A man purchases two clocks A and B at a total cost of Rs. 650. He sells A with 20% profit and B at a loss of 25% and gets the same selling price for both the clocks. What are the purchasing prices of A and B respectively ?

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Q: 134 (IAS/1998)
A man purchases two clocks A and B at a total cost of Rs. 650. He sells A with 20% profit and B at a loss of 25% and gets the same selling price for both the clocks. What are the purchasing prices of A and B respectively ?

question_subject: 

Maths

question_exam: 

IAS

stats: 

0,9,8,5,9,3,0

keywords: 

{'same selling price': [0, 1, 0, 0], 'prices': [0, 5, 4, 14], 'clocks': [0, 1, 0, 0], 'total cost': [0, 1, 0, 2], 'loss': [4, 3, 2, 4]}

Let`s assume the purchasing price of clock A is x.

According to the information given, clock B is purchased at a total cost of Rs. 650, so the purchasing price of clock B is 650 - x.

Clock A is sold at a 20% profit, which means the selling price of clock A is 1.2 times its purchasing price: 1.2x.

Clock B is sold at a 25% loss, which means the selling price of clock B is 0.75 times its purchasing price: 0.75(650 - x).

The problem states that the selling prices of both clocks are the same. So we can set up the following equation:

1.2x = 0.75(650 - x)

Let`s solve this equation to find the value of x:

1.2x = 0.75(650 - x)

1.2x = 487.5 - 0.75x

1.2x + 0.75x = 487.5

1.95x = 487.5

x = 487.5 / 1.95

x = 250

So the purchasing price of clock A is Rs. 250.

The purchasing price of clock B is 650 - 250 = Rs. 400.

Therefore, the correct answer is Rs. 250 for clock A and Rs. 400 for clock B.