Ram committed two mistakes in an examination where all questions carried equal marks and obtained 72%. If he had attempted 4 more questions and made 3 mistakes, he would have obtained 84% marks. If there was no negative marking for wrong answers, how many questions were asked?
2026-04-02 18:38:45.1775155125
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A GMAT algebra-precalculus question about ratio
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Assume there are $x$ question in total.
Initially he answered $0.72x$ question correctly.
If he attempted $4$ more questions and made $3$ mistakes in total (the $3$ mistakes include the previous $2$ mistakes). That is he answered $3$ more questions correctly.
$$0.72x+3 = 0.84x$$
$$3=0.12x$$
$$x=\frac{3}{0.12}=25$$
I do agree that the phrasing of the question is a bit ambigious and can be improved.
If he attempted 4 and made mistakes on 3, he answered one more correctly, so 1 correct = 12% marks. So there were $100/12\approx 8$ questions on the exam.