MATHEMATICS

Textbook for Class VIII

2019-20
 ISBN 978-81-7450-814-0

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 Foreword
The National Curriculum Framework, 2005, recommends that children’s life at school must be linked
to their life outside the school. This principle marks a departure from the legacy of bookish learning
which continues to shape our system and causes a gap between the school, home and community. The
syllabi and textbooks developed on the basis of NCF signify an attempt to implement this basic idea.
They also attempt to discourage rote learning and the maintenance of sharp boundaries between
different subject areas. We hope these measures will take us significantly further in the direction of a
child-centred system of education outlined in the National Policy on Education (1986).
The success of this effort depends on the steps that school principals and teachers will take to
encourage children to reflect on their own learning and to pursue imaginative activities and questions. We
must recognise that, given space, time and freedom, children generate new knowledge by engaging with
the information passed on to them by adults. Treating the prescribed textbook as the sole basis of examination
is one of the key reasons why other resources and sites of learning are ignored. Inculcating creativity and
initiative is possible if we perceive and treat children as participants in learning, not as receivers of a fixed
body of knowledge.
These aims imply considerable change in school routines and mode of functioning. Flexibility in
the daily time-table is as necessary as rigour in implementing the annual calendar so that the required
number of teaching days are actually devoted to teaching. The methods used for teaching and evaluation
will also determine how effective this textbook proves for making children’s life at school a happy
experience, rather than a source of stress or boredom. Syllabus designers have tried to address the
problem of curricular burden by restructuring and reorienting knowledge at different stages with greater
consideration for child psychology and the time available for teaching. The textbook attempts to enhance
this endeavour by giving higher priority and space to opportunities for contemplation and wondering,
discussion in small groups, and activities requiring hands-on experience.
NCERT appreciates the hard work done by the textbook development committee responsible
for this book. We wish to thank the Chairperson of the advisory group in science and mathematics,
Professor J.V. Narlikar and the Chief Advisor for this book, Dr H.K. Dewan for guiding the work of
this committee. Several teachers contributed to the development of this textbook; we are grateful to
their principals for making this possible. We are indebted to the institutions and organisations which
have generously permitted us to draw upon their resources, material and personnel. As an organisation
committed to systemic reform and continuous improvement in the quality of its products, NCERT
welcomes comments and suggestions which will enable us to undertake further revision and refinement.

Director
New Delhi National Council of Educational
30 November 2007 Research and Training

2019-20
2019-20
 Preface
This is the final book of the upper primary series. It has been an interesting journey to define mathematics
learning in a different way. The attempt has been to retain the nature of mathematics, engage with the
question why learn mathematics while making an attempt to create materials that would address the
interest of the learners at this stage and provide sufficient and approachable challenge to them. There
have been many views on the purpose of school mathematics. These range from the fully utilitarian to
the entirely aesthetic perceptions. Both these end up not engaging with the concepts and enriching the
apparatus available to the learner for participating in life. The NCF emphasises the need for developing
the ability to mathematise ideas and perhaps experiences as well. An ability to explore the ideas and
framework given by mathematics in the struggle to find a richer life and a more meaningful relationship
with the world around.
This is not even easy to comprehend, far more difficult to operationalise. But NCF adds to this an
even more difficult goal. The task is to involve everyone of that age group in the classroom or outside
in doing mathematics. This is the aim we have been attempting to make in the series.
We have, therefore, provided space for children to engage in reflection, creating their own rules
and definitions based on problems/tasks solved and following their ideas logically. The emphasis is not
on remembering algorithms, doing complicated arithmetical problems or remembering proofs, but
understanding how mathematics works and being able to identify the way of moving towards solving
problems.
The important concern for us has also been to ensure that all students at this stage learn mathematics
and begin to feel confident in relating mathematics. We have attempted to help children read the book
and to stop and reflect at each step where a new idea has been presented. In order to make the book
less formidable we have included illustrations and diagrams. These combined with the text help the
child comprehend the idea. Throughout the series and also therefore in this book we have tried to
avoid the use of technical words and complex formulations. We have left many things for the student to
describe and write in her own words.
We have made an attempt to use child friendly language. To attract attention to some points blurbs
have been used. The attempt has been to reduce the weight of long explanations by using these and the
diagrams. The illustrations and fillers also attempt to break the monotony and provide contexts.
Class VIII is the bridge to Class IX where children will deal with more formal mathematics. The
attempt here has been to introduce some ideas in a way that is moving towards becoming formal. The
tasks included expect generalisation from the gradual use of such language by the child.
The team that developed this textbook consisted teachers with experience and appreciation of
children learning mathematics. This team also included people with experience of research in mathematics
teaching-learning and an experience of producing materials for children. The feedback on the textbooks
for Classes VI and VII was kept in mind while developing this textbook. This process of
development also included discussions with teachers during review workshop on the manuscript.

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 vi

In the end, I would like to express the grateful thanks of our team to Professor Krishna Kumar,
Director, NCERT, Professor G. Ravindra, Joint Director, NCERT and Professor Hukum Singh,
Head, DESM, for giving us an opportunity to work on this task with freedom and with full support. I
am also grateful to Professor J.V. Narlikar, Chairperson of the Advisory Group in Science and
Mathematics for his suggestions. I am also grateful for the support of the team members from NCERT,
Professor S.K. Singh Gautam, Dr V.P. Singh and in particular Dr Ashutosh K. Wazalwar who
coordinated this work and made arrangements possible. In the end I must thank the Publication
Department of NCERT for its support and advice and those from Vidya Bhawan who helped produce
the book.
It need not be said but I cannot help mentioning that all the authors worked as a team and we
accepted ideas and advice from each other. We stretched ourselves to the fullest and hope that we
have done some justice to the challenge posed before us.
The process of developing materials is, however, a continuous one and we would hope to
make this book better. Suggestions and comments on the book are most welcome.

H.K. DEWAN
Chief Advisor
Textbook Development Committee

2019-20
 A Note for the Teacher
This is the third and the last book of this series. It is a continuation of the processes initiated to help the
learners in abstraction of ideas and principles of mathematics. Our students to be able to deal with
mathematical ideas and use them need to have the logical foundations to abstract and use postulates
and construct new formulations. The main points reflected in the NCF-2005 suggest relating mathematics
to development of wider abilities in children, moving away from complex calculations and algorithm
following to understanding and constructing a framework of understanding. As you know, mathematical
ideas do not develop by telling them. They also do not reach children by merely giving explanations.
Children need their own framework of concepts and a classroom where they are discussing ideas,
looking for solutions to problems, setting new problems and finding their own ways of solving problems
and their own definitions.
As we have said before, it is important to help children to learn to read the textbook and other
books related to mathematics with understanding. The reading of materials is clearly required to help
the child learn further mathematics. In Class VIII please take stock of where the students have reached
and give them more opportunities to read texts that use language with symbols and have brevity and
terseness with no redundancy. For this if you can, please get them to read other texts as well. You
could also have them relate the physics they learn and the equations they come across in chemistry to
the ideas they have learnt in mathematics. These cross-disciplinary references would help them develop
a framework and purpose for mathematics. They need to be able to reconstruct logical arguments and
appreciate the need for keeping certain factors and constraints while they relate them to other areas as
well. Class VIII children need to have opportunity for all this.
As we have already emphasised, mathematics at the Upper Primary Stage has to be close to the
experience and environment of the child and be abstract at the same time. From the comfort of context
and/or models linked to their experience they need to move towards working with ideas. Learning to
abstract helps formulate and understand arguments. The capacity to see interrelations among concepts
helps us deal with ideas in other subjects as well. It also helps us understand and make better patterns,
maps, appreciate area and volume and see similarities between shapes and sizes. While this is regarding
the relationship of other fields of knowledge to mathematics, its meaning in life and our environment
needs to be re-emphasised.
Children should be able to identify the principles to be used in contextual situations, for solving
problems sift through and choose the relevant information as the first important step. Once students do
that they need to be able to find the way to use the knowledge they have and reach where the problem
requires them to go. They need to identify and define a problem, select or design possible solutions and
revise or redesign the steps, if required. As they go further there would be more to of this to be done. In
Class VIII we have to get them to be conscious of the steps they follow. Helping children to develop the
ability to construct appropriate models by breaking up the problems and evolving their own strategies
and analysis of problems is extremely important. This is in the place of giving them prescriptive algorithms.

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Cooperative learning, learning through conversations, desire and capacity to learn from each other
and the recognition that conversation is not noise and consultation not cheating is an important part of
change in attitude for you as a teacher and for the students as well. They should be asked to make
presentations as a group with the inclusion of examples from the contexts of their own experiences.
They should be encouraged to read the book in groups and formulate and express what they understand
from it. The assessment pattern has to recognise and appreciate this and the classroom groups should
be such that all children enjoy being with each other and are contributing to the learning of the group.
As you would have seen different groups use different strategies. Some of these are not as efficient as
others as they reflect the modeling done and reflect the thinking used. All these are appropriate and
need to be analysed with children. The exposure to a variety of strategies deepens the mathematical
understanding. Each group moves from where it is and needs to be given an opportunity for that.
For conciseness we present the key ideas of mathematics learning that we would like you to
remember in your classroom.
1. Enquiry to understand is one of the natural ways by which students acquire and construct knowledge.
The process can use generation of observations to acquire knowledge. Students need to deal with
different forms of questioning and challenging investigations- explorative, open-ended, contextual
and even error detection from geometry, arithmetic and generalising it to algebraic relations etc.
2. Children need to learn to provide and follow logical arguments, find loopholes in the arguments
presented and understand the requirement of a proof. By now children have entered the formal
stage. They need to be encouraged to exercise creativity and imagination and to communicate their
mathematical reasoning both verbally and in writing.
3. The mathematics classroom should relate language to learning of mathematics. Children should talk
about their ideas using their experiences and language. They should be encouraged to use their
own words and language but also gradually shift to formal language and use of symbols.
4. The number system has been taken to the level of generalisation of rational numbers and their properties
and developing a framework that includes all previous systems as sub-sets of the generalised rational
numbers. Generalisations are to be presented in mathematical language and children have to see that
algebra and its language helps us express a lot of text in small symbolic forms.
5. As before children should be required to set and solve a lot of problems. We hope that as the
nature of the problems set up by them becomes varied and more complex, they would become
confident of the ideas they are dealing with.
6. Class VIII book has attempted to bring together the different aspects of mathematics and emphasise
the commonality. Unitary method, Ratio and proportion, Interest and dividends are all part of one
common logical framework. The idea of variable and equations is needed wherever we need to
find an unknown quantity in any branch of mathematics.
We hope that the book will help children learn to enjoy mathematics and be confident in the
concepts introduced. We want to recommend the creation of opportunity for thinking individually and
collectively.
We look forward to your comments and suggestions regarding the book and hope that you will
send interesting exercises, activities and tasks that you develop during the course of teaching, to be
included in the future editions. This can only happen if you would find time to listen carefully to children
and identify gaps and on the other hand also find the places where they can be given space to articulate
their ideas and verbalise their thoughts.

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 Textbook Development Committee
CHAIRPERSON, ADVISORY GROUP IN SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS
J.V. Narlikar, Emeritus Professor, Chairman, Advisory Committee, Inter University Centre for
Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCCA), Ganeshkhind, Pune University, Pune
CHIEF ADVISOR
H.K. Dewan, Vidya Bhawan Society, Udaipur, Rajasthan
CHIEF COORDINATOR
Hukum Singh, Professor and Head, DESM, NCERT, New Delhi
MEMBERS
Anjali Gupte, Teacher, Vidya Bhawan Public School, Udaipur, Rajasthan
Avantika Dam, TGT, CIE Experimental Basic School, Department of Education, Delhi
B.C. Basti, Senior Lecturer, Regional Institute of Education, Mysore, Karnataka
H.C. Pradhan, Professor, Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education, TIFR, Mumbai
Maharashtra
K.A.S.S.V. Kameshwar Rao, Lecturer, Regional Institute of Education, Shyamala Hills
Bhopal (M.P.)
Mahendra Shankar, Lecturer (S.G.) (Retd.), NCERT, New Delhi
Meena Shrimali, Teacher, Vidya Bhawan Senior Secondary School, Udaipur, Rajasthan
P. Bhaskar Kumar, PGT, Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, Lepakshi, Distt. Anantpur (A.P.)
R. Athmaraman, Mathematics Education Consultant, TI Matric Higher Secondary School and
AMTI, Chennai, Tamil Nadu
Ram Avtar, Professor (Retd.), NCERT, New Delhi
Shailesh Shirali, Rishi Valley School, Rishi Valley, Madanapalle (A.P.)
S.K.S. Gautam, Professor, DEME, NCERT, New Delhi
Shradha Agarwal, Principal, Florets International School, Panki, Kanpur (U.P.)
Srijata Das, Senior Lecturer in Mathematics, SCERT, New Delhi
V.P. Singh, Reader, DESM, NCERT, New Delhi
MEMBER-COORDINATOR
Ashutosh K. Wazalwar, Professor, DESM, NCERT, New Delhi

2019-20
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The Council gratefully acknowledges the valuable contributions of the following participants of the
Textbook Review Workshop: Shri Pradeep Bhardwaj, TGT (Mathematics) Bal Sthali Public Secondary
School, Kirari, Nangloi, New Delhi; Shri Sankar Misra, Teacher in Mathematics, Demonstration
Multipurpose School, Regional Institute of Education, Bhubaneswar (Orissa); Shri Manohar
M. Dhok, Supervisor, M.P. Deo Smruti Lokanchi Shala, Nagpur (Maharashtra); Shri Manjit Singh
Jangra, Maths teacher, Government Senior Secondary School, Sector-4/7, Gurgoan (Haryana);
Dr. Rajendra Kumar Pooniwala, U.D.T., Government Subhash Excellence School, Burhanpur (M.P.);
Shri K. Balaji, TGT (Mathematics), Kendriya Vidyalaya No.1, Tirupati (A.P.); Ms. Mala Mani, Amity
International School, Sector-44, Noida; Ms. Omlata Singh, TGT (Mathematics), Presentation Convent
Senior Secondary School, Delhi; Ms. Manju Dutta, Army Public School, Dhaula Kuan, New Delhi;
Ms. Nirupama Sahni, TGT (Mathematics), Shri Mahaveer Digambar Jain Senior Secondary School,
Jaipur (Rajasthan); Shri Nagesh Shankar Mone, Head Master, Kantilal Purshottam Das Shah Prashala,
Vishrambag, Sangli (Maharashtra); Shri Anil Bhaskar Joshi, Senior teacher (Mathematics), Manutai
Kanya Shala, Tilak Road, Akola (Maharashtra); Dr. Sushma Jairath, Reader, DWS, NCERT,
New Delhi; Shri Ishwar Chandra, Lecturer (S.G.) (Retd.) NCERT, New Delhi.
The Council is grateful for the suggestions/comments given by the following participants during the
workshop of the mathematics Textbook Development Committee – Shri Sanjay Bolia and Shri Deepak
Mantri from Vidya Bhawan Basic School, Udaipur; Shri Inder Mohan Singh Chhabra, Vidya Bhawan
Educational Resource Centre, Udaipur.
The Council acknowledges the comments/suggestions given by Dr. R.P. Maurya, Reader, DESM,
NCERT, New Delhi; Dr. Sanjay Mudgal, Lecturer, DESM, NCERT, New Delhi; Dr. T.P. Sharma,
Lecturer, DESM, NCERT, New Delhi for the improvement of the book.
The Council acknowledges the support and facilities provided by Vidya Bhawan Society and
its staff, Udaipur, for conducting workshops of the development committee at Udaipur and to the
Director, Centre for Science Education and Communication (CSEC), Delhi University for providing
library help.
The Council acknowledges the academic and administrative support of Professor Hukum Singh,
Head, DESM, NCERT.
The Council also acknowledges the efforts of Sajjad Haider Ansari, Rakesh Kumar,
Neelam Walecha, DTP Operators; Kanwar Singh, Copy Editor; Abhimanu Mohanty, Proof Reader,
Deepak Kapoor, Computer Station Incharge, DESM, NCERT for technical assistance, APC Office
and the Administrative Staff, DESM, NCERT and the Publication Department of the NCERT.

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 Contents

Foreword iii
Preface v
Chapter 1 Rational Numbers 1
Chapter 2 Linear Equations in One Variable 21
Chapter 3 Understanding Quadrilaterals 37
Chapter 4 Practical Geometry 57
Chapter 5 Data Handling 69
Chapter 6 Squares and Square Roots 89
Chapter 7 Cubes and Cube Roots 109
Chapter 8 Comparing Quantities 117
Chapter 9 Algebraic Expressions and Identities 137
Chapter 10 Visualising Solid Shapes 153
Chapter 11 Mensuration 169
Chapter 12 Exponents and Powers 193
Chapter 13 Direct and Inverse Proportions 201
Chapter 14 Factorisation 217
Chapter 15 Introduction to Graphs 231
Chapter 16 Playing with Numbers 249
Answers 261
Just for Fun 275

2019-20