The price of a certain laptop is discounted by 20% and the reduced price is then discounted by 20%. This series of successive discounts is equivalent to a single discount of :

36%

Let initial price = 100x

According to question ,

New price = 100x × \(\frac{80}{100}\) × \(\frac{80}{100}\)

= 100x × \(\frac{4}{5}\) × \(\frac{4}{5}\) 

= 64x

Required percentage = \(\frac{100x - 64x}{100x}\) × 100

= 36%