To form a straight line, any 2 points have to be selected from a given set of points. Note that the order in which the points are selected does not matter here, therefore, this is a question on Combinations.
The plane contains 10 points, of which 4 are collinear. By definition, collinear points are points on the same line. Therefore, selecting any 2 points of these will not give us different straight lines. However, we cannot ignore the line on which these 4 points lie.
Therefore, total number of straight lines satisfying the above constraints = \(10_C_2\) – \(4_C_2\) + 1
\(10_C_2\) = \(\frac{{10 * 9} }{ 2}\) = 45
\(4_C_2\) = \(\frac{{4 * 3} }{ 2}\) = 6
Total number of straight lines = 45 – 6 + 1 = 40.
The correct answer option is E.Answer option D is a very common trap answer marked by test-takers who ignore / forget the line which contains the 4 collinear points.