RAS question
A factory's production (in tonnes): 2019=200, 2020=250, 2021=300, 2022=350, 2023=400. The percentage increase from 2019 to 2023 is:
Correct answer: (C) 100%.
The factory's production increased by 100% from 2019 to 2023, rising from 200 tonnes to 400 tonnes.
Explanation
Percentage is a way of comparing quantities on a per-hundred basis, as the NCERT source explains. Here, the comparison must be between the increase in production and the 2019 production, not between the 2023 output and some unrelated base. The production rose from 200 tonnes in 2019 to 400 tonnes in 2023, so the absolute increase is 400 - 200 = 200 tonnes. The percentage increase is therefore (increase/original value) x 100 = (200/200) x 100 = 100%. This means the factory added an amount equal to its entire 2019 production level.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) 150% would require the increase to be one and a half times the 2019 production, but the increase is exactly equal to the 2019 production.
- (B) 80% understates the rise because an 80% increase on 200 tonnes would be 160 tonnes, while the actual increase is 200 tonnes.
- (D) 200% confuses the 2023 production as a percentage of the 2019 production with the percentage increase; the increase itself is only 200 tonnes.
Concept
This tests percentage increase under quantitative aptitude: compare the change with the original value and multiply by 100. RAS reasoning questions often use such tabular production or population data to check whether candidates choose the correct base.