A laptop is priced at ₹40,000. A customer gets a discount of ₹4,000 on it. After the discount, the customer buys a mouse for ₹1,500 at a 20% discount. What is the total amount the customer spends on both items?

Correct — C.
Laptop after the flat discount: 40,000 − 4,000 = ₹36,000

Mouse discount: 20% of 1,500 = ₹300
Mouse price paid: 1,500 − 300 = ₹1,200

Add the two items: 36,000 + 1,200 = ₹37,200 → option (c)

Why the others are wrong

• (a)
  ₹35,500 — ₹35,500 is less than the laptop alone, which costs ₹36,000 after its discount. A total for both items cannot be smaller than one of them.
• (b)
  ₹36,500 — ₹36,500 leaves only ₹500 for the mouse. A 20% discount on ₹1,500 leaves ₹1,200, not ₹500.
• (d)
  ₹38,600 — ₹38,600 leaves ₹2,600 for the mouse, more than its full ₹1,500 price. Even with no mouse discount at all, the total would be only ₹37,500.

A flat discount is a rupee amount taken off the price. A percentage discount is a share of the price. Apply each item's own discount, then add.

For the mouse, 20% off means paying 80%: 0.8 × 1,500 = 1,200. The laptop's ₹4,000 happens to be 10% of ₹40,000, but you do not need that: subtract it directly.

Key facts

• Price after a d% discount = (100 − d)% of the price
• A flat discount is subtracted as a rupee amount
• Here the laptop costs ₹36,000 and the mouse ₹1,200, a total of ₹37,200

Common traps

• Adding the mouse at its full ₹1,500 and forgetting its 20% discount
• Applying the 20% to the whole bill instead of to the mouse alone

No directly related past PYQ was found.