7:11 264 186
 Required quantity = : + 20
5 5
7 264 : 286 = 12 : 13
= × 18 = 7 litres
18

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