The average salary of all the employees of a firm is Rs 6,100. The average salary of the male employees is Rs 6,500 and that of the female employees is Rs 5,500. What percentage of the employees are male?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → 60%
By alligation, the numbers of male and female employees are in the ratio of the distances of the other group’s average from the overall average.
Male : female \(=(6100-5500):(6500-6100)=600:400\)
Male \(\displaystyle =\frac{600}{1000}\times100=60\%\)
60% of the employees are male.
Why the other options are incorrect
Option (1) 150% — Incorrect. This compares the number of male employees with the number of female employees, not with all the employees.
Option (3) 40% — Incorrect. This is the percentage of female employees.
Option (4) 50% — Incorrect. This assumes equal numbers of male and female employees; the average is not halfway between the two.