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45 Ratio Proportion and Variation PYQ (Solutions)

Master Ratio Proportion and Variation for CAT 2026 with practice questions and detailed explanations

CAT 2025

A fundamental arithmetic topic covering ratios, proportional relationships, and variation. These concepts appear regularly, often embedded in other questions (mixtures, averages, etc.).

  • Ratios/Proportion, along with averages and mixtures, are among the most frequent arithmetic sub-topics.
  • For instance, CAT 2018 had multiple arithmetic questions requiring ratio concepts (contributing to the 13 arithmetic questions that year).
  • In CAT 2020, the combined category of “Averages, Ratios, Percentage, Mixtures” accounted for 3–5 questions per slot.
  • Expect a few questions each year indirectly testing ratios – either straightforward proportion problems or mixed into other contexts (mixture-alligation, speed, etc.).
  • From 2017–2024, at least 2–3 questions on ratio/proportion appeared per year on average (often more, since arithmetic as a whole dominated around 40%+ of QA).

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Weightage Over Past Years

YearQ.NODifficulty Level
20247Hard
20236Hard
20227Medium
20214Medium
20205Hard
20194Medium
20185Medium
20177Medium

CAT 2024 Ratio Proportion and Variation questions

Question 1

Slot-1

A fruit seller has a total of 187 fruits consisting of apples, mangoes and oranges. The number of apples and mangoes are in the ratio 5 : 2. After she sells 75 apples, 26 mangoes and half of the oranges, the ratio of number of unsold apples to number of unsold oranges becomes 3 : 2. The total number of unsold fruits is

Question 2

Slot-1

A shop wants to sell a certain quantity (in kg) of grains. It sells half the quantity and an additional 3 kg of these grains to the first customer. Then, it sells half of the remaining quantity and an additional 3 kg of these grains to the second customer. Finally, when the shop sells half of the remaining quantity and an additional 3 kg of these grains to the third customer, there are no grains left. The initial quantity, in kg, of grains is

18
36
50
42

Question 3

Slot-1

A glass is filled with milk. Two-thirds of its content is poured out and replaced with water. If this process of pouring out two-thirds the content and replacing with water is repeated three more times, then the final ratio of milk to water in the glass, is

1 : 27
1 : 81
1 : 26
1 : 80

Question 4

Slot-2

A vessel contained a certain amount of a solution of acid and water. When 2 litres of water was added to it, the new solution had 50% acid concentration. When 15 litres of acid was further added to this new solution, the final solution had 80% acid concentration. The ratio of water and acid in the original solution was

5 : 3
4 : 5
5 : 4
3 : 5

Question 5

Slot-2

When Rajesh's age was the same as the present age of Garima, the ratio of their ages was 3 : 2. When Garima's age becomes the same as the present age of Rajesh, the ratio of the ages of Rajesh and Garima will become

4 : 3
2 : 1
3 : 2
5 : 4

Question 6

Slot-3

Rajesh and Vimal own 20 hectares and 30 hectares of agricultural land, respectively, which are entirely covered by wheat and mustard crops. The cultivation area of wheat and mustard in the land owned by Vimal are in the ratio of 5 : 3. If the total cultivation area of wheat and mustard are in the ratio 11 : 9, then the ratio of cultivation area of wheat and mustard in the land owned by Rajesh is

1 : 1
7 : 9
4 : 3
3 : 7

Question 7

Slot-3

A certain amount of water was poured into a 300 litre container and the remaining portion of the container was filled with milk. Then an amount of this solution was taken out from the container which was twice the volume of water that was earlier poured into it, and water was poured to refill the container again. If the resulting solution contains 72% milk, then the amount of water, in litres, that was initially poured into the container was

CAT 2023 Ratio Proportion and Variation questions

Question 1

Slot-1

The salaries of three friends Sita, Gita and Mita are initially in the ratio 5 : 6 : 7, respectively. In the first year, they get salary hikes of 20%, 25% and 20%, respectively. In the second year, Sita and Mita get salary hikes of 40% and 25%, respectively, and the salary of Gita becomes equal to the mean salary of the three friends. The salary hike of Gita in the second year is

26%
28%
25%
30%

Question 2

Slot-1

A mixture P is formed by removing a certain amount of coffee from a coffee jar and replacing the same amount with cocoa powder. The same amount is again removed from mixture P and replaced with same amount of cocoa powder to form a new mixture Q. If the ratio of coffee and cocoa in the mixture Q is 16 : 9, then the ratio of cocoa in mixture P to that in mixture Q is

4 : 9
1 : 3
5 : 9
1 : 2

Question 3

Slot-2

The price of a precious stone is directly proportional to the square of its weight. Sita has a precious stone weighing 18 units. If she breaks it into four pieces with each piece having distinct integer weight, then the difference between the highest and lowest possible values of the total price of the four pieces will be 288000. Then, the price of the original precious stone is

1296000
1944000
972000
1620000

Question 4

Slot-2

A container has 40 liters of milk. Then, 4 liters are removed from the container and replaced with 4 liters of water. This process of replacing 4 liters of the liquid in the container with an equal volume of water is continued repeatedly. The smallest number of times of doing this process, after which the volume of milk in the container becomes less than that of water, is

Question 5

Slot-3

Anil mixes cocoa with sugar in the ratio 3 : 2 to prepare mixture A, and coffee with sugar in the ratio 7 : 3 to prepare mixture B. He combines mixtures A and B in the ratio 2 : 3 to make a new mixture C. If he mixes C with an equal amount of milk to make a drink, then the percentage of sugar in this drink will be

21
24
16
17

Question 6

Slot-3

The number of coins collected per week by two coin-collectors A and B are in the ratio 3:43 : 4. If the total number of coins collected by A in 5 weeks is a multiple of 7, and the total number of coins collected by B in 3 weeks is a multiple of 24, then the minimum possible number of coins collected by A in one week is

CAT 2022 Ratio Proportion and Variation questions

Question 1

Slot-1

Pinky is standing in a queue at a ticket counter. Suppose the ratio of the number of persons standing ahead of Pinky to the number of persons standing behind her in the queue is 3:53 : 5. If the total number of persons in the queue is less than 300, then the maximum possible number of persons standing ahead of Pinky is

Question 2

Slot-1

A mixture contains lemon juice and sugar syrup in equal proportion. If a new mixture is created by adding this mixture and sugar syrup in the ratio 1 : 3, then the ratio of lemon juice and sugar syrup in the new mixture is

1 : 6
1 : 4
1 : 5
1 : 7

Question 3

Slot-1

In a village, the ratio of number of males to females is 5 : 4. The ratio of number of literate males to literate females is 2 : 3. The ratio of the number of illiterate males to illiterate females is 4 : 3. If 3600 males in the village are literate, then the total number of females in the village is

Question 4

Slot-2

In an election, there were four candidates and 80% of the registered voters casted their votes. One of the candidates received 30% of the casted votes while the other three candidates received the remaining casted votes in the proportion 1 : 2 : 3. If the winner of the election received 2512 votes more than the candidate with the second highest votes, then the number of registered voters was

40192
60288
50240
62800

Question 5

Slot-2

Regular polygons A and B have number of sides in the ratio 1 : 2 and interior angles in the ratio 3 : 4. Then the number of sides of B equals

Question 6

Slot-3

A donation box can receive only cheques of ₹100, ₹250, and ₹500. On one good day, the donation box was found to contain exactly 100 cheques amounting to a total sum of ₹15250. Then, the maximum possible number of cheques of ₹500 that the donation box may have contained, is

Question 7

Slot-3

A glass contains 500 cc of milk and a cup contains 500 cc of water. From the glass, 150 cc of milk is transferred to the cup and mixed thoroughly. Next, 150 cc of this mixture is transferred from the cup to the glass. Now, the amount of water in the glass and the amount of milk in the cup are in the ratio

3 : 10
10 : 3
1 : 1
10 : 13

CAT 2021 Ratio Proportion and Variation questions

Question 1

Slot-1

The amount Neeta and Geeta together earn in a day equals what Sita alone earns in 6 days. The amount Sita and Neeta together earn in a day equals what Geeta alone earns in 2 days. The ratio of the daily earnings of the one who earns the most to that of the one who earns the least is

7 : 3
11 : 3
11 : 7
3 : 2

Question 2

Slot-1

A basket of 2 apples, 4 oranges and 6 mangoes costs the same as a basket of 1 apple, 4 oranges and 8 mangoes, or a basket of 8 oranges and 7 mangoes. Then the number of mangoes in a basket of mangoes that has the same cost as the other baskets is

12
13
11
10

Question 3

Slot-2

From a container filled with milk, 9 litres of milk are drawn and replaced with water. Next, from the same container, 9 litres are drawn and again replaced with water. If the volumes of milk and water in the container are now in the ratio of 16 : 9, then the capacity of the container, in litres, is?

Question 4

Slot-3

A tea shop offers tea in cups of three different sizes. The product of the prices, in INR, of three different sizes is equal to 800. The prices of the smallest size and the medium size are in the ratio 2 : 5. If the shop owner decides to increase the prices of the smallest and the medium ones by INR 6 keeping the price of the largest size unchanged, the product then changes to 3200. The sum of the original prices of three different sizes, in INR, is

CAT 2020 Ratio Proportion and Variation questions

Question 1

Slot-1

A gentleman decided to treat a few children in the following manner. He gives half of his total stock of toffees and one extra to the first child, and then the half of the remaining stock along with one extra to the second and continues giving away in this fashion. His total stock exhausts after he takes care of 5 children. How many toffees were there in his stock initially?

Question 2

Slot-1

An alloy is prepared by mixing metals A, B, C in the proportion 3 : 4 : 7 by volume. Weights of the same volume of metals A, B, C are in the ratio 5 : 2 : 6. In 130 kg of the alloy, the weight, in kg, of the metal C is

84
48
96
70

Question 3

Slot-1

A solution, of volume 40 litres, has dye and water in the proportion 2 : 3. Water is added to the solution to change this proportion to 2 : 5. If one-fourths of this diluted solution is taken out, how many litres of dye must be added to the remaining solution to bring the proportion back to 2 : 3?

Question 4

Slot-2

A sum of money is split among Amal, Sunil and Mita so that the ratio of the shares of Amal and Sunil is 3:2, while the ratio of the shares of Sunil and Mita is 4:5. If the difference between the largest and the smallest of these three shares is Rs 400, then Sunil’s share, in rupees, is

Question 5

Slot-2

Aron bought some pencils and sharpeners. Spending the same amount of money as Aron, Aditya bought twice as many pencils and 10 less sharpeners. If the cost of one sharpener is 2 more than the cost of a pencil, then the minimum possible number of pencils bought by Aron and Aditya together is

33
27
30
36

CAT 2019 Ratio Proportion and Variation questions

Question 1

Slot-1

A chemist mixes two liquids 1 and 2. One litre of liquid 1 weighs 1 kg and one litre of liquid 2 weighs 800 gm. If half litre of the mixture weighs 480 gm, then the percentage of liquid 1 in the mixture, in terms of volume, is

70
85
80
75

Question 2

Slot-1

The product of two positive numbers is 616. If the ratio of the difference of their cubes to the cube of their difference is 157 : 3, then the sum of the two numbers is

50
85
95
58

Question 3

Slot-2

In an examination, Rama's score was one-twelfth of the sum of the scores of Mohan and Anjali. After a review, the score of each of them increased by 6. The revised scores of Anjali, Mohan, and Rama were in the ratio 11:10:3. Then Anjali's score exceeded Rama's score by

26
32
24
35

Question 4

Slot-2

The salaries of Ramesh, Ganesh and Rajesh were in the ratio 6:5:7 in 2010, and in the ratio 3:4:3 in 2015. If Ramesh's salary increased by 25% during 2010-2015, then the percentage increase in Rajesh's salary during this period is closest to

7
8
9
10

CAT 2018 Ratio Proportion and Variation questions

Question 1

Slot-1

Raju and Lalitha originally had marbles in the ratio 4:94 : 9. Then Lalitha gave some of her marbles to Raju. As a result, the ratio of the number of marbles with Raju to that with Lalitha became 5:65 : 6. What fraction of her original number of marbles was given by Lalitha to Raju?

$\frac{1}{4}$
$\frac{1}{5}$
$\frac{6}{19}$
$\frac{7}{33}$

Question 2

Slot-2

The scores of Amal and Bimal in an examination are in the ratio 11:1411 : 14. After an appeal, their scores increase by the same amount and their new scores are in the ratio 47:5647 : 56. The ratio of Bimal’s new score to that of his original score is

3 : 2
4 : 3
5 : 4
8 : 5

Question 3

Slot-2

The strength of a salt solution is p% if 100 ml of the solution contains p grams of salt. If three salt solutions A, B, C are mixed in the proportion 1 : 2 : 3, then the resulting solution has strength 20%. If instead the proportion is 3 : 2 : 1, then the resulting solution has strength 30%. A fourth solution, D, is produced by mixing B and C in the ratio 2 : 7. The ratio of the strength of D to that of A is

3 : 10
1 : 3
2 : 5
1 : 4

Question 4

Slot-2

There are two drums, each containing a mixture of paints A and B. In drum 1, A and B are in the ratio 18 : 7. The mixtures from drums 1 and 2 are mixed in the ratio 3 : 4 and in this final mixture, A and B are in the ratio 13 : 7. In drum 2, then A and B were in the ratio

251 : 163
239 : 161
220 : 149
229 : 141

Question 5

Slot-2

The area of a rectangle and the square of its perimeter are in the ratio 1 : 25. Then the lengths of the shorter and longer sides of the rectangle are in the ratio

3 : 8
2 : 9
1 : 4
1 : 3

CAT 2017 Ratio Proportion and Variation questions

Question 1

Slot-1

A stall sells popcorn and chips in packets of three sizes: large, super, and jumbo. The numbers of large, super, and jumbo packets in its stock are in the ratio 7 : 17 : 16 for popcorn and 6 : 15 : 14 for chips. If the total number of popcorn packets in its stock is the same as that of chips packets, then the numbers of jumbo popcorn packets and jumbo chips packets are in the ratio:

1 : 1
8 : 7
4 : 3
6 : 5

Question 2

Slot-1

Arun's present age in years is 40% of Barun's. In another few years, Arun's age will be half of Barun's. By what percentage will Barun's age increase during this period? [TITA]

Question 3

Slot-1

Suppose, C1, C2, C3, C4, and C5 are five companies. The profits made by C1, C2, and C3 are in the ratio 9 : 10 : 8 while the profits made by C2, C4, and C5 are in the ratio 18 : 19 : 20. If C5 has made a profit of Rs 19 crore more than C1, then the total profit (in Rs) made by all five companies is:

438 crore
435 crore
348 crore
345 crore

Question 4

Slot-1

If aa and bb are integers of opposite signs such that (a+3)2:b2=9:1(a + 3)^2 : b^2 = 9 : 1 and (a1)2:(b1)2=4:1(a - 1)^2 : (b - 1)^2 = 4 : 1, then the ratio a2:b2a^2 : b^2 is:

9 : 4
81 : 4
1 : 4
25 : 4

Question 5

Slot-2

Bottle 1 contains a mixture of milk and water in 7 : 2 ratio and Bottle 2 contains a mixture of milk and water in 9 : 4 ratio. In what ratio of volumes should the liquids in Bottle 1 and Bottle 2 be combined to obtain a mixture of milk and water in 3 : 1 ratio ?

27 : 14
27 : 13
27 : 16
27 : 18

Question 6

Slot-2

Consider three mixtures - the first having water and liquid A in the ratio 1 : 2, the second having water and liquid B in the ratio 1 : 3, and the third having water and liquid C in the ratio 1 : 4. These three mixtures of A, B, and C, respectively, are further mixed in the proportion 4 : 3 : 2. Then the resulting mixture has

The same amount of water and liquid B
The same amount of liquids B and C
More water than liquid B
More water than liquid A

Question 7

Slot-2

If a, b, c are three positive integers such that a and b are in the ratio 3 : 4 while b and c are in the ratio 2 : 1, then which one of the following is a possible value of (a + b + c) ?

201
205
207
210

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