Mahesh buys a watch with a marked price of Rs. 300 and offers the buyer two successive discounts of 15% and 6% on this marked price. What will be the final selling price of the watch in rupees after both discounts are applied?

Introduction / Context:
This problem tests the concept of successive discounts applied on a marked price. Mahesh has a watch with a marked price of Rs. 300 and gives two consecutive discounts, first 15% and then 6%, to the buyer. Successive percentage changes must be handled multiplicatively rather than additively, which is the key idea behind this question. We must compute the combined effect of the two discounts to determine the final selling price.

Given Data / Assumptions:

• Marked price (MP) of the watch = Rs. 300.
• First discount = 15% of the marked price (applied first).
• Second discount = 6% of the price after the first discount.
• We must find the final selling price after applying both discounts.

Concept / Approach:
Successive discounts are applied step by step. After a 15% discount, the price becomes 85% of the original marked price. Then a further 6% discount is applied on this reduced price, making the final selling price 94% of the new intermediate price. Algebraically, the final price is MP * (1 − 0.15) * (1 − 0.06). We then plug in MP = 300 and compute the result.

Step-by-Step Solution:
Marked price MP = Rs. 300. First discount = 15%. Price after first discount = MP * (1 − 0.15) = 300 * 0.85. 300 * 0.85 = Rs. 255. Second discount = 6% on the reduced price. Price after second discount = 255 * (1 − 0.06) = 255 * 0.94. Compute 255 * 0.94 = 255 * (94 / 100) = (255 * 94) / 100. 255 * 94 = 23,970. So final selling price SP = 23,970 / 100 = Rs. 239.70. Rounded to one decimal place, SP ≈ Rs. 239.7.

Verification / Alternative check:
We can also combine the discounts multiplicatively. Overall factor after two successive discounts of 15% and 6% is (1 − 0.15) * (1 − 0.06) = 0.85 * 0.94 = 0.799. Thus, final price = 300 * 0.799 = Rs. 239.7. This matches the detailed stepwise calculation, confirming that our answer is correct.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
213.4 and 225.0: These correspond to larger effective overall discounts than 1 − 0.799 = 20.1%.
242.3 and 247.4: These represent smaller overall discounts and are not equal to the result of applying 15% then 6% exactly.
Only Rs. 239.7 matches the exact product 300 * 0.85 * 0.94.

Common Pitfalls:
A frequent error is to add the discount percentages and treat them as a single 21% discount on Rs. 300, giving price = 300 * 0.79 = Rs. 237, which is incorrect. Successive discounts must always be applied stepwise because each percentage is taken on a different base amount. Another mistake is to round intermediate values too early, which can slightly distort the final result. Retaining a few extra decimal places until the final step helps maintain accuracy.

Final Answer:
The selling price of the watch after two successive discounts is Rs. 239.7.