- Introduction
- Case: City’s population: Growth
- Case: City’s Population: Decline
- Case: Bank’s compound interest rate(CI)
- Case: CI →Finding Nemo Principal
- Case: Compounding Twice a Year
- Case: Compounding thrice a year
- Case: Wine Replacement (Adulteration)
- Case: Adulteration→Finding Original volume
- Case: Simple interest rate (SI)
- Case: SI→ Finding Principal
- Practice Questions for CI/SI
- Sidenote on IBPS (Bank PO)
- Verbal Sidenote:
Introduction
CI/Population growth is not a separate theory by itself but mere an extension of Percentage calculation theory. Hence following three questions can be solved with one and same approach, without having to mugup three separate formulas
- A city has 10,000 residents. Its population grows at the rate of 10% per annum, what’ll be its total population after 5 years?
- A bank offers 10% interest rate compounded annually, if you deposit Rs. 10,000 today, what’ll be the total amount in your savings account after 5 years?
- A butler steals 10 ml of whiskey from 100 ml bottle and replaces it with water. He repeats this process 5 more times, how much % whisky is left in the bottle?
First, master the “Fraction” table method of % calculation:
The ready reference Table
| % Form | Fraction form | % Form | Fraction Form | |
| 10% | 1/10 | 90% | 9/10 | |
| 20% | 1/5 | 80% | 4/5 | |
| 25% | ¼ | 75% | ¾ | |
| 30% | 3/10 | 70% | 7/10 | |
| 33.33% | 1/3 | 66.66% | 2/3 | |
| 40% | 2/5 | 60% | 3/5 | |
| 50% | ½ | 50% | ½ haha |
Case: City’s population: Growth
A city has 10,000 residents. Its population grows at the rate of 10% per annum, what’ll be its total population after 5 years?
10% increase
=100% we have already + 10% new is added
=100%+10%
=110%
But if we talk in fraction form: 100% = 1 and 10%=1/10
Hence
10% increase
=1+1/10
=11/10
After first year
The new population after 1 year, will be 11/10 times the original
=(11/10)*original ; we know that originally there are 10,000 resident. But no need to calculate that right now.
This is our new original:
After second year
The new population will be 11/10 times the original population at the end of first year
=11/10*[(11/10)*original]
After third year
The new population will be 11/10 times the original
=11/10 [11/10 [(11/10)*original]]
Continuing like this, what we get after 5 years is

CASE: City’s Population: Decline
A city has 10,000 residents. Its population declines at the rate of 10% per annum, what’ll be its total population after 5 years?
Decline = decrease
=100%-10%
=1-(1/10)
=9/10
Population after 5 years

Answer. After 5 years, city’s population will be 5904.
Case: Bank’s compound interest rate(CI)
A bank offers 10% interest rate compounded annually, what’ll be the total amount in your savings account after 5 years?
It is simple: use the same trick used in population case
100%+10%
=1+(1/10)
=11/10
Money in your account after 5 years

Rs.16105 is the total amount in your bank account.
How much interest did you earn?
= 16105 minus 10000 =Rs. 6105 earned in interest.
Case: CI →Finding Nemo Principal
A man had deposited some money in SBI compounded 10% annually. After 3 years he got Rs.3310 in interest. How much money did he deposit initially?
Principal = The money you deposit initially. Suppose he deposited Rs.M
After 3 years he got (M+3310)
10% compound interest rate for three years means
(See the calculation in following picture)

Final Answer: Principal was Rs. 10000
Case: Compounding Twice a Year
You deposited Rs.10,000 @10% annual compound interest rate in SBI. If the interest rate is compounded after each 6 months, how much money will be there in your account after 3 years?
Important: When interest is compounded half yearly, the interest rate will be half of the annual interest rate. (NCERT class 8 Math textbook)
So the effective interest rate
= half of 10%
=5%
Thus percentage increase
=100%+5%
=1+(1/20)
=21/20
After 6 months
=21/20 times the original amount
This becomes our “new original”
After another 6 months
=21/20 times the “new original”
=21/20 x [(21/20) x original]
Now think about it
1 year has two blocks of 6 months [6+6=12 months]
3 years has 3 x2=6 blocks of 6 months
Therefore we’ve to do this interest rate calculation 6 times because there are 6 blocks.
Amount in your bank account after 3 years

Case: Compounding thrice a year
Rs.10,000, 10% annual interest rate, compounded thrice a year.
Since it is compounded thrice a year, hence effective interest rate is one third of 10%= (10/3)%
Percentage increase
=100%+ (10/3)%
=1+(10/300)
=1+(1/30)
=31/30
1 year has 3 blocks of 4 months [3 x 4 =12 months]
3 years have 9 blocks of 4 months [3 x 4 x 3 =36 months = 3 years]
Amount after 3 years
CASE: Wine Replacement (Adulteration)
A butler steals 10 ml of whiskey from 100 ml bottle and replaces it with water. He repeats this process 5 more times, how much % whisky is left in the bottle?
This is again a compound interest rate problem. But the amount doesn’t increase like in Bank’s savings account. Because Butler makes sure that volume remains 100ml after every replacement.
Approach 1: Alligiation loop
Proceed with the technique you learned in Mixture Alligiation article.

Recall that ‘visual-move’
100-M=10ml….(1)
M-0=90ml…….(2)
Divide (1) with (2)

Therefore M=90
Means new mixture contains 90% wine.
This is 1st time stealing. Butler is going to do this 4 times more.
Situation: Now bottle contains 100 ml mixture containing 90% wine, Butler steal 10 ml from it and adds 10 ml fresh water.
Repeat the same alligiation


Final answer: after five repetitions, the concentration of wine left in bottle (quality) = 59.05%
Since it contains 100 ml mixture, so ‘absolute value’ (Quantity) is 100 x 59.05%=59.05ml
This was quite lengthy, tiresome and time consuming approach, wasn’t it?
Better try second approach using compound interest concept.
Approach #2: Compound Interest
A butler steals 10 ml of whiskey from 100 ml bottle and replaces it with water. He repeats this process 5 more times
Butler is stealing 10ml out of 100 ml everytime. So percentage wise he is stealing 10/100=10% of content everytime.
What is left:
100%-10%
=90%
=9/10
Run this loop 5 times
Case: Adulteration→Finding Original volume
A tanker is full of milk, 25% of the liquid is stolen and replaced with water. If this process is repeated 4 times and ultimate mixture contains 810 litres of milk, what is the total capacity of this tanker?
25% is stolen so what is left?
100%-25%
=75%
=3/4
Loop this 4 times

milk left in the tanker
What is the final concentration of milk in this tanker?
Total capacity of tanker is 2560 lt.
And we know that 810 lt. of milk is left.
So % wise (810/2560)*100=31.64% milk is left in the tanker.
CASE: Simple interest rate (SI)
Rs.10,000 @10% annual simple interest rate, How much interest do you earn after 3 years?
No brainer! In simple interest rate, you get interest only on the initial Principal (Rs.10000 in our case)
Three years = you earn interest three times
How much interest do you earn in 1 year?
=10% of 10000
=(1/10) x 10000
=1000
Repeat this process three times, what do you get?: 1000 x 3 = Rs.3000
Case: SI→ Finding Principal
You deposited some money in bank, after three years you get back Rs.13,000 @10% simple interest rate. What was the Principal?
Suppose your Principal is Rs.M
Each year you get 10% of M in interest
=10% M
=(1/10) x M
In Three years you get = 3 x (1 /10) x M in interest
Total amount you receive after three years
=Principal + interest for three years
=M + 3 x (1 /10) x M
=M+ (3/10)M
=(13/10)M
But it is given that you received Rs.13000 so,
(13/10)M=13000
M=13000 x (10 /13)= 10000
Answer. Your Principal =Rs.10000
Verbal Sidenote:
It is “Principal” and Not “Principle”
Principle = rule /maxim / siddhant/ Niyam/usool (उसूल)
Principal =Main/ chief/money deposited initially.
In the movie Agnipath, Hrithik Roshan’s father Dinanath Master was a schoolteacher and not a ‘principal’, but he did not compromise with his ‘principles’ so Sanjay Dutt killed him.



Very Nicely explained,
sorry to point out one mistake,
in the ready reference table for fractions,
it should be 33.33% = 1/3, instead of 30% = 1/3.
correct me if i am wrong.
on this page ,its written 5 more times ,so loop should not run for 6 times????
yep silly typing mistake on my part. it is corrected. thanks for notifying.
Dear sir IDBI or FCI both exam for me on same date which i have to give preference.
SEND ME IDBI QUESTION PREVIOUS YEAR QUESTION PAPER FOR PRACTICE
u made the concepts very clear.
i used to skip some topics since 2 years, now i can solve them.
A Leader is not the one who leads, but who inspires…….
Your previous topics are not availible on clicking the links u provide..?
goto this link
https://mrunalmanage.wpcomstaging.com/aptitude
In the movie Agnipath, Hrithik Roshan’s father Dinanath Master was a schoolteacher and not a ‘principal’, but he did not compromise with his ‘principles’ so Sanjay Dutt killed him.
:P :D :)
ur technic is great any body can understand it.plz give some notes on calender and clocks
mrunal sir, i cant find the material related to reasoning and english for ssc cgl..
pls help
thanking you in anticipation
that article still in under process.
will be published in a week or two.
Hi Mrunal,
its always been a worthy spending time on this website , Thanks for your valuable contribution. It would be great if you write a article how to approach ” English comprehension ” part specifically concerned to UPSC CSAT paper 2.
Hi Sir ,
I am having no words to express my thanks for the contribution you are making to the society by helping us in realizing and achieving our goals .
It would be really helpful and great if you also post the approach and reading material for English and Gk in interesting and simple way (needless to say :)) for the SSC CGL .
Mrunal, how do you get time for writing such useful articles, as you have already said that you are preparing for civil services and belong to a working class. HOW DO YOU MANAGE ALL THIS???. I mean that requires too much of time and thorough analysis. I have gone thorough all 5 of your articles on IAS and i think you have not left any point at all !
I suggest u to write a book on cracking various govt exams (which i think you might have already thought). otherwise some other fellow will copy and pest your material someday. best of luck for your future.
nicely explained
Mrunal Sir , Whisky ko Wine bana diya !!
you leave traces to tell people u are from Gujarat :)
Good evening sir, i can’t prepare all the vast syllabus for geometry..please help me how to approach ,publish some articles regarding geometry..it will be more helpful to me
thank you
nicely explained mrunal sir
Hello Mrunal bro,
Can you throw some light on the arrangement type questions.
eg: There are 8 teachers A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H sitting in a circle not necessarily in same order. A is history teacher, math teacher is sitting between phy and chem teacher……some thing like that. Such questions eat a lot of time in solving.
Hi Sir,
Can any one please explain how to easily calculate (11/10)^5 or any other fraction having higher exponents. Thanks in advance
Sir
Could you please help me with the below question. The question is :
What is the difference between the C.I. on Rs.5000 for 1 year @ 4% p.a. compounded yearly and half-yearly ?
Please help me.
If U Compound yearly then for 1 year,it will be like simple interest but in case of Half yearly Time will be 2 because 2 half in a year and @4% p.a./2 =@2 per half yearly….Now T=2 and R=2%….If u know AB Rule(2+2+2*2/100) then answer will simply 0.04% of Rs 5000=Rs 2…..
Thank you so much for the reply.
I understood how to calculate “compounded half yearly” but what about “compounded yearly”?
Is it, 5000 x 26/25 x 26/25 which will give us 5408 ? Am I right ?
But in the actual calculation it’s given as 5000 x 26/25 x 51/50. Why is that ?
@Savithri,i think u r calculating CI for 2 years with 4% p.a.then only it will be 5000*26/25*26/25
But i think Q is taking whole calculation for total time 2 years with situation compounded yearly for 1 year and next year compounded half yearly…..Then it will be 5000*26/25 for first year then for next year it will be 5000*26/25*(1+2/100)^1 which is given in solution……i think it is clear now…
Thank you, thank you, thank you so much.
I was confused with the years. I assumed they were asking the difference for that “1 year alone”.
Thank you so much once again.
I mean 2 years not 1 year
Mention not,i feel very good when someone got help with my pity maths…Due to job from last 6 years i forget many concepts but try to recall them…..
could be some misprint
for compounded yearly 5000 * (26/25)
for compounded half yearly 5000 * (51/50 )*(51/50)
can you please explain still more clearly ?? coz I couldn’t get u .
@silly seems to be right.
Hello Sir,
I just have one more question, its easy to turn the % into fraction and then calculate CI but what if the rate of Interest is say, for example – 11% or 23 % ?
The material provided is very very useful. Glad to see that someone wants to teach selflessly. Thank you!
Sir is that so simple to calculate( 30/31)*9 ?????
very nicely explained sir…thanks very much…
thank u mrunal sir…
very nicely explained sir.but its time consuming.Can you give shortcut formulas…
Compound Interest Formula
A=P(1+r/n)to the power n/t
P = principal amount (the initial amount you borrow or deposit)
r = annual rate of interest (as a decimal)
t = number of years the amount is deposited or borrowed for.
A = amount of money accumulated after n years, including interest.
n = number of times the interest is compounded per year
Example:
An amount of $1,500.00 is deposited in a bank paying an annual interest rate of 4.3%, compounded quarterly. What is the balance after 6 years?
Solution:
Using the compound interest formula, we have that
P = 1500, r = 4.3/100 = 0.043, n = 4, t = 6. Therefore,
after using the above formula we get
So, the balance after 6 years is approximately $1,938.84.
i think this is the easiest way for solving complex questions where intrest is given in fractions such as 4.3% or so on
principal = 14500 , time= 2 years , interest =4676.25 ,…. can anyone calculate rate percent without using formula and substitution of answers??
i have also same question please any one
sir could plz tell me is there any short cut for any number which has high powers like 21 to the power 6 or 7 etc…
First of all a Great Thanx for this article. and second thing i want to request u to put an article on ” QUESTION BASED ON CLOCK PROBLEMS”.
Hi Mrunal,
Nice Explanation. Can you please explain any shortcut to calculate 31/30 super script of 9. I even checked trachtenberg but i could nt find it.
Nicely explained sir…..Thanks becoz of only u now m able to solve questions very easily….without any formulas….dimag ka pressure kam hua bina formula ka ab ratna dur and interesting v…….ab questions problem nhi game lag raha……..Thank u very much……:)
Mrunal, are there any shortcuts to calculate something like [(11/10)x(11/10)x(11/10)x(11/10)x(11/10)x(11/10)] or [(9/10)x(9/10)x(9/10)x(9/10)x(9/10)x(9/10)] ?
yes multiplications with 11 and 9 are not that difficult, once you use Trachtenberg method. see this page
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trachtenberg_system#Multiplying_by_11
Lovely! Thanks!! \m/
provide logic to calculate CI without using formula