Chapter 10

Mensuration

10.1 Introduction
When we talk about plane figures, we think of their regions and their
boundaries. We need some measures to compare them. We look into
this now.

10.2 Perimeter
Look at the following figures 10.1. You can make them with a wire or a string.
If you start from the point S and move along the line segments then you

again reach the point S. You have made a complete round of the shape. The
distance covered is equal to the length of wire used to draw the figure.
This distance is known as the perimeter of the closed figure. It is the
length of the wire needed to form the figure.
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The idea of perimeter is widely used in our daily life.
z A farmer who wants to fence his field.
z An engineer who plans to build a compound wall on all sides of a house.
z A person preparing a track to conduct sports.
All these people use the idea of ‘perimeter’.
Give five examples of situations where you need to know the perimeter.
Perimeter is the distance along the line forming a closed figure
when you go round the figure once.

10
1. Measure and write the length of the four sides of the top of your
study table.
AB = ____ cm,
BC = ____ cm,
CD = ____ cm,
DA = ____ cm.
Now, the sum of the lengths of the
four sides
= AB + BC + CD + DA
= ___ cm +___ cm +___ cm +___ cm
= _____ cm
What is the perimeter?
2. Measure and write the lengths of the four sides of a page of your
notebook. The sum of the lengths of the four sides
= AB + BC + CD + DA = ___ cm +___ cm +___ cm +___ cm
= _____ cm
What is the perimeter of the page?
3. Meera went to a park 150 m long and 80 m wide. She took one
complete round of it. What is the distance covered by her?
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Find the perimeter of the following figures:
(a)

Perimeter = AB + BC + CD+DA
= __ + __ + __+__
= ___

A 5 cm B
10
(b) Perimeter =
5 cm
5 cm

D 5 cm C

1 cm
A B
3 cm
3 cm

(c) K 3 cm 3 cm D
L C
1 cm
1 cm

Perimeter =
I F
J 3 cm 3 cm E
3 cm
3 cm

H G
1 cm

(d)
Perimeter =
AB + BC + CD + DE + EF + FA
= __ + __ + __ + __ + __ + __
= ______
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So, how will you find the perimeter of any closed figure made up entirely
of line segments? Simply find the sum of the lengths of all the sides (which
are line segments).
10.2.1 Perimeter of a Rectangle
Let us consider a rectangle ABCD (Fig 10.2) whose length and breadth are
15 cm and 9 cm, respectively. What will be its perimeter?

10

Perimeter of a rectangle = Sum of the lengths of its four sides.

= AB + BC + CD + DA Remember that
= AB + BC + AB + BC opposite sides of a
rectangle are equal
= 2 × AB + 2 × BC so AB = CD,
= 2 × (AB + BC) AD = BC
= 2 × (15cm + 9cm)
= 2 × (24cm)
= 48 cm

Find the perimeter of the following rectangles:

Length of Breadth of Perimeter by adding Perimeter by
Rectangle Rectangle all the sides 2 × (Length + Breadth)
25 cm 12 cm = 25 cm + 12 cm = 2 ×(25 cm + 12 cm)
+ 25 cm + 12 cm = 2 × (37 cm)
= 74 cm = 74 cm
0.5 m 0.25 m
18 cm 15 cm
10.5 cm 8.5 cm
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Hence from the above example, we notice that
Perimeter of a rectangle = length + breadth + length + breadth
i.e., Perimeter of a rectangle = 2 × (length + breadth)
Let us now see practical applications of this idea :
Example 1 : Shabana wants to put a lace border all around a rectangular
table cover (Fig 10.3) 3 m long and 2 m wide. Find the length
of the lace required by Shabana.
Solution : Length of the rectangular table cover = 3 m
10 Breadth of the rectangular table cover = 2 m
Shabana wants to put a lace border all around the table cover.
Therefore, the length of the lace required will be equal to
the perimeter of the rectangular table cover.
Now, perimeter of the rectangular
table cover
= 2 × (length + breadth)
= 2 × (3 m + 2 m)
= 2 × 5 m = 10 m
So, length of the lace required is
Fig 10.3
10 m.
Example 2 : An athlete takes 10 rounds of a rectangular park, 50 m long
and 25 m wide. Find the total distance covered by him.
Solution : Length of the rectangular park = 50 m
Breadth of the rectangular park = 25 m
Total distance covered by the athlete in one round will be
the perimeter of the park.
Now, perimeter of the rectangular park
= 2 × (length + breadth)
= 2 × (50 m + 25 m)
= 2 × 75 m = 150 m
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So, the distance covered by the athlete in one round is 150 m.
Therefore, distance covered in 10 rounds = 10 × 150 m
= 1500 m
The total distance covered by the athlete is 1500 m.
Example 3 : Find the perimeter of a rectangle whose length and breadth
are 150 cm and 1 m respectively.
Solution : Length = 150 cm
150 cm
Breadth = 1m = 100 cm
Perimeter of the rectangle
10
1m

1m
= 2 × (length + breadth)
= 2 × (150 cm + 100 cm)
= 2 × (250 cm)
150 cm
= 500 cm = 5 m
Example 4 : A farmer has a rectangular
field of length and breadth
240 m and 180 m,
respectively. He wants to
fence it with 3 rounds of
rope as shown in figure
10.4. What is the total
length of rope he must Fig 10.4
use?
Solution : The farmer has to cover three times the perimeter of that
field. Therefore, total length of rope required is thrice its
perimeter.
Perimeter of the field = 2 × (length + breadth)
= 2 × ( 240 m + 180 m)
= 2 × 420 m = 840 m
Total length of rope required = 3 × 840 m = 2520 m
Example 5 : Find the cost of fencing a rectangular park of length 250 m
and breadth 175 m at the rate of Rs 12 per metre.
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Solution : Length of the rectangular park = 250 m
Breadth of the rectangular park = 175 m
To calculate the cost of fencing we require perimeter.
Perimeter of the rectangle = 2 × (length + breadth)
= 2 × (250 m + 175 m)
= 2 × (425 m) = 850 m
Cost of fencing 1m of park = Rs 12
Therefore, the total cost of fencing the park
= Rs 12 × 850 = Rs 10200
10 10.2.2 Perimeter of Regular Shapes
Consider this example. 1m
Biswamitra wants to put coloured tape all around a
square picture (Fig 10.5) of side 1m as shown. What

1m
will be the length of the coloured tape he requires? 1m
Since Biswamitra wants to put the coloured tape all
around the square picture, he needs to find the perimeter
1m
of the picture frame.
Fig 10.5
Thus, the length of the tape required
= Perimeter of square = 1m + 1 m + 1 m + 1 m = 4 m

Now, we know that all the four sides of a square are equal, therefore in
place of adding it four times, we can multiply the length of one side by 4.
Thus, the length of the tape required = 4 × 1 m = 4 m
From this example, we see that
the perimeter of square = 4 × length of a side.
Draw more such squares and find the perimeters.

Now, look at equilateral triangle (Fig 10.6) with each

m

side equal to 4 cm. Can we find its perimeter?

4c
4c

Perimeter of this equilateral triangle = 4 + 4 + 4 cm

= 3 × 4 cm
= 12 cm 4 cm
Fig 10.6
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So, we find that
Perimeter of an equilateral triangle = 3 × length of a side

What is similar between a square and an equilateral triangle? They are

figures having all the sides of equal length and all the angles of equal
measure. Such figures are known as regular closed figures. Thus, a square
and an equilateral triangle are regular closed figures.
You found that,
Perimeter of a square = 4 × length of one side
Perimeter of an equilateral triangle = 3 × length of one side 10
So, what will be the perimeter of a regular pentagon?
A regular pentagon has five equal sides.
Therefore, perimeter of a regular pentagon = 5 × length of one side
and the perimeter of a regular hexagon will be _______.
And of an Octagon will be?

Find various objects from your surroundings which have regular shapes
and find their perimeter.

Example 6 : Find the distance travelled by Shaina if she takes three rounds
of a square park of side 70 m.
Solution : Perimeter of the square park
= 4 × length of a side
= 4 × 70 m = 280 m
Distance covered in one round = 280 m
Therefore, distance travelled in three rounds
= 3 × 280 m = 840 m
Example 7 : Pinky runs around a square field of side 75 m, Bob runs
around a rectangular field with length 160 m and breadth
105 m. Who covers more distance and by how much?
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Solution : Distance covered by Pinky in one round
= Perimeter of the square
= 4 × length of a side
= 4 × 75 m = 300 m
Distance covered by Bob in one round
= Perimeter of the rectangle
= 2 × (length + breadth)
= 2 × (160 m + 105 m)

10
= 2 × 265 m = 530 m
Difference in the distance covered
= 530 m – 300 m = 230 m.
Therefore, Bob covers more distance and by 230 m
Example 8 : Find the perimeter of a regular pentagon with each side
measuring 3 cm.
Solution : This regular closed figure has 5 sides, each with a length of
3 cm. Thus, we get:
Perimeter of the regular pentagon = 5 × 3 cm = 15 cm
Example 9 : The perimeter of a regular hexagon is 18 cm. How long is
one side?
Solution : Perimeter = 18 cm
A regular hexagon has 6 sides, so we can divide the perimeter
by 6 to get the length of one side.
One side of the hexagon = 18 cm ÷ 6 = 3 cm
Therefore, length of each side of regular hexagon is 3 cm.
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Let us solve some problems based on what we have learnt till now.

EXERCISE 10.1
1. Find the perimeter of each of the following figures :

10
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2. The lid of a rectangular box of sides 40 cm by 10 cm is sealed all round with
tape. What is the length of the tape required?
3. A table-top measures 2 m 25 cm by 1 m 50 cm. What is the perimeter of the
top of the table?
4. What is the length of the wooden strip required to frame a photograph of
length and breadth 32 cm and 21 cm, respectively?
5. A rectangular piece of land measures 0.7 km by 0.5 km. Each side is to be
fenced with 4 rows of wires. What is the length of the wire needed?

10 6. Find the perimeter of each of the following shapes :

(a) A triangle of sides 3 cm, 4 cm and 5 cm.
(b) An equilateral triangle of side 9 cm.
(c) An isosceles triangle with equal sides 8 cm each and third side 6 cm.
7. Find the perimeter of a triangle with sides measuring 10 cm, 14 cm and 15 cm.
8. Find the perimeter of a regular hexagon with each side measuring 8 m.
9. Find the side of the square whose perimeter is 20 m.
10. The perimeter of a regular pentagon is 100 centimetres. How long is each side?
11. A piece of string is 30 cm long. What will be the length of each side if the string
is used to form :
(a) a square?
(b) an equilateral triangle?
(c) a regular hexagon?
12. Two sides of a triangle are 12 cm and 14 cm. The perimeter of the triangle is
36 cm. What is the third side?
13. Find the cost of fencing a square park of side 250 m at the rate of Rs 20 per
metre.
14. Find the cost of fencing a rectangular park of length 175 m and breadth 125 m
at the rate of Rs 12 per metre.
15. Sweety runs around a square park of side 75 m. Bulbul runs around a
rectangular park with length 60 m and breadth 45 m. Who covers less distance?
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16. What is the perimeter of each of the following figures? What do you infer from
the answers?

10

1
17. Avneet buys 9 square paving slabs, each with a side of m. He lays them in
2
the form of a square.

(a) What is the perimeter of his arrangement (Fig 10.7 i)?

(b) Shari does not like his arrangement. She gets him to lay them out like a cross.
What is the perimeter of her arrangement (Fig 10.7 ii)?
(c) Which has greater perimeter?
(d) Avneet wonders, if there is a way of getting an even greater perimeter. Can
you find a way of doing this? (The paving slabs must meet along complete
edges: they cannot be broken.)
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10.3 Area
Look at the closed figures (Fig 10.8) given below. All of them occupy
some region of a flat surface. Can you tell which ones occupy more region?

(a) (b) (a) (b)

10

(a)

(a) (b)
(b)
Fig 10.8

The amount of surface enclosed by a closed figure is called its area.

So, can you tell, which of the above figures has more area?

Now, look at the following figures of Fig 10.9 :

Which one of these have larger area? It is difficult to tell just by looking
at these figures. So, what do you
do?
Place them on a squared paper
or graph paper where every
square measures 1 cm × 1 cm.
(a) Fig 10.9 (b)
Make an outline of the figure.
Look at the squares enclosed by the figure. Some of them are completely
enclosed, some half, some less than half and some more than half.
The area is the number of centimetre squares that are needed to cover it.
But there is a small problem : the squares do not always fit exactly into the
area you measure. We get over this difficulty by adopting a convention :
O The area of one full square is taken as 1 sq unit. If it is a centimetre
square sheet, then area of one full square will be 1 sq cm.
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O Ignore portions of the area that are less than half a square.
O If more than half of a square is in a region, just count it as one square.
1
O If exactly half the square is counted, take its area as sq unit.
2
Such a convention, it is found, gives a fair estimate of the desired area.
Example 10 : By counting squares, estimate the area of the figure 10.9 b.
Soultion : Make an outline of the figure on a graph sheet. (Fig 10.10)
How do the squares cover it?

10
Cover Number Area
estimate
(sq units)
(i)Fully filled squares 11 11
1
(ii)Half filled squares 3 3×
2
(iii) More than half- 7 7
filled squares
(iv) Less than half- 5 0
filled squares Fig 10.10
1 1
Total Area= 11 + 3 × + 7 = 19 sq units.
2 2
Example 11 : By counting squares, estimate area of the figure 10.9 a.
Soultion : Make an outline of the figure on a graph sheet. This is how
the squares cover the figure (Fig 10.11) :
Cover Number Area
estimate
(sq units)
(i) Fully filled squares 1 1
(ii) Half filled squares - -
(iii) More than half- 7 7
filled squares
(iv) Less than half- 9 0
filled squares Fig 10.11
Total Area = 1 + 7 = 8 sq units.
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Example 12 : Find the area of the shape shown in the figure 10.12.
Solution : This figure is made up of line-
segments. Moreover, it is
covered by full squares and half
squares only. This makes our job
simple.
(i) Fully filled squares = 3
(ii) Half-filled squares = 3
Area covered by full squares
10 = 3 × 1 sq units = 3 sq units Fig 10.12
1 1
Area covered by half squares = 3 × sq units = 1 sq units
2 2
1
Total area = 4 sq units
2

1. Draw any circle on a graph sheet. Count the squares and use them
to estimate the area of the circular region.
2. Trace shapes of leaves, flower petals and other such objects on the
graph paper and find their areas.

EXERCISE 10.2
Find the areas of the following figures:
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(m) (n)

2. Use tracing paper and centimetre graph paper to compare the areas of the
following pair of figures :
10

10.3.1 Area of a Rectangle

With the help of the squared paper, can we tell, what will be the area of a
rectangle whose length is 5 cm
and breadth is 3 cm?
Draw the rectangle on a graph
paper having 1 cm × 1 cm squares
(Fig 10.13). The rectangle covers
15 squares completely.
The area of the rectangle
= 15 sq cm which can be written
as 5 × 3 sq cm i.e. (length ×
breadth). Fig 10.13
The measures of the sides of
some of the rectangles are given. Find their areas by placing them on a
graph paper and counting the number of squares :
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Length Breadth Area

3 cm 2 cm ------
5 cm 4 cm ------
6 cm 5 cm ------

What do we infer from this?

We find that,

10
Area of a rectangle = (length × breadth)
Without using the graph paper, can we find the area of a rectangle whose
length is 6 cm and breadth is 4cm?
Yes, it is possible.
Area of the rectangle = length × breadth
= 6 cm × 4 cm = 24 sq cm

1. Find the area of the floor of your classroom.

2. Find the area of any one door in your house.

10.3.2 Area of a Square

Let us now consider a square of side 4 cm (Fig 10.14).
What will be its area?
If we place it on a centimetre
graph paper, then
what do we observe?
It covers 16 squares
i.e., the area of the square
= 16 sq cm
= 4 × 4 sq cm
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The length of one side of a few squares are given :
Find their areas using graph papers.

Length of one side Area of the square

3 cm ----------

7 cm ----------

5 cm ----------

10
What do we infer from this? We find that in each case,
Area of the square = side × side
You may use this as a formula in doing problems.
Example 13 : Find the area of a rectangle whose length and breadth are
12 cm and 4 cm respectively.
Solution : Length of the rectangle = 12 cm
Breadth of the rectangle = 4 cm
Area of the rectangle = length × breadth
= 12 cm × 4 cm = 48 sq cm
Example 14 : Find the area of a square plot of side 8 m.
Solution : Side of the square =8m
Area of the square = side × side
= 8 m × 8 m = 64 sq m
Example 15 : The area of a rectangular piece of cardboard is 36 sq.cm.
and its length is 9 cm. What is the width of the cardboard?
Solution : Area of the rectangle = 36 sq cm
Length = 9 cm
Width =?
Area of a rectangle = length × width
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Area
So, width = Length

36
= = 4 cm
9
Thus, width of the rectangular cardboard is 4 cm.
Example 16 : Bob wants to cover a room 3 m wide and 4 m long by squared
tiles. If each square tile is of side 0.5 m, then find the number
10 of tiles required to cover the floor of the room.
Solution : Total area of tiles must be equal to the area of room.
Length of the room =4m
Breadth of the room =3m
Area of the floor = length × breadth
=4m×3m
= 12 sq m
Area of one square tile = side × side
= 0.5 m × 0.5 m
= 0.25 sq m
Area of the floor
Number of tiles required =
Area of the tile
12 1200
= = = 48 tiles.
0.25 25
Example 17 : Find the area in square metre of a piece of cloth 1m 25 cm
wide and 2 m long.
Solution : Length of the cloth = 2 m
Breadth of the cloth = 1 m 25 cm = 1 m + 0. 25 m = 1.25 m
(since 25 cm = 0.25m)
Area of the cloth= length of the cloth × breadth of the cloth
= 2 m × 1.25 m
= 2.50 sq m
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Take a piece of 5 cm square paper.

Dissect it into 7 pieces as indicated. The dots represent the mid points
of the segments in each case (Fig 10.15).

7
6 5
4
3
2 1
10
Fig 10.15

1. Can shape 6 be covered by shapes 2, 3 and 4

together? Can you find other ways where any one
of the shapes can be covered by other pieces?
2. Here is a shape formed (Fig 10.16) using all the
seven pieces, by placing them together without
overlapping. What will be the area of the new
shape? Fig 10.16
Now check that each of the following birds (Fig 10.17) can be made
from the seven pieces of the square.

Fig 10.17

Can we say that they are equal in area?

The same seven pieces have been used to make each of the following
picture (Fig 10.18), but one piece is lost in the process in one of the
pictures.
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286

(a) (b) (c)

Fig 10.18

(i) Which piece is missing from which picture?

10 (ii) Which pictures have the same area?
Now, try to solve some problems based on what all you have learnt
till now.

EXERCISE 10.3
1. Find the areas of the rectangles whose sides are :
(a) 3 cm and 4 cm (b) 12 m and 21 m
(c) 2 km and 3 km (d) 2 m and 70 cm
2. Find the areas of the squares whose sides are :
(a) 10 cm (b) 14 cm (c) 5 m
3. Three rectangles have the following dimensions :
(a) 9 m and 6 m (b) 3 m and 17 m (c) 4 m and 14 m
Which one has the largest area and which one has the smallest?
4. The area of a rectangular garden 50 m long is 300 sq m. Find the width of the
garden.
5. What is the cost of tiling a rectangular piece of land 500 m long and 200 m wide
at the rate of Rs 8 per hundred sq m.
6. A table measures 2 m 25 cm by 1 m 50 cm. What is its area in square metres?
7. A room is 4 m 20 cm long and 3 m 65 cm wide. How many square metres of
carpet is needed to cover the floor of the room?
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8. A floor is 5 m long and 4 m wide. A square carpet of sides 3 m is laid on the
floor. Find the area of the floor that is not carpeted.
9. Five square flower beds each of sides 1.2 m are dug on a piece of land 4.8 m
long and 4.2 m wide. What is the area of the remaining part of land?
10. The following figures have been split into rectangles. Find their areas (The
measures are given in centimetres).
(a) (b)

10

11. Split the following shapes into rectangles and find the area of each.
(The measures are given in centimetres)
2 7
5
7 7 1 1
7 7 2
10 2
12 7 7 4 4
8 7 7
7 7
2
1
10 7
(a) (b) (c)

12. How many tiles with dimensions 5 cm and 12 cm will be needed to fit in a
region whose length and breadth are, respectively:
(a) 100 cm and 144 cm
(b) 70 cm and 36 cm.
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A challenge!
On a centimetre squared paper, make as many rectangles as you can, such
that the area of the rectangle is 16 sq cm (consider only whole number
lengths).
(a) Which rectangle has the greatest perimeter?
(b) Which rectangle has the least perimeter?
If you take a rectangle of area 24 sq cm, what will be your answers?
Given any area, is it possible to predict the shape of the rectangle with
10 the greatest perimeter? With the least perimeter? Give example and reason.

What have we discussed?

1. Perimeter is the distance along the line, forming a closed figure, when you go
round the figure once.
2. (a) Perimeter of a rectangle = 2 × (length + breadth)
(b) Perimeter of a square = 4 × length of its side
(c) Perimeter of an equilateral triangle = 3 × length of a side
3. Figures, in which all sides and angles are equal, are called regular closed figures.
4. The amount of surface enclosed by a closed figure is called its area.
5. To calculate the area of a figure using a squared paper, the following conventions
are adopted :
(a) Ignore portions of the area that are less than half a square.
(b) If more than half a square is in a region. Count it as one square.
1
(c) If exactly half the square is counted, take its area as sq units.
2
6. (a) Area of a rectangle = length × breadth
(b) Area of a square = side × side