Ratios, Percentages, Averages and Population Notes for CAT: Concepts, Formulas, Worked Examples & Practice

    Ratios, Percentages, Averages and Population notes for CAT: 106 study cards covering concepts, formulas, shortcuts and exam traps, plus solved practice questions.

    Chapter Roadmap: Ratios, Percentages, Averages and Population

    Chapter Roadmap

    Ratios → Percentages → Averages → Classification

    A clean journey from comparison to CAT-level arithmetic modelling.

    ⚖️

    1. Ratios, Proportions and Sharing

    10 PYQs • Medium-high

    You master part-to-part comparison, shifting, sharing, age ratios, salary ratios, and mixture-style split logic.

    📈

    2. Percentage Change and Population Growth

    5 PYQs • Moderate

    You learn increase, decrease, successive change, and population-style growth logic.

    🎯

    3. Averages, Means and Weighted Averages

    18 PYQs • Highest

    You convert averages into totals and use weighted average thinking for groups and constraints.

    🧩

    4. Counting with Percentages and Classification

    2 PYQs • Support

    You combine category counts with percentages, ratios, and table-based thinking.

    End goal: convert any arithmetic story into clean variables, ratios, totals, and equations without getting trapped by words.

    Topic Hero: Ratios Are Comparison Machines

    Topic Hero

    Ratios, Proportions and Sharing

    The art of converting comparison stories into equations.

    3 : 2

    Means the quantities are and , not necessarily 3 and 2.

    The multiplier is found from extra information: total, difference, shift, or final ratio.

    CAT skill: Do not calculate early. Represent first. Solve only after the relation becomes clear.

    The Meaning of a Ratio

    Ratio = Relative Size, Not Actual Size

    If , then

    Ratio form Possible actual values
    or or
    Memory hook: Ratio gives the shape of the numbers. The multiplier gives the size.

    Part-to-Part and Part-to-Whole

    Part-to-Part → Part-to-Whole

    If , then total parts are .

    Example

    If and :

    parts

    So part , hence , .

    Ratios, Percentages, Averages and Population: Solved Questions with Step-by-Step Explanations (2 Problems)

    Question 1 · Quantitative Ability NAT

    The average of seven numbers is . What is the total of the seven numbers?

    Correct Answer:

    63

    Step-by-Step Solution

    Key idea: the total method says convert an average into a hidden total by multiplying average by count.

    Step 1: Use .

    Step 2: Average , Count .

    Step 3: Total .

    Answer: .

    Question 2 · Quantitative Ability MCQ

    In competitive exams, when a problem provides the average of a set and the number of items in the set, what is the most powerful "hidden" quantity you should immediately calculate?

    1. A.

      The total sum

    2. B.

      The median

    3. C.

      The mode

    4. D.

      The standard deviation

    Correct Answer:

    A

    Step-by-Step Solution

    Key idea: this is a total-method trigger question, recognisable because both the average and the count are explicitly given.

    Step 1: The formula connecting average, total, and count is .

    Step 2: Rearranging this gives .

    Step 3: In average problems, the total sum is the most useful hidden quantity because it allows you to combine groups, track changes, or apply constraints.

    Answer: The total sum.

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    Ratios, Percentages, Averages and Population Notes for CAT: Concepts, Formulas, Worked Examples & Practice

    Ratios, Percentages, Averages and Population notes for CAT: 106 study cards covering concepts, formulas, shortcuts and exam traps, plus solved practice questi

    A question from this chapter

    Question 1

    The average of seven numbers is . What is the total of the seven numbers?

    Question 2

    In competitive exams, when a problem provides the average of a set and the number of items in the set, what is the most powerful "hidden" quantity you should immediately calculate?

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