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Simplification questions with answers

Simplification questions are the cheapest marks in a bank prelims paper and the easiest to lose, because they are decided by order of operations under a clock rather than by any technique. The fifteen below are exam-shaped, and every walkthrough shows the order the expression was collapsed in, not just the final number.

Download the PDF — 15 questions with answers

Free, ungated, no email. This is the simplification questions with answers PDF — the same 15 questions as below, with every worked solution at the back, ready to print.

How to use this set

The 15 questions below are ordered the way an exam block is rather than easiest-first: two gentle openers, then a run of medium, and a hard one every sixth question — 2 of the 15 sit in the hard band. Every question is a simplification (bodmas).

Work each question on paper before you open its solution. The walkthrough is the method itself, step for step, so reading it first turns a practice set into a reading exercise and teaches nothing. If you are stuck on the method rather than on one question, the method guide is a better place to start than the next question: Simplification: the order that saves seconds.

15 simplification questions with answers

Every question below was generated by the same engine that mints the ComputePrep daily timed drill, and machine-checked before it reached this page — a multiple-choice question validates its own answer against its own options at generation, and ships only with a walkthrough attached. The walkthrough is the engine's own.

Question 1

Simplify — order of operations wins.

24 + 4 × 4 = ?

  1. 112
  2. 30
  3. 39
  4. 50
  5. 40
Show the worked solution
  1. Multiply first (BODMAS): 4 × 4 = 16.
  2. Then add: 24 + 16 = 40.

Question 2

Simplify — order of operations wins.

29 + 6 × 8 = ?

  1. 67
  2. 78
  3. 87
  4. 280
  5. 77
Show the worked solution
  1. Multiply first (BODMAS): 6 × 8 = 48.
  2. Then add: 29 + 48 = 77.

Question 3

Simplify — order of operations wins.

47 + 9 × 4 − 32 ÷ 8 = ?

  1. 79
  2. 71
  3. 69
  4. 78
  5. 24
Show the worked solution
  1. × and ÷ first: 9 × 4 = 36; 32 ÷ 8 = 4.
  2. Then left to right: 47 + 36 − 4 = 79.

Question 4

Simplify — order of operations wins.

84 + 4 × 4 − 35 ÷ 5 = ?

  1. 83
  2. 93
  3. 81
  4. 63
  5. 92
Show the worked solution
  1. × and ÷ first: 4 × 4 = 16; 35 ÷ 5 = 7.
  2. Then left to right: 84 + 16 − 7 = 93.

Question 5

Simplify — order of operations wins.

44 + 4 × 4 − 36 ÷ 9 = ?

  1. 56
  2. 55
  3. 43
  4. 17
  5. 46
Show the worked solution
  1. × and ÷ first: 4 × 4 = 16; 36 ÷ 9 = 4.
  2. Then left to right: 44 + 16 − 4 = 56.

Question 6

Simplify — order of operations wins.

(40 + 24) × 5 − 9 × 7 = ?

  1. 257
  2. 2177
  3. 258
  4. 267
  5. 259
Show the worked solution
  1. Brackets first: 40 + 24 = 64; then × 5 = 320.
  2. Second product: 9 × 7 = 63.
  3. Subtract: 320 − 63 = 257.

Question 7

Simplify — order of operations wins.

24 + 3 × 6 = ?

  1. 43
  2. 53
  3. 42
  4. 52
  5. 162
Show the worked solution
  1. Multiply first (BODMAS): 3 × 6 = 18.
  2. Then add: 24 + 18 = 42.

Question 8

Simplify — order of operations wins.

39 + 8 × 5 = ?

  1. 69
  2. 235
  3. 78
  4. 73
  5. 79
Show the worked solution
  1. Multiply first (BODMAS): 8 × 5 = 40.
  2. Then add: 39 + 40 = 79.

Question 9

Simplify — order of operations wins.

27 + 4 × 6 − 36 ÷ 6 = ?

  1. 46
  2. 55
  3. 25
  4. 45
  5. 35
Show the worked solution
  1. × and ÷ first: 4 × 6 = 24; 36 ÷ 6 = 6.
  2. Then left to right: 27 + 24 − 6 = 45.

Question 10

Simplify — order of operations wins.

80 + 3 × 7 − 48 ÷ 4 = ?

  1. 75
  2. 133
  3. 79
  4. 89
  5. 88
Show the worked solution
  1. × and ÷ first: 3 × 7 = 21; 48 ÷ 4 = 12.
  2. Then left to right: 80 + 21 − 12 = 89.

Question 11

Simplify — order of operations wins.

84 + 9 × 6 − 36 ÷ 9 = ?

  1. 124
  2. 135
  3. 58
  4. 144
  5. 134
Show the worked solution
  1. × and ÷ first: 9 × 6 = 54; 36 ÷ 9 = 4.
  2. Then left to right: 84 + 54 − 4 = 134.

Question 12

Simplify — order of operations wins.

(23 + 21) × 7 − 9 × 8 = ?

  1. 2392
  2. 237
  3. 226
  4. 236
  5. 246
Show the worked solution
  1. Brackets first: 23 + 21 = 44; then × 7 = 308.
  2. Second product: 9 × 8 = 72.
  3. Subtract: 308 − 72 = 236.

Question 13

Simplify — order of operations wins.

60 + 7 × 6 = ?

  1. 402
  2. 92
  3. 101
  4. 102
  5. 112
Show the worked solution
  1. Multiply first (BODMAS): 7 × 6 = 42.
  2. Then add: 60 + 42 = 102.

Question 14

Simplify — order of operations wins.

31 + 7 × 9 = ?

  1. 94
  2. 93
  3. 104
  4. 84
  5. 342
Show the worked solution
  1. Multiply first (BODMAS): 7 × 9 = 63.
  2. Then add: 31 + 63 = 94.

Question 15

Simplify — order of operations wins.

22 + 8 × 4 − 24 ÷ 4 = ?

  1. 39
  2. 38
  3. 24
  4. 48
  5. 47
Show the worked solution
  1. × and ÷ first: 8 × 4 = 32; 24 ÷ 4 = 6.
  2. Then left to right: 22 + 32 − 6 = 48.
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Where these questions come from

Most free practice for this topic is a scanned upload or a blog quiz, and neither can tell you a question has exactly one answer. That is the one thing this set can promise: it is minted, not typed. The engine behind it serves ComputePrep's daily timed drill, so the questions here are the same shape as the ones a live round would give you — and there is an unlimited supply of them, which is why this page can be regenerated rather than padded.

If you want the method rather than more questions, Simplification: the order that saves seconds covers the approach, the traps and a worked table. This page and that one deliberately answer different questions: that one is how do I solve these, this one is give me simplification questions with the answers.

FAQ

How many simplification questions appear in bank prelims?

IBPS and SBI prelims typically carry five to ten simplification or approximation questions, which is a fifth of the quantitative section. They are the fastest marks available, and candidates who leave them for last routinely run out of time before reaching them.

What is the fastest route through a long expression?

Convert every percentage and fraction to its simplest partner first — 37.5% is 3/8, 16.66% is 1/6 — then cancel across the whole expression before multiplying anything. Multiplying first and simplifying afterwards is what turns a fifteen-second question into a minute.

Should approximation questions be rounded early or late?

Early, and deliberately. If the options are far apart, round each term to the nearest convenient number at the start. Track whether you rounded up or down so you know which side of the true value you are on, then pick the option on that side.

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