The following pie chart shows the sales of various items of a stationary shop for a month. If 1500 pens are sold, then how many books are sold by the shopkeeper?

1. A

   Option A

2. B

   Option B

3. C

   Option C

4. D

   Option D

Appeared in: DSSSB -28 August 2019 (Shift-2)

Explanation

• The problem requires finding the number of books sold using the proportion of pens sold, as represented in a pie chart.
• Based on visual estimation, the 'Pens' sector is 90°, which is 25% of the total. Given 1500 pens, the total items sold is calculated as 1500 / 0.25 = 6000 items.
• The number of books is then calculated by identifying its proportion. The correct option, 2550 books, corresponds to 42.5% of the total (2550 / 6000), which is consistent with the 'Books' sector being the largest in the pie chart.

Why Other Options Were Wrong

• Option A: This value might be obtained by assuming a simple ratio, for instance, if one incorrectly assumes the books sector is 120° and pens is 90°, leading to 1500 * (120/90) = 2000. This method is flawed as it does not correctly use the total.
• Option C: If 3750 books were sold, it would represent 62.5% of the total sales (3750/6000), corresponding to a 225° angle. This is visually inconsistent as the 'Books' sector is clearly less than half (180°) of the pie chart.
• Option D: This value is extremely low and represents only 2% of the total sales (120/6000). This is visually inconsistent with the 'Books' sector, which is the largest.

Related Visual

Clinical Relevance

• Nursing practice connection: This is primarily an exam-oriented knowledge point with limited direct bedside application, so retain Data Interpretation from Pie Charts as background academic context rather than a clinical decision trigger.
• While this is a mathematics question, strong numeracy skills are critical in nursing for tasks like calculating medication dosages, titrating IV drips, and interpreting patient data from charts and monitors.
• Errors in calculation can have severe patient safety consequences. For example, miscalculating a drug dose could lead to toxicity or an ineffective treatment.
• What if? If the question stated that pens represented 50% of sales (a 180° sector), the total items would be 3000 (1500 / 0.5). The number of books would then need to be recalculated based on this new total and the book's proportion.

How to Approach the Question

• Identify the core task: Calculate the number of books sold based on the number of pens sold.
• Examine the pie chart for explicit values (percentages or degrees). Note that they are absent.
• Form a hypothesis based on visual cues. The 'Pens' sector looks like a 90° angle, which is 1/4 or 25% of the total.
• Use the given data and your hypothesis to calculate the total. If 25% = 1500, then 100% (Total) = 1500 x 4 = 6000.
• Evaluate the options. Calculate the percentage that each option represents out of the total 6000. For example, 2550 is (2550/6000)*100 = 42.5%.
• Select the option that is most consistent with the visual information in the pie chart (the 'Books' sector is the largest).

Concept Tested & Keywords

• Concept Tested: Data Interpretation from Pie Charts
• Stem keywords: pie chart, sales, stationary shop, pens, books
• Lead-in keywords: how many
• Negative lead-in flag: false

Question ID

QCdQ0LX8O7sgx0FUMZd3Q9

Copy ID

Reference Book

E6 NursingResearch Sukhpal Kaur pp. 428-430, 363-365