The marked price of a ceiling fan is Rs 1200 and the shopkeeper allows a discount of 5% on this marked price. What is the selling price of the fan?

Introduction / Context:
This basic percentage question involves calculating the selling price of an item after a given discount on its marked price. Such problems are common in the profit and loss section of aptitude exams and mirror everyday shopping situations. Understanding how to compute discount and find the resulting selling price is essential for solving a wide range of commercial arithmetic problems.

Given Data / Assumptions:

• Marked price (MP) of the ceiling fan = Rs 1200.
• Discount offered on the marked price = 5%.
• Selling price (SP) is equal to marked price minus discount.
• We need to find the value of SP after applying the 5% discount.

Concept / Approach:
To find the selling price after discount, we can either compute the discount amount and subtract it from the marked price, or directly multiply the marked price by (1 − discount/100). In this case, a 5% discount means the customer pays 95% of the marked price. Thus, SP = MP * 95/100. This method is efficient and avoids extra subtraction steps.

Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Marked price MP = Rs 1200. Step 2: Discount = 5%, so customer pays 100% − 5% = 95% of MP. Step 3: Selling price SP = MP * 95/100. Step 4: Substitute MP = 1200, so SP = 1200 * 95/100. Step 5: Simplify: 1200 * 95/100 = 12 * 95 = 1140. Step 6: Therefore, SP = Rs 1140.

Verification / Alternative check:
Alternatively, compute the discount amount first. Discount amount = 5% of 1200 = 1200 * 5/100 = 60. Subtract this from the marked price: SP = 1200 − 60 = 1140. This matches the previous method and confirms that our answer is correct. Comparing both approaches also reinforces the flexibility of using either direct percentage multiplication or discount subtraction.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:

• Rs 1410 and Rs 1400 are both higher than the marked price, which is not possible after a discount.
• Rs 1104 would correspond to a higher discount rate than 5%, so it does not match the given data.

Common Pitfalls:
A common error is to miscalculate the discount percentage or to apply the discount incorrectly, for example computing 1200 − 1200 * 0.5 instead of 0.05 due to decimal confusion. Some students also mistakenly treat 5% as 0.5 in decimal form. Another problem is forgetting that after discount the selling price must be lower than the marked price. double checking the percentage and the direction of change helps to avoid these errors.

Final Answer:
The selling price of the fan is Rs 1140.