An article sold for Rs 200 yields a 25 percent profit. If 6 such articles are sold for Rs 1056, determine the overall profit or loss percentage and state it clearly.

Introduction:
When the selling price at a known profit percentage is given for a single unit, you can recover the unit cost price. Scaling to multiple units and comparing the total selling price with the total cost price yields the overall percentage outcome.

Given Data / Assumptions:

• Single unit: SP = Rs 200 at 25% profit.
• Six units sold together for Rs 1056.

Concept / Approach:
If SP = 200 corresponds to 25% profit, then CP per unit = SP / 1.25. Multiply by 6 to get total CP for six units and compare with the given total SP to find the net percentage.

Step-by-Step Solution:
Unit CP = 200 / 1.25 = 160Total CP for 6 units = 6 * 160 = 960Total SP for 6 units = 1056Net profit = 1056 - 960 = 96Profit% = 96 / 960 * 100 = 10%

Verification / Alternative check:
Compute average SP per unit from the group sale: 1056 / 6 = 176. Since CP is 160, unit margin = 16, which is 10% of 160. This reconfirms the overall 10% profit.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:

• 10% loss: sign error.
• 5% loss or 5% profit: magnitude error from arithmetic slips.

Common Pitfalls:

• Using 25% of 200 as the profit to reverse CP incorrectly.
• Forgetting to scale the costs and revenues to the same quantity.

Final Answer:
10 per cent profit