Class VI Maths

GANITA PRAKASH
Textbook of Mathematics for

Grade 6
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0674 – Ganita Prakash
ISBN 978-93-5292-717-3
Textbook of Mathematics for Grade 6
First Edition ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
July 2024 Ashadha 1946  No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a
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way of trade, be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise disposed
of without the publisher’s consent, in any form of binding or
© National Council of Educational cover other than that in which it is published.
Research and Training, 2024  The correct price of this publication is the price printed on
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F o r e wo r d
The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 envisages a system of
education in the country that is rooted in Indian ethos and its
civilisational accomplishments in all domains of human endeavour
and knowledge, while at the same time preparing the students to
constructively engage with the prospects and challenges of the
twenty-first century. The basis for this aspirational vision has been well
laid out by the National Curriculum Framework for School Education
(NCFSE) 2023 across curricular areas at all stages. Nurturing the
students’ inherent abilities touching upon all the five planes of human
existence, the pañchakośhas, in the Foundational and the Preparatory
Stages has paved the way for the progression of their learning further
at the Middle Stage. The Middle Stage acts as a bridge between the
Preparatory and the Secondary Stages, spanning three years from
Grade 6 to 8.
This framework, at the Middle Stage, aims to equip students with
the skills that are needed to grow as they advance in their lives. It
endeavours to enhance their analytical, descriptive, and narrative
capabilities, and to prepare them for the challenges and opportunities
that await them. A diverse curriculum, covering nine subjects ranging
from three languages—including at least two languages native to
India—to Science, Mathematics, Social Sciences, Art Education, Physical
Education and Well-being, and Vocational Education promotes their
holistic development.
Such a transformative learning culture requires certain essential
conditions. One of them is to have appropriate textbooks in different
curricular areas, as these textbooks will play a central role in mediating
between content and pedagogy—a role that will strike a judicious
balance between direct instruction and opportunities for exploration
and inquiry. Among other conditions, classroom arrangement and
teacher preparation are crucial to establish conceptual connections
both within and across curricular areas.
The National Council of Educational Research and Training
(NCERT), in its part, is committed to provide students with such high-
quality textbooks. Various Curricular Area Groups, which have been
constituted for this purpose, comprising notable subject-experts,
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pedagogues, and practising teachers as their members, have made
all possible efforts to develop such textbooks. Ganita Prakash, the
textbook of Mathematics for Grade 6, is one of these. The textbook
is a captivating journey through the world of mathematics designed
for Grade 6 students. The book begins with encouraging the students
to observe and explore the patterns around them and discover
mathematical concepts on their own. The book further delves into
the realm of numbers, where young learners are introduced to
the magic of numbers and shapes. Through colourful illustrations
and interactive exercises, children develop a strong foundation in
arithmetic, paving the way for more complex mathematical concepts.
Throughout the book, stories, conversations and anecdotes have
been incorporated to make abstract mathematical concepts more
relatable and accessible to young learners. Content has been evolved
using puzzles and innovative problems that will not only engage the
students in thoughtfully relating the mathematical concepts to the
world around them and help them in deepening their understanding
of mathematics, but also prepare them to understand the concepts of
the emerging field of Computational Thinking. Indian rootedness and
relation to Indian Knowledge Systems (IKS) has been embedded in the
content of the textbook.
However, in addition to this textbook, students at this stage should
also be encouraged to explore various other learning resources.
School libraries play a crucial role in making such resources available.
Besides, the role of parents and teachers will also be invaluable in
guiding and encouraging students to do so.
With this, I express my gratitude to all those who have been
involved in the development of this textbook and hope that it will meet
the expectations of all stakeholders. At the same time, I also invite
suggestions and feedback from all its users for further improvement
in the coming years.
Dinesh Prasad Saklani

Director
New Delhi National Council of Educational
July, 2024 Research and Training
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About the Book
Mathematics helps students develop not only basic arithmetic skills,
but also the crucial capacities of logical reasoning, creative problem
solving, and clear and precise communication (both oral and written).
Mathematical knowledge also plays a crucial role in understanding
concepts in other school subjects, such as Science and Social Science,
and even Art, Physical Education, and Vocational Education. Learning
Mathematics can also contribute to the development of capacities
for making informed choices and decisions. Understanding numbers
and quantitative arguments is necessary for effective and meaningful
democratic and economic participation. Mathematics thus has an
important role to play in achieving the overall Aims of School Education.
Mathematics at the Middle Stage is a major challenge and has
to perform the dual role of being both close to the experience and
environment of the child and being abstract. It must perform the dual
role of developing intuition while also maintaining and emphasizing
rigour. It must perform the dual role of enhancing critical and logical
thinking while also developing artistry and creativity and a sense of
elegance and aesthetics. Finally, Mathematics must perform the dual
role of providing students plenty of opportunities for exploration and
discovery of concepts on their own while also teaching best-known
methods in the global repertoire of mathematics.
The present textbook has made an attempt to address the above-
mentioned goals and challenges of learning mathematics. The writers
of this book have aimed to strike a judicious balance between informal
and formal definitions and methods to develop in students both
intuition and rigour. The book also provides numerous opportunities
for student–student and student–teacher interaction in the classroom
to promote active and experiential learning. A number of questions,
puzzles, and interactive exercises are posed throughout the book to
encourage constant exploration. Many of the questions are open-
ended to stimulate in-class discussion. Finally, some famous unsolved
problems have also been included so that students can appreciate that
Mathematics is still a very active subject, with much that is already
known and discovered, but also many exciting frontiers that remain
unknown and unseen. Such unknown realms and unresolved questions
will require new ideas and a new generation of adventurers to explore
and understand, and to thereby solve these exciting problems.
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Among the world’s greatest problem solvers and most creative minds
of the current generation is world-renowned mathematician Manjul
Bhargava. He has resolved decades-old, and in some cases centuries-
old, problems of a fundamental nature across Mathematics, particularly
in the areas of number theory, algebra, representation theory, and
arithmetic geometry. For his pioneering breakthroughs in Mathematics,
in 2014 he became the first person of Indian origin to receive the Fields
Medal, the highest honour given to mathematicians, awarded every
four years and known as the ʻNobel Prize of Mathematics’.
We are thrilled and honoured that the beautiful Chapter 1 of
this book, ʻPatterns in Mathematics’, has been kindly composed and
contributed by Professor Bhargava. In this chapter, in the section ʻWhat
is Mathematics?’, Bhargava eloquently speaks of mathematics as a
creative art—as a search for beautiful patterns, and the explanations of
those patterns. In later sections of the chapter, he describes a sampling
of some of the most basic patterns in mathematics—sequences of
numbers and sequences of shapes—and their remarkable and often-
surprising interrelations. These patterns are regularly revisited in
later chapters of this book, to emphasise the unity of mathematics, and
will also be revisited in future years. We hope that this exploratory
chapter will help in inspiring a new generation to explore and pursue
mathematics.
Building on the idea of exploring patterns in mathematics, the
book then turns to a journey across different areas of mathematics.
Chapter 2, ‘Lines and Angles’, introduces the building blocks of
geometry— points, line segments, rays, lines, angles, and how to measure
angles. Chapter 3, ‘Number Play’, is an exploratory adventure through
some instructive but fun games and puzzles in mathematics—some of
which are still unsolved! Chapter 4, ‘Data Handling’, is an introduction
to the art of collecting and presenting data, including both its analytic
and aesthetic aspects. Chapter 5, ‘Prime Time’, is a playful adventure
through prime numbers—the building blocks of the universe of whole
numbers—and factorization. Chapter 6, ‘Perimeter and Area’, is a
revision of these fundamental notions, with a variety of challenging
puzzles to keep children on their toes and enhance understanding.
Chapter 7, ‘Fractions’, will be many students’ first encounter with this
important concept; the chapter aims to build intuition about fractions
gradually, starting with fractional units like 1/10 as the foundation,
and gradually building up to working with general fractions, including
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their comparison, addition, and subtraction. Chapter 8, ‘Playing with
Constructions’, is a hands-on experience of drawing shapes, including
using a compass and a ruler, to enhance students’ geometric intuition
and comprehension. Chapter 9, ‘Symmetry’, is an artistic and hands-
on exploration of this most important and ubiquitous concept in
Mathematics and beyond. Finally, Chapter 10, ‘The Other Side of Zero’,
aims for students to gain intuition for negative numbers by visiting
Bela’s Building of Fun, and gradually working up to understanding
the laws of addition and subtraction of all integers as laid down by
Brahmagupta.
In all chapters, an attempt has been made to emphasise connections
with other subjects including Art, History, and Science. Many pictures
and drawings have been included to illustrate patterns, numbers,
constructions, symmetry, games, puzzles, etc., to thereby develop visual
and artistic imagination and intuition for mathematical objects and
principles. The history of various mathematical concepts has been
described, including Brahmagupta’s world-changing discoveries in
the year 628 C.E. of the laws for addition and subtraction of fractions
and of zero and negative numbers. Other discoveries from around
the world, of unit fractions, searching for primes, Collatz Conjecture,
Kaprekar numbers, etc., have also been described with their history to
help students appreciate and humanize the joy and process of discovery.
Examples from Science (e.g., the use of negative numbers to measure
temperature or heights above or below sea level) also abound to illustrate
the importance of the use of mathematical concepts in Science.
By weaving together storytelling and hands-on activities, we hope
that an immersive learning experience will be created that ignites
curiosity and fosters a love for mathematics. It is hoped that teachers
would give children the opportunity to discuss, play, engage with
each other, provide logical arguments for different ideas, and find
loopholes in arguments presented. This is necessary for the learners
to eventually develop the ability to understand what it means to prove
something and also become confident about underlying concepts.
The mathematics classroom should not expect a blind application
of algorithms but should rather encourage children to find many
different ways to solve problems.
As per the NEP 2020, Computational Thinking has also been gently
introduced through puzzles, games, and interactive exercises that
encourage such thinking. Indian rootedness has also been kept in
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mind while giving contexts for different concepts. The contributions
of Indian mathematicians have been given as part of a problem-
solving approach to make students aware of India’s rich mathematical
heritage and its global contributions to mathematics.
The concepts and problems are related to daily life situations. An
attempt has been made to use contexts and materials with which the
students are familiar. Learning material sheets have been given at the
back of the book that may be photocopied and used. At many places,
exercises or activities are given to encourage peer group efforts and
discussions. The textbook intends to address the learning needs of a
diverse group of students in the classroom.
We have tried to link concepts learnt in initial chapters with
ideas in subsequent chapters to show the connectedness and unity of
mathematics. We hope that teachers will use this as an opportunity to
revise these concepts in a spiralling way so that children are able to
appreciate the entire conceptual structure of mathematics. We hope
that teachers may give more time to the ideas of fractions, negative
numbers and other notions that are new to students. Many of these
are the basis for further learning in mathematics.
Finally, this book aims to be more than just a textbook—it’s a passport
to a world of mathematical discovery and exploration. Whether used
in the classroom or at home, we hope that it may inspire students to
embark on their own mathematical adventures, empowering them
to see the beauty and relevance of mathematics in everything around
them. With its engaging approach and comprehensive coverage of Grade
6 mathematics concepts, this book hopes and aims to captivate young
minds and set them on a lifelong journey of mathematical discovery.
I thank again all the writers of and contributors to this textbook for
this important and valuable contribution and service to the nation’s
mathematics teachers, learners and enthusiasts.
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 and learning, to
be included in future editions.
Ashutosh Wazalwar
Professor, Academic Convener
Department of Education in
Science and Mathematics
NCERT
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N at io na l S y l l a b u s an d T e ac h i n g
L e a r n i n g M at e r ia l C o mm i t t e e (NSTC)
1. M.C. Pant, Chancellor, National Institute of Educational
Planning and Administration (NIEPA), (Chairperson)
2. Manjul Bhargava, Professor, Princeton University
(Co-Chairperson)
3. Sudha Murty, Acclaimed Writer and Educationist
4. Bibek Debroy, Chairperson, Economic Advisory Council–Prime
Minister (EAC–PM)
5. Shekhar Mande, Director General (Former), CSIR, Distinguished
Professor, Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune
6. Sujatha Ramdorai, Professor, University of British Columbia,
Canada
7. Shankar Mahadevan, Music Maestro, Mumbai
8. U. Vimal Kumar, Director, Prakash Padukone Badminton
Academy, Bengaluru
9. Michel Danino, Visiting Professor, IIT–Gandhinagar
10. Surina Rajan, IAS (Retd.), Haryana, Former Director General,
HIPA
11. Chamu Krishna Shastri, Chairperson, Bhasha Samiti, Ministry of
Education
12. Sanjeev Sanyal, Member, Economic Advisory Council–Prime
Minister (EAC–PM)
13. M.D. Srinivas, Chairperson, Centre for Policy Studies, Chennai
14. Gajanan Londhe, Head, Programme Office, NSTC
15. Rabin Chhetri, Director, SCERT, Sikkim
16. Pratyusha Kumar Mandal, Professor, Department of Education in
Social Science, NCERT, New Delhi
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17. Dinesh Kumar, Professor and Head, Planning and Monitoring
Division, NCERT, New Delhi
18. Kirti Kapur, Professor, Department of Education in Languages,
NCERT, New Delhi
19. Ranjana Arora, Professor and Head, Department of Curriculum
Studies and Development, NCERT (Member-Secretary)
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T e x t b o o k D e v e l o p m e n t T e am
Chairperson, CAG (Mathematics)
Madhavan Mukund, Director, Chennai Mathematical Institute
Contributors
Aaloka Kanhere, Project Scientific Officer, Homi Bhabha Center for
Science Education, Mumbai
Amartya Kumar Dutta, Professor, Stat-Math Unit, Indian Statistical
Institute (ISI), Kolkata
Amritanshu Prasad, Professor, The Institute of Mathematical Sciences,
Chennai
Anjali Gupte, Principal (Retd.), Vidya Bhavan Public school, Udaipur
H. S. Sharada, TGT, Government High School, HD Kote, Karnataka
K. (Ravi) Subramaniam, Professor (Retd.), Homi Bhabha Centre for
Science Education (HBCSE), Mumbai
K. V. Subrahmanyam, Professor, Chennai Mathematical Institute (CMI),
Chennai
Madhu B., Assistant Professor, Regional Institute of Education (RIE),
Mysuru
Manjul Bhargava, Professor, Princeton University, and Co-Chairperson,
NSTC
Manjunath Krishnapur, Associate Professor, Indian Institute of
Science, Bengaluru
Padmapriya Shirali, Former Principal, Sahyadri School KFI, Pune
Patanjali Sharma, Assistant Professor, Regional Institute of Education
(RIE), Ajmer
Rakhi Bannerjee, Associate Professor, Azim Premji University,
Bengaluru
Shailesh A. Shirali, Director, Teacher Education Program Valley School,
KFI
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Shivkumar K. M, Director, Pedagogy and Innovation (Maths),
Seed2Sapling Education Foundation, Bengaluru
Shravan S. K., Chief Curriculum Designer (Maths), Seed2Sapling
Education Foundation, Bengaluru
Sujatha Ramdorai, Professor, University of British Columbia, Canada,
Member NSTC
S. Viswanath, Professor, Institute of Mathematical Sciences (IMSc),
Chennai
Reviewers
Anurag Behar, CEO, Azim Premji Foundation, Member, NOC
R. Ramanujam, Professor (Retd.), Institute of Mathematical Sciences
(IMSc), Chennai
Member-Coordinator, CAG (Mathematics)

Ashutosh Kedarnath Wazalwar, Professor, Department of Education
in Science and Mathematics, NCERT, New Delhi
xii
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A c k n ow l e d g e m e n t s
The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT)
acknowledges the guidance and support of the esteemed Chairperson
and members of the Curricular Area Group (CAG): Mathematics
and other concerned CAGs for their guidelines on cross-cutting
themes in developing this textbook. During the development of
this textbook, various workshops were organised and subject
experts in Mathematics from different Institutions were invited.
The NCERT acknowledges the valuable views and inputs given by
subject experts — Prasad Jayanti, Professor, Dartmouth College,
USA; Aparna Lalingkar, Director, Aksharbrahma Consultancy for
Research and Training in Education Technology, Pune; Rashmi
Kathuria, Education Officer, DAV Centre for Academic Excellence,
Delhi; Ishita Mukherjee, Senior Resource Person, CBSE, Delhi; Jonaki
B. Ghosh, Associate Professor, Lady Sriram College, Delhi; Shri V.
Sivashankara Sastry, Math Communicator, Kolar; P. Satyanarayana
Sarma, Guest Faculty, Department of Mathematics, K. B. N. College
(Autonomous), Vijaywada, Andhra Pradesh; Suhas Saha, Head,
Mathematics Department, ISHA Home School, Coimbatore; Priyavrat
Deshpande, Associate Professor, CMI, Chennai; Tanya Kaushal
Srivastava, Assistant Professor, IIT Gandhinagar; SadikAli Shaikh,
Head, Department of Mathematics, Maulana Azad College of Arts,
Science and Commerce, Aurangabad, Maharashtra; Jaspal Kaur, TGT
(Maths), School of Excellence, Delhi; Bina Prakash, Sr. PGT (Maths),
Campion School, Bhopal; Mahendra Shankar, Senior Lecturer (Retd.),
NCERT, New Delhi; Ram Avatar, Professor (Retd.), NCERT, New Delhi;
KASSV Kameshwar Rao, Associate Professor (Retd.), NCERT; Aditya
Chandrashekhar Karnataki, Assistant Professor, Chennai Mathematical
Institute, Chennai; Nagesh Mone, Principal (Retd.), Deccan Education
Society’s Dravid High School, Wai, Maharashtra; Rajeeva Karandikar,
Professor Emeritus, Chennai Mathematical Institute (CMI), Chennai;
R. Athmaraman, Mathematics Education Consultant, TI Matric
Higher Secondary School and AMTI, Chennai, Tamil Nadu; Upendra
Kulkarni, Associate Professor, Chennai Mathematical Institute,
Chennai; Anupama S.M., Faculty, Azim Premji University; Sandeep
Diwakar, Subject Expert-Mathematics, Azim Premji Foundation;
Ashish Gupta, Resource Person, Azim Premji Foundation; Praveen
Uniyal, Resource Person, Azim Premji Foundation; Ramchandar
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Krishnamurthy, Principal, Azim Premji School — for improving the
content and pedagogy of the textbook.
The Council acknowledges the academic and administrative
support of Sunita Farkya, Professor and Head, DESM, NCERT,
New Delhi.
The Council appreciates the contributions of Sushmita Joshi,
Senior Research Associate; Manju Mhar, Senior Research Associate;
Shakti Kumar Bhardwaj, Mathematics Lab Assistant, Department of
Education in Science and Mathematics, NCERT, for providing support
in the development of the textbook.
The contributions of Ilma Nasir, Editor (contractual), Publication
Division; Asma Khanam, Assistant Editor (contractual); Aastha Sharma,
Editorial Assistant (contractual); and Ariba Usman, Adeeba Tasneem,
Ritika Marothia, Mobbata Ram and Kaiminlen Doungel, Proof Readers
(contractual) are also appreciated. The NCERT gratefully acknowledges
the contributions of Pawan Kumar Barriar, In charge, DTP Cell; Mohan
Singh, Vipan Kumar Sharma, Kishore Singhal, Ajay Kumar Prajapati
and Upasana, DTP Operators (contractual), Publication Division,
NCERT for all their efforts in laying out this book.
xiv
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Note to t h e Teacher
We hope that this book, Ganita Prakash, will serve as a strong support
and guide to you in achieving the exciting task that you have before
you: that of passing on the joy of learning the beautiful subject of
mathematics to the next generation.
This task calls for providing a fertile environment that allows for
the flowering of mathematical thinking in the minds of students.
Classrooms, where students just listen and write down whatever
is being told to them or written on the board, are deficient in the
conditions required for learning mathematics. Instead, classrooms
need to be places where students are engaged in playing with
mathematical concepts, finding and discussing patterns, and
developing creative strategies together to solve problems. Students
should also be posing problems to each other and discussing possible
solutions with each other. In fact, these are the very conditions that
have led to the development of the entire field of mathematics so far,
and so one cannot expect students to pick up mathematical thinking
and understanding without these conditions.
Fortunately, it is not difficult to create such conditions in the
classroom. It just requires an interesting question, problem, pattern,
or challenge to be thrown open to the students on a regular basis, and
sufficient time to be given to them to play with, discuss, and work on
it as a class or in pairs or groups.
Along with it, an environment that accepts mistakes and
acknowledges their importance in learning needs to be nurtured.
While creating the spark for initiating mathematical thinking in
classrooms is not difficult, sustaining it may be challenging and may
involve efforts from your side. Nevertheless, even if just the first part
of throwing open a question, problem, pattern, or challenge is done
at least once or twice a week, accompanied by sufficient waiting time
from your side for students to play, discuss, and work on it, it can
have a great positive impact on how the students view and approach
mathematics.
It should be noted that this positive impact will not happen
overnight. That takes time and depends on various factors such as the
number of opportunities you give for problem solving, your patience,
and the encouragement you give to the students.
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To support you in posing problems, all the problems or questions
in this book are marked using the icon . This icon is an indicator
of a potential opportunity to start off a process of problem solving
and exploration in the classroom. You will find some of the problems
labelled “Math Talk”. Such questions can especially be made as topics
for classroom discussion.
To develop students’ mathematical thinking and understanding of
concepts, a sufficient number of problems are given. Trying to “cover”
all of them must not happen at the cost of students not getting to spend
quality time on playing with and discussing them.
It is important to understand that the exploratory problems are not
only for promoting problem solving skills; they also serve in strengthening
procedural fluency when children start engaging in exploration.
Efforts must be made in making students independent learners.
One essential aspect required for this is an ability to read and
understand mathematical text. To promote this skill, students should
be encouraged to read the book by themselves and in groups. Give
opportunities to them to interpret what they read and express it to
others. This will also address the big problem that students face in
speaking mathematics and interpreting word problems.
This book contains a number of open-ended problems. It also
contains new treatments of certain concepts. If you are not able to
solve them or follow some of them immediately, it is perfectly okay!
Not everyone knows everything. Along with trying to understand
and reflect upon such content, it will be very useful to take it to
the classroom and open it up for discussion. After the discussion,
things that are clear and those that are not yet clear can be clearly
summarised. This process itself can throw a lot of light on the content.
In these discussions, you can participate as a fellow seeker, and when
students see a teacher seek and think to understand something, it sets
a wonderful example for them.
It is hoped that you and your students will have a great and fruitful
time using this book!
Summary of Key points

Time for Exploration
1. It is important to routinely pose new problems, questions, patterns,
or challenges to the students and give them sufficient time to play
with, discuss, and work on them, individually and in groups.
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2. During this time, an environment that accepts mistakes and
acknowledges their importance in learning needs to be nurtured.
3. There should be a culture where students pose problems to each
other and discuss with each other various ways to approach the
problems.
About the Problems in the Book
1. The exploratory problems in the book not only promote problem
solving; they also aim to strengthen procedural fluency when
children start engaging in exploration.
2. Trying to “cover” all the problems in the book must not happen at
the cost of students not getting to spend quality time on playing
with, discussing, and solving them.
Reading
1. Encourage students to read the book by themselves and in groups.
2. Give opportunities to them to interpret what they read and to
express it to others.
Right of Not Knowing!
1. It is perfectly okay if some of the content is not understood
immediately. Along with trying to understand and reflect upon
such content, it can also be taken to the classroom and opened
up for discussion. After the discussion, things that are clear and
those that are not yet clear can be clearly summarised. In these
discussions, you can participate as a fellow seeker, and when
students see a teacher seek and think to understand something, it
sets a wonderful example for them!
2. Learning is a continual process. Indeed, there is so much
in mathematics that is still not known and requires further
exploration!
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A Note to Students!
To be able to appreciate the art of mathematics, it is not enough
to just be a passive spectator. You need to immerse yourself in
its process like a detective getting into action to solve a mystery.
This is especially required when you see a new question or

when a question arises from your own sense of wonder, or when
you come across a new beautiful pattern. When you encounter
these, pause your reading, and use your creativity to work out
the question or understand and appreciate the pattern.
You will find that some questions are accompanied by their

answers. Even if this is the case, it is worthwhile to work on the
problems by yourself or in a group before you see the answer.
This will enrich your experience of going through the book!
Whenever there are questions coming up, you will see this
icon: . This indicates that it is time for figuring things out!
Sometimes you will find many questions collected together in a
single place under the title ‘Figure It Out’.
Math
Some questions are marked Talk .These questions are meant
to be discussed and worked out with your friends.
Try
Finally, there are questions marked This . These questions
demand more creativity to be answered, and therefore will also
often be more fun to answer as a result!
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Contents
Foreword iii
About the Book v
Chapter 1
Patterns in Mathematics 1
Chapter 2
Lines and Angles 13
Chapter 3
Number Play 55
Chapter 4
Data Handling and Presentation 74
Chapter 5
Prime Time 107
Chapter 6
Perimeter and Area 129
Chapter 7
Fractions 151
Chapter 8
Playing with Constructions 187
Chapter 9
Symmetry217
Chapter 10
The Other Side of Zero 242
Learning Material Sheets 273
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1 PATTERNS IN
MATHEMATICS
1.1 What is Mathematics?

Mathematics is, in large part, the search for patterns, and for
the explanations as to why those patterns exist.
Such patterns indeed exist all around us — in nature, in
our homes and schools, and in the motion of the sun, moon,
and stars. They occur in everything that we do and see, from
shopping and cooking, to throwing a ball and playing games, to
understanding weather patterns and using technology.
The search for patterns and their explanations can be a fun
and creative endeavour. It is for this reason that mathematicians
think of mathematics both as an art and as a science. This year, we
hope that you will get a chance to see the creativity and artistry
involved in discovering and understanding mathematical
patterns.
It is important to keep in mind that mathematics
aims to not just find out what patterns exist, but also the
explanations for why they exist. Such explanations can
often then be used in applications well beyond the context in
which they were discovered, which can then help to propel
humanity forward.
Chapter 1_Patterns in Mathematics.indd 1 10-08-2024 11:55:05

Ganita Prakash | Grade 6
For example, the understanding of patterns in the motion of stars,

planets, and their satellites led humankind to develop the theory of
gravitation, allowing us to launch our own satellites and send rockets
to the Moon and to Mars; similarly, understanding patterns in genomes
has helped in diagnosing and curing diseases—among thousands of
other such examples.
Figure it Out
1. Can you think of other examples where mathematics helps
us in our everyday lives? Math
Talk
2. How has mathematics helped propel humanity forward? (You
might think of examples involving: carrying out scientific
experiments; running our economy and democracy; building
bridges, houses or other complex structures; making TVs,
mobile phones, computers, bicycles, trains, cars, planes,
calendars, clocks, etc.)
1.2 Patterns in Numbers
Among the most basic patterns that occur in mathematics are

patterns of numbers, particularly patterns of whole numbers:
0, 1, 2, 3, 4, ...
The branch of Mathematics that studies patterns in whole
numbers is called number theory.
Number sequences are the most basic and among the most
fascinating types of patterns that mathematicians study.
Table 1 shows some key number sequences that are studied in

Mathematics.

Patterns in Mathematics
Table 1 Examples of number sequences
1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, ... (All 1’s)

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, ... (Counting numbers)
1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, ... (Odd numbers)
2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, ... (Even numbers)
1, 3, 6, 10, 15, 21, 28, ... (Triangular numbers)
1, 4, 9, 16, 25, 36, 49, ... (Squares)
1, 8, 27, 64, 125, 216, ... (Cubes)
1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, ... (Virahānka numbers)
1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, ... (Powers of 2)
1, 3, 9, 27, 81, 243, 729, ... (Powers of 3)
Figure it Out
1. Can you recognize the pattern in each of the sequences
in Table 1?
Math
2. Rewrite each sequence of Table 1 in your notebook, along Talk
with the next three numbers in each sequence! After
each sequence, write in your own words what is the rule
for forming the numbers in the sequence.
1.3 Visualising Number Sequences
Many number sequences can be visualised using pictures.

Visualising mathematical objects through pictures or diagrams can
be a very fruitful way to understand mathematical patterns and
concepts.
Let us represent the first seven sequences in Table 1 using the
following pictures.

Table 2 Pictorial representation of some number sequences
All 1’s
1 1 1 1 1
Counting
1 2 3 4 5 numbers
Odd
numbers
1 3 5 7 9
Even
numbers
2 4 6 8 10
Triangular
numbers
1 3 6 10 15
Squares
1 4 9 16 25
Cubes
1 8 27 64 125

Figure it Out
1. Copy the pictorial representations of the number sequences

Math
in Table 2 in your notebook, and draw the next picture for
Talk
each sequence!
2. Why are 1, 3, 6, 10, 15, … called triangular numbers? Why
are 1, 4, 9, 16, 25, … called square numbers or squares?
Why are 1, 8, 27, 64, 125, … called cubes?
3. You will have noticed that 36 is both a triangular number and a
square number! That is, 36 dots can be arranged perfectly both
in a triangle and in a square. Make pictures in your notebook
illustrating this!
This shows that the same number can be represented differently,
and play different roles, depending on the context. Try
representing some other numbers pictorially in different ways!
4. What would you call the following sequence of numbers?
1 7 19 37
That’s right, they are called hexagonal numbers! Draw these in

your notebook. What is the next number in the sequence?
5. Can you think of pictorial ways to visualise the sequence of
Powers of 2? Powers of 3?

Here is one possible way of thinking about Powers of 2:
1 2 4 8 16
1.4 Relations among Number Sequences

ometimes, number sequences can be related to each other in
S
surprising ways.
Example: What happens when we start adding up odd numbers?
1 = 1
1 + 3 = 4
1+3+5=9
1 + 3 + 5 + 7 = 16
1 + 3 + 5 + 7 + 9 = 25
1 + 3 + 5 + 7 + 9 + 11 = 36
...
This is a really beautiful pattern!
Why does this happen? Do you think it will happen forever?
The answer is that the pattern does happen forever. But why?
As mentioned earlier, the reason why the pattern happens is just as
important and exciting as the pattern itself.
A picture can explain it

Visualising with a picture can help explain the phenomenon. Recall
that square numbers are made by counting the number of dots in a
square grid.
How can we partition the dots in a square grid into odd Math
numbers of dots: 1, 3, 5, 7,... ? Talk
Think about it for a moment before reading further!

Here is how it can be done:
This picture now makes it evident that
1 + 3 + 5 + 7 + 9 + 11 = 36.
Because such a picture can be made for a square of any size, this
explains why adding up odd numbers gives square numbers.
By drawing a similar picture, can you say what is the sum of the
first 10 odd numbers?
Now by imagining a similar picture, or by drawing it partially, as
needed, can you say what is the sum of the first 100 odd numbers?
Another example of such a relation between sequences:

Adding up and down
Let us look at the following pattern:
1 = 1
1+2+1=4
1+2+3+2+1=9
1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 3 + 2 + 1 = 16
1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 4 + 3 + 2 + 1 = 25
1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 + 5 + 4 + 3 + 2 + 1 = 36
..
.
This seems to be giving yet another way of getting the square numbers—
by adding the counting numbers up and then down!

Can you find a similar pictorial explanation?
Figure it Out
1. Can you find a similar pictorial explanation for why adding
Try
counting numbers up and down, i.e., 1, 1 + 2 + 1, 1 + 2 + 3 + This
2 + 1, …, gives square numbers?
2. By imagining a large version of your picture, or drawing
it partially, as needed, can you see what will be tha value of
1 + 2 + 3 + ... + 99 + 100 + 99 + ... + 3 + 2 + 1?
3. Which sequence do you get when you start to add the All 1’s
sequence up? What sequence do you get when you add the All 1’s
sequence up and down?
4. Which sequence do you get when you start to add the Counting
numbers up? Can you give a smaller pictorial explanation?
5. What happens when you add up pairs of consecutive triangular
numbers? That is, take 1 + 3, 3 + 6, 6 + 10, 10 + 15, … ? Which
sequence do you get? Why? Can you explain it with a picture?
6. What happens when you start to add up powers of 2 starting with
1, i.e., take 1, 1 + 2, 1 + 2 + 4, 1 + 2 + 4 + 8, … ? Now add 1 to each
of these numbers — what numbers do you get? Why does this
happen?

7. What happens when you multiply the triangular numbers by 6

and add 1? Which sequence do you get? Can you explain it with a
picture?
8. What happens when you start to add up hexagonal numbers, i.e.,
take 1, 1 + 7, 1 + 7 + 19, 1 + 7 + 19 + 37, … ? Which sequence do you
get? Can you explain it using a picture of a cube?
9. Find your own patterns or relations in and among the sequences

in Table 1. Can you explain why they happen with a picture or
otherwise?
1.5 Patterns in Shapes

Other important and basic patterns that occur in Mathematics are
patterns of shapes. These shapes may be in one, two, or three
dimensions (1D, 2D, or 3D) — or in even more dimensions. The
branch of Mathematics that studies patterns in shapes is called
geometry.
Shape sequences are one important type of shape pattern that
mathematicians study. Table 3 shows a few key shape sequences
that are studied in Mathematics.

Table 3 Examples of shape sequences
Triangle Quadrilateral Pentagon Hexagon Regular

Polygons
Heptagon Octagon Nonagon Decagon
Complete
Graphs
K2 K3 K4 K5 K6
Stacked
Squares
Stacked
Triangles
Koch
Snowflake
10

Figure it Out
1. Can you recognise the pattern in each of the sequences in
Table 3? Math
2. Try and redraw each sequence in Table 3 in your notebook. Talk
Can you draw the next shape in each sequence? Why or why
not? After each sequence, describe in your own words what
is the rule or pattern for forming the shapes in the sequence.
1.6 Relation to Number Sequences
Often, shape sequences are related to number sequences in surprising

ways. Such relationships can be helpful in studying and understanding
both the shape sequence and the related number sequence.
Example: The number of sides in the shape sequence of Regular
Polygons is given by the counting numbers starting at 3, i.e., 3, 4, 5, 6,
7, 8, 9, 10, .... That is why these shapes are called, respectively, regular
triangle, quadrilateral (i.e., square), pentagon, hexagon, heptagon,
octagon, nonagon, decagon, etc., respectively.
The word ‘regular’ refers to the fact that these shapes have
equal-length sides and also equal ‘angles’ (i.e., the sides look the same
and the corners also look the same). We will discuss angles in more
depth in the next chapter.
The other shape sequences in Table 3 also have beautiful
relationships with number sequences.
Figure it Out
1. Count the number of sides in each shape in the sequence
Try
of Regular Polygons. Which number sequence do you get? This
What about the number of corners in each shape in the
sequence of Regular Polygons? Do you get the same number
sequence? Can you explain why this happens?
2. Count the number of lines in each shape in the sequence
of Complete Graphs. Which number sequence do you get?
Can you explain why?
11

3. How many little squares are there in each shape of the

sequence of Stacked Squares? Which number sequence
does this give? Can you explain why?
4. How many little triangles are there in each shape of the
sequence of Stacked Triangles? Which number sequence
does this give? Can you explain why? (Hint: In each shape in Try
This
the sequence, how many triangles are there in each row?)
5. To get from one shape to the next shape in the Koch
Snowflake sequence, one replaces each line segment ‘—’
by a ‘speed bump’ . As one does this more and more
times, the changes become tinier and tinier with very very
small line segments. How many total line segments are
there in each shape of the Koch Snowflake? What is the
corresponding number sequence? (The answer is 3, 12, 48, ...,
i.e. 3 times Powers of 4; this sequence is not shown in Table 1)
Summary
Mathematics may be viewed as the search for patterns and for the
explanations as to why those patterns exist.
Among the most basic patterns that occur in mathematics are number
sequences.
Some important examples of number sequences include the counting
numbers, odd numbers, even numbers, square numbers, triangular
numbers, cube numbers, Virahānka numbers, and powers of 2.
Sometimes number sequences can be related to each other in beautiful
and remarkable ways. For example, adding up the sequence of odd
numbers starting with 1 gives square numbers.
Visualizing number sequences using pictures can help to understand
sequences and the relationships between them.
Shape sequences are another basic type of pattern in mathematics.
Some important examples of shape sequences include regular polygons,
complete graphs, stacked triangles and squares, and Koch snowflake
iterations. Shape sequences also exhibit many interesting relationships
with number sequences.
12

2 Lines and Angles
In this chapter, we will explore some of the most basic ideas of
geometry including points, lines, rays, line segments and angles.
These ideas form the building blocks of ‘plane geometry’, and will
help us in understanding more advanced topics in geometry such as
the construction and analysis of different shapes.
2.1 Point
Mark a dot on the paper with a sharp tip of a pencil. The sharper the
tip, the thinner will be the dot. This tiny dot will give you an idea of
a point. A point determines a precise location, but it has no length,
breadth or height. Some models for a point are given below.
The tip of a The sharpened The pointed

compass end of a pencil end of a needle
If you mark three points on a piece of paper, Z P

you may be required to distinguish these three
points. For this purpose, each of the three points
T
may be denoted by a single capital letter such as
Chapter 2_Lines and Angles.indd 13 08-08-2024 17:31:20

Z, P and T. These points are read as ‘Point Z’, ‘Point P’ and ‘Point T’. Of
course, the dots represent precise locations and must be imagined to be
invisibly thin.
2.2 Line Segment

A
Fold a piece of paper and unfold it. Do you
see a crease? This gives the idea of a line
segment. It has two end points, A and B.
Mark any two points A and B on a sheet of
paper. Try to connect A to B by various B
routes (Fig. 2.1).
What is the shortest route from A to B? B
This shortest path from point A to Point B
(including A and B) as shown here is called
the line segment from A to B. It is denoted by
A
either AB or BA. The points A and B are called
Fig. 2.1
the end points of the line segment AB.
2.3 Line
m
Imagine that the line segment from A to B (i.e.,
B
AB) is extended beyond A in one direction and
beyond B in the other direction without any
end (see Fig 2.2). This is a model for a line. Do A
you think you can draw a complete picture of Fig. 2.2
a line? No. Why?
A line through two points A and B is written as AB . It extends
forever in both directions. Sometimes a line is denoted by a letter like
l or m.
Observe that any two points determine a unique line that passes
through both of them.
14

Lines and Angles
2.4 Ray
A ray is a portion of a line that starts at one point (called the starting
point or initial point of the ray) and goes on endlessly in a direction.
The following are some models for a ray:
Beam of light from a Ray of light from a torch Sun rays

lighthouse
Look at the diagram (Fig. 2.3) of a ray. Two points are

marked on it. One is the starting point A and the other P
is a point P on the path of the ray. We then denote the
ray by AP.
A
Fig. 2.3
Figure it Out
1.
Rihan marked a point Sheetal marked two points
on a piece of paper. on a piece of paper. How
How many lines can he many different lines can
draw that pass through she draw that pass through
the point? both of the points?
Can you help Rihan and Sheetal find their answers?
15

2. Name the line segments in Fig. 2.4. Which of the five marked
points are on exactly one of the line segments? Which are on two
of the line segments?
Q
M
R
L
Fig. 2.4
3. Name the rays shown in Fig. 2.5. Is T the starting point of each of
these rays?
T
N B
Fig. 2.5
4. Draw a rough figure and write labels appropriately to illustrate

each of the following:
a. OP and OQ meet at O.
b. XY and PQ intersect at point M.
c. Line l contains points E and F but not point D.
d. Point P lies on AB.
5. In Fig. 2.6, name:

a. Five points
B
b. A line
O C
c. Four rays
E
d. Five line segments D
Fig. 2.6
16

Lines and Angles
6. Here is a ray OA (Fig. 2.7). It starts at O and A
passes through the point A. It also passes B
through the point B.

a. Can you also name it as OB ? Why?
O
b. Can we write OA as AO ? Why or why not?
Fig. 2.7
2.5 Angle D
m
An angle is formed by two rays having a ar
common starting point. Here is an angle
B
formed by rays BD and BE where B is vertex
the common starting point (Fig. 2.8). arm
The point B is called the vertex of the
E
angle, and the rays BD and BE are called Fig. 2.8
the arms of the angle. How can we name
this angle? We can simply use the vertex and say that it is the Angle
B. To be clearer, we use a point on each of the arms together with the
vertex to name the angle. In this case, we name the angle as Angle DBE
or Angle EBD. The word angle can be replaced by the symbol ‘∠’, i.e.,
∠DBE or ∠EBD. Note that in specifying the angle, the vertex is always
written as the middle letter.
To indicate an angle, we use a small curve at the vertex (refer to
Fig. 2.9).
Vidya has just opened her book. Let us observe her opening the
cover of the book in different scenarios.
Case 1 Case 2 Case 3 Case 4 Case 5 Case 6
17

Do you see angles being made in each of these cases? Can you mark
their arms and vertex?
Which angle is greater—the angle in Case 1 or the angle in Case 2?
Just as we talk about the size of a line based on its length, we also
talk about the size of an angle based on its amount of rotation.
So, the angle in Case 2 is greater as in this case she needs to rotate
the cover more. Similarly, the angle in Case 3 is even larger than that
of Case 2, because there is even more rotation, and Cases 4, 5, and 6
are successively larger angles with more and more rotation.
The size of an angle is the amount of rotation or turn that is needed

about the vertex to move the first ray to the second ray.
Final position of ray
Amount of turn is the size of

the angle
Vertex Initial position of ray

Fig. 2.9
Let’s look at some other examples where angles arise in real life
by rotation or turn:
• In a compass or divider, we turn the arms to form
an angle. The vertex is the point where the two
arms are joined. Identify the arms and vertex of
the angle.
• A pair of scissors has two blades. When we open
them (or ‘turn them’) to cut something, the blades
form an angle. Identify the arms and the vertex of
the angle.
18

Lines and Angles
• Look at the pictures of spectacles, wallet and other common

objects. Identify the angles in them by marking out their arms
and vertices.
Do you see how these angles are formed by turning one arm with
respect to the other?
Teacher’s Note
Teacher needs to organise various activities with the students to
recognise the size of an angle as a measure of rotation.
Figure it Out
1. Can you find the angles in the given pictures? Draw the rays
forming any one of the angles and name the vertex of the angle.
B C
A D
19

2. Draw and label an angle with arms ST and SR.
3. Explain why ∠APC cannot be labelled as ∠P.
Math
A Talk
P B
4. Name the angles marked in the given figure.
P
Q
T R
5. Mark any three points on your paper that are not on one line. Label
them A, B, C. Draw all possible lines going through pairs of these
points. How many lines do you get? Name them. How many angles
can you name using A, B, C? Write them down, and mark each of
them with a curve as in Fig. 2.9.
20

Lines and Angles
6. Now mark any four points on your paper so that no three of them
are on one line. Label them A, B, C, D. Draw all possible lines going
through pairs of these points. How many lines do you get? Name
them. How many angles can you name using A, B, C, D? Write them
all down, and mark each of them with a curve as in Fig. 2.9.
2.6 Comparing Angles

Look at these animals opening their mouths. Do you see any angles here?
If yes, mark the arms and vertex of each one. Some mouths are open
wider than others; the more the turning of the jaws, the larger the angle!
Can you arrange the angles in this picture from smallest to largest?
Is it always easy to compare two angles?
Math
Talk
Here are some angles. Label each of the angles. How will you
compare them?
Draw a few more angles; label them and compare.
21

Comparing angles by superimposition

Any two angles can be compared by placing them one over the other,
i.e., by superimposition. While superimposing, the vertices of the
angles must overlap.
After superimposition, it becomes clear which angle is smaller
and which is larger.
P P
A A
B C Q R Q (B) RC
The picture shows the two angles superimposed. It is now clear

that ∠PQR is larger than ∠ABC.
Equal angles. Now consider ∠AOB and ∠XOY in the figure. Which
is greater?
X X
A A
O B O Y O B Y
The corners of both of these angles match and the arms overlap with
each other, i.e., OA ↔ OX and OB ↔ OY. So, the angles are equal in size.
The reason these angles are considered to be equal in size is
because when we visualise each of these angles as being formed out
of rotation, we can see that there is an equal amount of rotation
needed to move OB to OA and OY to OX .
From the point of view of superimposition, when two angles
are superimposed, and the common vertex and the two rays of
both angles lie on top of each other, then the sizes of the angles
are equal.
22

Lines and Angles
Where else do we use superimposition to compare? Math

Talk
Figure it Out
1. Fold a rectangular sheet of paper, then draw a line along the fold
created. Name and compare the angles
formed between the fold and the sides
of the paper. Make different angles by
folding a rectangular sheet of paper and
compare the angles. Which is the largest
and smallest angle you made?
2. In each case, determine which angle is
greater and why.
a. ∠AOB or ∠XOY X
b. ∠AOB or ∠XOB
A Y
c. ∠XOB or ∠XOC
Discuss with your friends on how
O C
you decided which one is greater. B
Math
3. Which angle is greater: ∠XOY or ∠AOB? Give reasons. Talk
X A
Y
O B
Comparing angles without superimposition

Two cranes are arguing
about who can open their
mouth wider, i.e., who is
making a bigger angle.
Let us first draw their
angles. How do we know
which one is bigger? As seen Fig. 2.10
23

before, one could trace these angles, superimpose them and then
check. But can we do it without superimposition?
Suppose we have a transparent circle which can be moved and
placed on figures. Can we use this for comparison?
Let us place the circular paper on the angle made by the first
crane. The circle is placed in such a way that its centre is on the
vertex of the angle. Let us mark the points A and B on the edge circle
at the points where the arms of the angle pass through the circle.
B
B
O O
A A
Can we use this to find out if this angle is greater than, or equal to
or smaller than the angle made by the second crane?
Let us place it on the angle made by the second crane so that the
vertex coincides with the centre of the circle and one of the arms
passes through OA.
B Y
A
X
Can you now tell

which angle is bigger?
24

Lines and Angles
Which crane was making the bigger angle?

If you can make a circular piece of transparent paper, try this method
to compare the angles in Fig. 2.10 with each other.
Teacher’s Note
A teacher needs to check the understanding of the students
around the notion of an angle. Sometimes students might think
that increasing the length of the arms of the angle increases
the angle. For this, various situations should be posed to the
students to check their understanding on the same.
2.7 Making Rotating Arms
Let us make ‘rotating arms’ using two paper straws and a paper clip
by following these steps:
1. Take two paper straws and a paper clip.
2. Insert the straws into the arms of the paper

clip.
3. Your rotating arm is ready!
Make several ‘rotating arms’ with different angles between the

arms. Arrange the angles you have made from smallest to largest by
comparing and using superimposition.
Passing through a slit: Collect a number of rotating arms with different
angles; do not rotate any of the rotating arms during this activity.
25

Take a cardboard and make an angle-shaped slit as shown below

by tracing and cutting out the shape of one of the rotating arms.
Now, shuffle and mix up all the rotating arms. Can you identify
which of the rotating arms will pass through the slit?
The correct one can be found by placing each of the rotating arms
over the slit. Let us do this for some of the rotating arms:
Slit angle is greater than Slit angle is less than the Slit angle is equal to the
the arms’ angle. The arms arms’ angle. The arms arms’ angle. The arms will
will not go through the will not go through the go through the slit.
slit. slit.
Only the pair of rotating arms where the angle is equal to that of the
slit passes through the slit. Note that the possibility of passing through
the slit depends only on the angle between the rotating arms and not
on their lengths (as long as they are shorter than the length of the slit).
26

Lines and Angles
Challenge: Reduce
this angle. Angle The angle is still
reduced. the same!
2.8 Special Types of Angles

Let us go back to Vidya’s
notebook and observe her
opening the cover of the book
in different scenarios.
She makes a full turn of the
cover when she has to write
while holding the book in
her hand.
She makes a half turn of the
cover when she has to open
it on her table. In this case,
observe the arms of the angle formed. They lie in a straight line.
Such an angle is called a straight angle.
A O B
Let us consider a straight angle ∠AOB. Observe that any ray OC

divides it into two angles, ∠AOC and ∠COB.
27

Is it possible to draw OC such that the two angles are Math

equal to each other in size? Talk
Let’s Explore
We can try to solve this problem using a piece of paper. Recall that when
a fold is made, it creates a crease which is straight.
Take a rectangular piece of paper and on one of its sides, mark
the straight angle AOB. By folding, try to get a line (crease) passing
through O that divides ∠AOB into two equal angles.
How can it be done?
Fold the paper such that OB overlaps with OA. Observe the crease
and the two angles formed.
28

Lines and Angles
Justify why the two angles are equal. Is there a way to

superimpose and check? Can this superimposition be done by
folding?
Each of these equal angles formed are called right angles. So, a
straight angle contains two right angles.
Because they're
Why shouldn't you
always right.
argue with a 90 ̊
angle?
If a straight angle is formed by half of a full turn, how much of a

full turn will form a right angle?
Observe that a right angle resembles the shape of an ‘L’. An angle
is a right angle only if it is exactly half of a straight angle. Two lines
that meet at right angles are called perpendicular lines.
Figure it Out
1. How many right angles do the windows of your classroom
contain? Do you see other right angles in your classroom?
29

2. Join A to other grid points in the figure by a straight line to get a

straight angle. What are all the different ways of doing it?
A B A
3. Now join A to other grid points in the figure by a straight line to

get a right angle. What are all the different ways of doing it?
A B A
Hint: Extend the line further as shown in the figure below. To get
a right angle at A, we need to draw a line through it that
divides the straight angle CAB into two equal parts.
30

Lines and Angles
4. Get a slanting crease on the paper. Now, try to get another crease
that is perpendicular to the slanting crease.
a. H
ow many right angles do you have now? Justify why the
angles are exact right angles.
b. D
escribe how you folded the paper so that any other person
who doesn’t know the process can simply follow your
description to get the right angle.
Classifying Angles
Angles are classified in three groups as shown below. Right angles
are shown in the second group. What could be the common feature
of the other two groups?
In the first group, all angles are less than a right angle or in other
words, less than a quarter turn. Such angles are called acute angles.
In the third group, all angles are greater than a right angle but
less than a straight angle. The turning is more than a quarter turn
and less than a half turn. Such angles are called obtuse angles.
Figure it Out
1. Identify acute, right, obtuse and straight angles in the previous

figures.
2. Make a few acute angles and a few obtuse angles. Draw them in
different orientations.
31

3. Do you know what the words acute and obtuse mean? Acute means
sharp and obtuse means blunt. Why do you think these words have
been chosen?
4. Find out the number of acute angles in each of the figures below.
What will be the next figure and how many acute angles will it have?
Do you notice any pattern in the numbers?
2.9 Measuring Angles

We have seen how to compare two angles. But can we actually
quantify how big an angle is using a number without having to
compare it to another angle?
We saw how various angles can be compared using a circle.
Perhaps a circle could be used to assign measures for angles?
Fig. 2.12
To assign precise measures to angles, mathematicians came up

with an idea. They divided the angle in the centre of the circle into
32

Lines and Angles
360 equal angles or parts. The angle measure of each of these unit
parts is 1 degree, which is written as 1°.
This unit part is used to assign measure to any angle: the measure
of an angle is the number of 1° unit parts it contains inside it. For
example, see this figure:
30 units
It contains 30 units of 1° angle and so we say that its angle measure is 30°.
Measures of different angles: What is the measure of a full turn in
degrees? As we have taken it to contain 360 degrees, its measure is 360°.
What is the measure of a straight angle in degrees? A straight
angle is half of a full turn. As a full-turn is 360°, a half turn is 180°.
What is the measure of a right angle in degrees? Two right angles
together form a straight angle. As a straight angle measures 180°, a
right angle measures 90°.
180 units
A O B A O B
A
A
90 units
O B O B
A pinch of history
A full turn has been divided into 360°. Why 360? The reason why we
use 360° today is not fully known. The division of a circle into 360
33

parts goes back to ancient times. The Rigveda, one of the very oldest
texts of humanity going back thousands of years, speaks of a wheel
with 360 spokes (Verse 1.164.48). Many ancient calendars, also going
back over 3000 years—such as calendars of India, Persia, Babylonia
and Egypt—were based on having 360 days in a year. In addition,
Babylonian mathematicians frequently used divisions of 60 and 360
due to their use of sexagesimal numbers and counting by 60s.
Perhaps the most important and practical answer for why
mathematicians over the years have liked and continued to use 360
degrees is that 360 is the smallest number that can be evenly divided
by all numbers up to 10, aside from 7. Thus, one can break up the
circle into 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 or 10 equal parts, and still have a whole
number of degrees in each part! Note that 360 is also evenly divisible
by 12, the number of months in a year, and by 24, the number of
hours in a day. These facts all make the number 360 very useful.
The circle has been divided into 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 10 and 12 parts

below. What are the degree measures of the resulting angles? Write the
degree measures down near the indicated angles.
Degree measures of different angles

How can we measure other angles in degrees? It is for this purpose
that we have a tool called a protractor that is either a circle divided
into 360 equal parts as shown in Fig. 2.12 (on page 32), or a half
circle divided into 180 equal parts.
34

Lines and Angles
Unlabelled protractor
Here is a protractor. Do you see the straight angle at the center
divided into 180 units of 1
degree? Only part of the
lines dividing the straight
angle are visible, though!
Starting from the
marking on the rightmost
point of the base, there
is a long mark for every
10°. From every such long
mark, there is a medium
sized mark after 5°.
Figure it out
1. Write the measures of the

following angles:
K
a. ∠ KAL
Notice that the vertex of this
angle coincides with the centre of
L the protractor. So the number of
units of 1 degree angle between KA
A and AL gives the measure of ∠KAL.
By counting, we get
∠KAL = 30°.
Making use of the medium sized
and large sized marks, is it possible
to count the number of units in 5s
or 10s?
W
b. ∠WAL
c. ∠TAK
T
35

Labelled protractor
This is a protractor that you find in your geometry box. It would
appear similar to the protractor above except that there are numbers
written on it. Will these make it easier to read the angles?
80 90 100
70 110
100 90 80 12
60 70 0
110 13
0 60
50 12 0
30 50
1
14
40
0
0
40
14
15
30
0
0
30
15
160
20
160
20
170
10
170
10
180
180
0
0
There are two sets of numbers on the protractor: one increasing
from right to left and the other increasing from left to right. Why
does it include two sets of numbers?
Name the different angles in the figure and write their measures.
R
80 90 100
70 110
100 90 80 12
60 70 0
110
50 12
0 60 13
0 Q
0 50
13
14
40
0
0
40
14
T
15
30
0
0
30
15
160
20
160
20
170
10
170
10
P
U
180
180
0
36

Lines and Angles
Did you include angles such as ∠TOQ?

Which set of markings did you use - inner or outer?
What is the measure of ∠TOS?
Can you use the numbers marked to find the angle without
counting the number of markings?
Here, OT and OS pass through the numbers 20 and 55 on the outer
scale. How many units of 1 degree are contained between these
two arms?
Can subtraction be used here?
How can we measure angles directly without having to subtract?
Place the protractor so the center is on the vertex of the angle.
Align the protractor so that one the arms passes through the 0º
mark as in the picture below.
A
80 90 100
70 110
100 90 80 12
60 70 0
110 13
0 60
50 12 0
30 50
1
14
40
0
0
40
14
15
30
0
0
30
15
160
20
160
20
170
10
170
10
180
180
0
O B
What is the degree measure of ∠AOB?
Make your own Protractor!
You may have wondered how the different equally spaced markings are
made on a protractor. We will now see how we can make some of them!
1. Draw a circle of a convenient radius on a sheet of paper. Cut out
the circle (Fig. 2.13). A circle or one full turn is 360°.
2. Fold the circle to get two equal halves and cut it through the
crease to get a semicircle. Write ‘0°’ in the bottom right corner
of the semi-circle.
37

Fig. 2.13
The measure of half

a circle is 12 of a full
turn. (Fig. 2.14)
So, the measure of 180 units
half a turn = 12 of
____ = 180°.
Thus, write 180° A O B
Fig. 2.14
in the left bottom
corner of the
semicircle.
3. Fold the semi-circular sheet in half as shown in Fig. 2.15 to form

a quarter circle.
The measure of a
quarter circle is 14 of
a full turn.
The measure of a
1 1 A
4 turn = 4 of 360° =
________.
Or, the measure of 90 units
a 14 turn = 12 of a half
O
turn = 12 of 180° = B
______.
Fig. 2.15 Thus, mark 90° at the
top of the semicircle.
38

Lines and Angles
4. Fold the sheet again as shown in Figs. 2.16 and 2.17:
90O
135O 45O
180O 0O
Fig. 2.16 Fig. 2.17
When folded, this is 18 of the circle, or 18 of a turn, or 18 of 360°,

or 14 of 180° or 12 of 90° = ________________________.
The new creases formed give us measures of 45° and
180°− 45° = 135° as shown. Write 45° and 135° at the correct
places on the new creases along the edge of the semicircle.
5. Continuing with another half fold as shown in Fig. 2.18, we get
an angle of measure ________________________.
Fig. 2.18
6. Unfold and mark the creases as OB, OC, ..., etc., as shown in
Fig. 2.19 and Fig. 2.20.
E
F D
90O
112
5O
G C 135O
.5
67.
O
45O
H B 157
.5 O O
5
22.
180O 0O
I A
O
Fig. 2.20
Fig. 2.19
39

Think !
I n Fig. 2.20, we have ∠AOB = ∠BOC = ∠COD = ∠DOE = ∠EOF = ∠FOG =
∠GOH = ∠HOI=_____. Why?
Angle Bisector
At each step, we folded in halves. This process of getting half of a
given angle is called bisecting the angle. The line that bisects a given
angle is called the angle bisector of the angle.
Identify the angle bisectors in your handmade protractor. Try to make
different angles using the concept of angle bisector through paper folding.
Figure it Out
1. Find the degree measures of the following angles using your

protractor.
H
I
I
J H
J
J
I
H
G K
2. Find the degree measures of different angles in your classroom

using your protractor.
Teacher’s Note
It is important that students make their own protractor and use it to
measure different angles before using the standard protractor so that
they know the concept behind the marking of the standard protractor.
40

Lines and Angles
3. Find the degree measures for the angles given below. Check if
your paper protractor can be used here!
H I H
c
J
J I
4. How can you find the degree measure of the angle given below
using a protractor?
5. Measure and write the degree measures for each of the following
angles:
a. b.
41

c.
d.
e. f.
6. Find the degree measures of ∠BXE, ∠CXE, ∠AXB and ∠BXC.
C
B
90
70
80 A 100
110
100 90 80 12
60 70 0
110 13
20 60
50 1 0
0 50
13
14
40
0
0
40
14
15
30
0
0
30
15
160
20
160
20
170
10
170
10
B
180
180
0
A X E
7. Find the degree measures of ∠PQR, ∠PQS and ∠PQT.
S
R
T
P
42

Lines and Angles
8. Make the paper craft as per the given instructions. Then, unfold
and open the paper fully. Draw lines on the creases made and
measure the angles formed.
1 2 3 4
5 6 8
7
9. Measure all three angles of the triangle shown in Fig. 2.21 (a), and
write the measures down near the respective angles. Now add up
the three measures. What do you get? Do the same for the triangles
in Fig. 2.21 (b) and (c). Try it for other triangles as well, and then
make a conjecture for what happens in general! We will come back
to why this happens in a later year.
C A
A
A C
B C
(a) (b) (c)
Fig. 2.21
43

Mind the Mistake, Mend the Mistake!

A student used a protractor to measure the angles as shown below.
In each figure, identify the incorrect usage(s) of the protractor and
discuss how the reading could have been made and think how it can
be corrected.
∠V = 80⁰
∠U = 35⁰
80 90 100 50 60 70
110 80
70 40
90 80 12 120 110 90
60 100 0 130 100
110 70 30 140 10
60 13 90 0
50 1 20 0 0
50 20 15 80
0
13 0
16
11
14
40
0
0
10
70
0
40
14
12
17
15
30
0
0
0
60
30
0
15
180
130
160
20
160
50
20
140
170
10
170
10
40
180
180
150
V
30
0
20
160
10
170
0
180
∠X = 150⁰
110
∠W = 70⁰
100 120
90 130
80 80 70 60 14
80 90 100 90 50 0
110
70 70 100 40 15
100 90 80 12 0 0
60 70 0 11
110 30
60
0 60 13
50 12 0
16
0
12
50
0
0
13
20
50
14
40
170
13
0
0
40
14
10
40
15
30
140
0
180
0
30
15
0
30
160
150
20
160
20
160
170
20
10
170
10
170
180
180
10
0
180
0
∠Y = 120⁰ 0 10
20
180 170 30
160
15
0
14
0
40
∠Z = 85⁰
50
13
180
0
0
60
12
0
170
180
10
0
70
110
160
10
80
100
170
20
Y
150
20
90
90
160
30
14
80
100
30
0
50
40
1
13
70
40
110
0
0
50
12
14
50 0
60
12
110 60
0 60
0
13
50
70 100
80 90 70
13
40 120
0
110 80
30 14 100 90
0
20 15
0 10 0
160
180 170
44

Lines and Angles
Figure it Out
Where are the angles?
1. Angles in a clock: 12
11 1
a. The hands of a clock make different 10 2
angles at different times. At 1 o’clock, 9 3
the angle between the hands is 30°. 8 4
7 5
Why? 6
12 12
11 1 11 1
b. What will be the angle at 2 10 2 10 2
o’clock? And at 4 o’clock? 6 9 3 9 3
o’clock? 8 4 8 4
5 5
c. Explore other angles made by
7 7
6 6
the hands of a clock.

2. The angle of a door:
Is it possible to express the amount by which a door is opened
using an angle? What will be the vertex of the angle and what will
be the arms of the angle?
3. Vidya is enjoying her time

on the swing. She notices
that the greater the angle
with which she starts the
swinging, the greater is
the speed she achieves on
her swing. But where is the
angle? Are you able to see
any angle?
45

4. Here is a toy with slanting slabs attached to

its sides; the greater the angles or slopes of
the slabs, the faster the balls roll. Can angles
be used to describe the slopes of the slabs?
What are the arms of each angle? Which
arm is visible and which is not?
5. Observe the images below where there is
an insect and its rotated version. Can angles
be used to describe the amount of rotation?
How? What will be the arms of the angle and
the vertex?
Hint: Observe the horizontal line touching the insects.
Teacher’s Note
It is important that students see the application of each mathematical
concept in their daily lives. Teacher can organise some activities where
students can appreciate the practical applications of angles in real-life
situations, e.g., clocks, doors, swings, concepts of uphill and downhill,
location of the sun, the giving of directions, etc.
2.10 Drawing Angles

Vidya wants to draw a 30° angle and name it ∠TIN using a protractor.
In   will be the vertex, IT and IN will be the arms of the angle.
Keeping one arm, say IN, as the reference (base), the other arm IT should
take a turn of 30°.
46

Lines and Angles
Step 1: We begin with the base and draw 𝐼𝑁:
I N
Step 2: We will place the centre point of the protractor on I and align
IN to the 0 line.
80 90 100
70 110
100 90 80 12
60 70 0
110 13
0 60
50 12 0
0 50
13
14
40
0
0
40
14
15
30
0
0
30
15
160
20
160
20
170
10
170
10
180
180
0
0
N
I
Step 3: Now, starting from 0, count your degrees (0, 10, 30) up to 30
on the protractor. Mark point T at the label 30°.
80 90 100
70 110
100 90 80 12
60 70 0
110 13
20 60
50 1 0
0 50
13 T
14
40
0
0
40
14
15
30
0
0
30
15
160
20
160
20
170
10
170
10
180
180
0
N
I
Step 4: Using a ruler join the point I and T.

∠TIN = 30° is the required angle.
47

30º
I N
Let’s Play a Game #1

This is an angle guessing game! Play this game with your classmates
by making two teams, Team 1 and Team 2. Here are the instructions
and rules for the game:
• Team 1 secretly choose an angle measure, for example, 49° and

makes an angle with that measure using a protractor without
Team 2 being able to see it.
• Team 2 now gets to look at the angle. They have to quickly
discuss and guess the number of degrees in the angle (without
using a protractor!).
• Team 1 now demonstrates the true measure of the angle with
a protractor.
• Team 2 scores the number of points that is the absolute
difference in degrees between their guess and the correct
measure. For example, if Team 2 guesses 39°, then they score
10 points (49°–39°).
• Each team gets five turns. The winner is the team with the
lowest score!
Let’s Play a Game #2

We now change the rules of the game a bit. Play this game with your
classmates by again making two teams, Team 1 and Team 2. Here
are the instructions and rules:
48

Lines and Angles
• Team 1 announces to all, an angle measure, e.g., 34°.

• A player from Team 2 must draw that angle on the board without
using a protractor. Other members of Team 2 can help the player
by speaking words like ‘Make it bigger!’ or ‘Make it smaller!’.
• A player from Team 1 measures the angle with a protractor
for all to see.
• Team 2 scores the number of points that is the absolute
difference in degrees between Team 2’s angle size and the
intended angle size. For example, if player’s angle from Team
2 is measured to be 25°, then Team 2 scores 9 points (34°–25°).
• Each team gets five turns. The winner is again the team with the
lowest score.
Teacher’s Note
These games are important to play to build intuition about angles
and their measures. Return to this game at least once or twice on
different days to build practice in estimating angles. Note that
these games can also be played between pairs of students.
Figure it Out
1. In Fig. 2.23, list all the angles possible. Did you find them all? Now,
guess the measures of all the angles. Then, measure the angles
with a protractor. Record all your numbers in a table. See how
close your guesses are to the actual measures.
A P R
B
C
D L S
Fig. 2.23
49

2. Use a protractor to draw angles having the following degree

measures:
a. 110° b. 40° c. 75° d. 112° e. 134°
3. Draw an angle whose degree measure is the same as the angle

given below:
H
J
Also, write down the steps you followed to draw the angle.
2.11 Types of Angles and their Measures

We have read about different types of angles in this chapter. We
have seen that a straight angle is 180° and a right angle is 90°. How
can other types of angles — acute and obtuse — be described in terms
of their degree measures?
Acute Angle: Angles that are smaller than the right angle, i.e., less
than 90° and are greater than 0°, are called acute angles.
T
R
Q
50⁰
Q 75⁰
40⁰ R F
P E
Examples of acute angles
50

Lines and Angles
Obtuse Angle: Angles that are greater than the right angle and less
than the straight angle, i.e., greater than 90° and less than 180°, are
called obtuse angles.
X
I
110º
S
130º
S
T W
Examples of obtuse angles
Have we covered all the possible measures that an angle can take?
Here is another type of angle.
Reflex angle: Angles that are greater than the straight angle and less
than the whole angle, i.e., greater than 180° and less than 360°, are
called reflex angles.
T
M
P
A
C B S
Examples of reflex angles
Figure it Out
1. In each of the below grids, join A to other grid points in the figure
by a straight line to get:
a. An acute angle
51

b. An obtuse angle
c. A reflex angle
Mark the intended angles with curves to specify the angles. One
has been done for you.
2. Use a protractor to find the measure of each angle. Then classify

each angle as acute, obtuse, right, or reflex.
a. ∠PTR b. ∠PTQ c. ∠PTW d. ∠WTP
R
P
Q
T
W
52

Lines and Angles
Let’s Explore:
S T
In this figure, ∠TER = 80°. What is
the measure of ∠BET? What is the
o
90
o
80
measure of ∠SET?
B E R
bserve that ∠REB is a straight angle. Hence the degree measure of

Hint: O
∠REB = 180° of which 80° is covered by ∠TER. A similar argument
can be applied to find the measure of ∠SET.
Figure it Out
1. Draw angles with the following degree measures:

a. 140° b. 82° c. 195° d. 70° e. 35°
2. Estimate the size of each angle and then measure it with a

protractor:
a. b. c.
d. e. f.
Classify these angles as acute, right, obtuse or reflex angles.

3. Make any figure with three acute angles, one right angle and two
obtuse angles.
4. Draw the letter ‘M’ such that the angles on the sides are 40° each
and the angle in the middle is 60°.
5. Draw the letter ‘Y’ such that the three angles formed are 150°, 60°
and 150°.
53

6. The Ashoka Chakra has 24 spokes. What is the

degree measure of the angle between two spokes
next to each other? What is the largest acute angle
formed between two spokes?
7. Puzzle: I am an acute angle. If you double my
measure, you get an acute angle. If you triple my measure, you
will get an acute angle again. If you quadruple (four times) my
measure, you will get an acute angle yet again! But if you multiply
my measure by 5, you will get an obtuse angle measure. What are
the possibilities for my measure?
Summary
A point determines a location. It is denoted by a capital letter.
A line segment corresponds to the shortest distance between two
points. The line segment joining points S and T is denoted by ST.
A line is obtained when a line segment like ST is extended on both
sides indefinitely; it is denoted by ST or sometimes by a single small
letter like m.
A ray is a portion of a line starting at a point D and going in one direction
indefinitely. It is denoted by DP where P is another point on the ray.
An angle can be visualised as two rays starting from a common starting
point. Two rays OP and OM form the angle ∠POM (also called ∠MOP);
here, O is called the vertex of the angle, and the rays OP and OM are
called the arms of the angle.
The size of an angle is the amount of rotation or turn needed about the
vertex to rotate one ray of the angle onto the other ray of the angle.
The sizes of angles can be measured in degrees. One full rotation or
turn is considered as 360 degrees and denoted as 360°.
Degree measures of angles can be measured using a protractor.
Angles can be straight (180°), right (90°), acute (more than 0° and less
than 90°), obtuse (more than 90° and less than 180°), and reflex (more
than 180° and less than 360°).
54

3 NUMBER PLAY
Numbers are used in different contexts and in many different ways

to organise our lives. We have used numbers to count, and have
applied the basic operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication
and division on them, to solve problems related to our daily lives.
In this chapter, we will continue this journey, by playing with
numbers, seeing numbers around us, noticing patterns, and learning
to use numbers and operations in new ways.
Think about various situations where we use numbers. List

Math
five different situations in which numbers are used. See what Talk
your classmates have listed, share, and discuss.
3.1 Numbers can Tell us Things

What are these numbers telling us?
Some children in a park are standing in a line. Each one says a number.
What do you think these numbers mean?

The children now rearrange themselves, and again each one
says a number based on the arrangement.
Chapter 3_Number Play.indd 55 09-08-2024 16:33:11

Did you figure out what these numbers represent?

Hint: Could their heights be playing a role?
A child says ‘1’ if there is only one taller child standing next to them.
A child says ‘2’ if both the children standing next to them are taller. A
child says ‘0’, if neither of the children standing next to them are taller.
That is each person says the number of taller neighbours they have.
Try answering the questions below and share your reasoning:

1. Can the children rearrange themselves so that the children Math
Talk
standing at the ends say ‘2’?
2. Can we arrange the children in a line so that all would say
only 0s?
3. Can two children standing next to each other say the same
number?
4. There are 5 children in a group, all of different heights. Can
they stand such that four of them say ‘1’ and the last one says
‘0’? Why or why not?
5. For this group of 5 children, is the sequence 1, 1, 1, 1, 1 possible?
6. Is the sequence 0, 1, 2, 1, 0 possible? Why or why not?
7. How would you rearrange the five children so that the
maximum number of children say ‘2’?
56

Number Play
3.2 Supercells
Observe the numbers written in the table below. Why are some
numbers coloured? Discuss.
43 79 75 63 10 29 28 34
200 577 626 345 790 694 109 198
A cell is coloured if the number in it is larger than its adjacent

cells. 626 is coloured as it is larger than 577 and 345 whereas 200 is
not coloured as it is smaller than 577. The number 198 is coloured as
it has only one adjacent cell with 109 in it, and 198 is larger than 109.
Figure it Out
1. Colour or mark the supercells in the table below.
6828 670 9435 3780 3708 7308 8000 5583 52

2. Fill the table below with only 4-digit numbers such that the
supercells are exactly the coloured cells.
5346 1258 9635
3. Fill the table below such that we get as many supercells as possible.
Use numbers between 100 and 1000 without repetitions.
4. Out of the 9 numbers, how many supercells are there in the table
above? ___________
5. Find out how many supercells are possible for different
numbers of cells. Math
Talk
Do you notice any pattern? What is the method to fill a given
table to get the maximum number of supercells? Explore and
share your strategy.
57

6. Can you fill a supercell table without repeating numbers such

that there are no supercells? Why or why not? Try
This
7. Will the cell having the largest number in a table always be a
supercell? Can the cell having the smallest number in a table
be a supercell? Why or why not?
8. Fill a table such that the cell having the second largest number
is not a supercell.
9. Fill a table such that the cell having the second largest
number is not a supercell but the second smallest number is
a supercell. Is it possible?
10. Make other variations of this puzzle and challenge your
classmates.
Let’s do the supercells activity with more rows.
Here the neighbouring cells are those that are immediately to the
left, right, top and bottom.
Table 1
The rule remains the same: a
cell becomes a supercell if the 2430 7500 7350 9870
number in it is greater than all
3115 4795 9124 9230
the numbers in its neighbouring
cells. In Table 1, 8632 is greater 4580 8632 8280 3446
than all its neighbours 4580,
8280, 4795 and 1944. 5785 1944 5805 6034
Complete Table 2 with 5-digit

numbers whose digits are ‘1’, Table 2
‘0’, ‘6’, ‘3’, and ‘9’ in some order.
Only a coloured cell should 96,301 36,109
have a number greater than all
13,609 60,319 19,306
its neighbours.
60,193
The biggest number in the table
is ____________ . 10,963
58

Number Play
The smallest even number in the table is ____________.
The smallest number greater than 50,000 in the table is ____________.
Once you have filled the table above, put commas appropriately
after the thousands digit.
3.3 Patterns of Numbers on the Number Line

We are quite familiar with number lines now. Let’s see if we can
place some numbers in their appropriate positions on the number
line. Here are the numbers: 2180, 2754, 1500, 3600, 9950, 9590, 1050,
3050, 5030, 5300 and 8400.
2180
1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000 8000 9000 10,000
2754
Figure it Out

Identify the numbers marked on the number lines below, and label
the remaining positions.
a.
2010 2020
b.
9996 9997
c.
15,077 15,078 15,083
d.
86,705 87,705
Put a circle around the smallest number and a box around the
largest number in each of the sequences above.
59

3.4 Playing with Digits

We start writing numbers from 1, 2, 3 … and so on. There are nine
1-digit numbers.
Find out how many numbers have two digits, three digits, four
digits, and five digits:
1-digit 2-digit 3-digit 4-digit 5-digit

numbers numbers numbers numbers numbers
From 1–9
Digit Sums of Numbers

Komal observes that when she adds up
digits of certain numbers the sum is the
same.
For example, adding the digits of the
number 68 will be same as adding the
digits of 176 or 545.
Figure it Out
1. Digit sum 14
.
a. Write other numbers whose digits add up to 14. Math
Talk
b. What is the smallest number whose digit sum is 14?
c. What is the largest 5-digit whose digit sum is 14?
d. How big a number can you form having the digit sum
14? Can you make an even bigger number?
2. Find out the digit sums of all the numbers from 40 to 70.
Share your observations with the class.
3. Calculate the digit sums of 3-digit numbers whose digits are
consecutive (for example, 345). Do you see a pattern? Will this
pattern continue?
60

Number Play
Digit Detectives
After writing numbers from 1 to 100,
Dinesh wondered how many times he
would have written the digit ‘7’!
Among the numbers 1–100, how

many times will the digit ‘7’ occur?
Among the numbers 1–1000, how
many times will the digit ‘7’ occur?
3.5 Pretty Palindromic Patterns

What pattern do you see in these numbers: 66, 848, 575, 797, 1111?
These numbers read the same from left to right and from right to left.
Try and see. Such numbers are called palindromes or palindromic
numbers.
All palindromes using 1, 2, 3

The numbers 121, 313, 222 are some examples of palindromes using
the digits ‘1’, ‘2’, 3’.
Write all possible 3-digit palindromes using these digits.
Reverse-and-add palindromes
Now look at these additions. Try to figure out what is happening.
Steps to follow: Start with a
2-digit number. Add this number
to its reverse. Stop if you get a
palindrome; else repeat the steps
of reversing the digits and adding.
Try the same procedure
for some other numbers, and
perform the same steps. Stop if
61

you get a palindrome. There are numbers for which you have to
repeat this a large number of times.
Are there numbers for which you do not reach a palindrome
at all?
Explore
Will reversing and adding numbers repeatedly, starting with
Math
a 2-digit number, always give a palindrome? Explore and find Talk
out.*
Puzzle time
tth th h t u
Write the number in words:
I am a 5-digit palindrome.
I am an odd number.
My ‘t’ digit is double of my ‘u’ digit.
My ‘h’ digit is double of my ‘t’ digit.
Who am I? _________________
3.6 The Magic Number of Kaprekar

D.R. Kaprekar was a mathematics teacher in a
government school in Devlali, Maharashtra. He liked
playing with numbers very much and found many
beautiful patterns in numbers that were previously
unknown.
In 1949, he discovered a fascinating and magical
phenomenon when playing with 4-digit numbers.
*The answer is yes! For 3-digit numbers the answer is unknown. It is suspected that
starting with 196 never yields a palindrome!
62

Number Play
Follow these steps and experience the magic for yourselves!

Pick any 4-digit number, say 6382.
Take a 4-digit number.
Make the largest number from these

digits. Call it A.
Make the smallest number from these

Use digits
digits. Call it B. of C
Subtract B from A. Call it C.

C=A–B
What happens if we continue

doing this?
A = 8632 A = 6642 A = 7641 A=

B = 2368 B = 2466 B = 1467 B=
C = 8632–2368 C = 6642–2466 C = 7641–1467 C=
= 6264 = 4176 = 6174
Explore
Take different 4-digit numbers and try carrying out these steps. Find
out what happens. Check with your friends what they got.
You will always reach the magic number ‘6174’! The number
‘6174’ is now called the ‘Kaprekar constant’.
Carry out these same steps with a few 3-digit numbers. What number
will start repeating?
63

3.7 Clock and Calendar Numbers

On the usual 12-hour clock, there are timings with different patterns.
For example, 4:44, 10:10, 12:21.
Try and find out all possible times on a 12-hour clock of each of
these types.
Manish has his birthday on
20/12/2012 where the digits ‘2’, ‘0’, ‘1’,
and ‘2’ repeat in that order.
Find some other dates of this form

from the past.
His sister Meghana has her birthday
on 11/02/2011 where the digits read
the same from left to right and from right to left.
Find all possible dates of this form from the past.

Jeevan was looking at this year’s calendar. He started wondering,
“Why should we change the calendar every year! Can we not reuse a
calendar?” What do you think?
You might have noticed that last year’s calendar was different
from this year’s. Also, next year’s calendar is also different from the
previous years.
But, will any year’s calendar repeat again after some years?
Try
Will all dates and days in a year match exactly with that of This
another year?
Figure it Out
1. Pratibha uses the digits ‘4’, ‘7’, ‘3’ and ‘2’, and makes the smallest and
largest 4-digit numbers with them: 2347 and 7432. The difference
between these two numbers is 7432 – 2347 = 5085. The sum of these
two numbers is 9779. Choose 4–digits to make:
a. the difference between the largest and smallest numbers
greater than 5085.
64

Number Play
b. the difference between the largest and smallest numbers less

than 5085.
c. the sum of the largest and smallest numbers greater than 9779.
d. the sum of the largest and smallest numbers less than 9779.
2. What is the sum of the smallest and largest 5-digit palindrome?
What is their difference?
3. The time now is 10:01. How many minutes until the clock shows
the next palindromic time? What about the one after that?
4. How many rounds does the number 5683 take to reach the Kaprekar
constant?
3.8 Mental Math

Observe the figure below. What can you say about the numbers and
the lines drawn?
25,000
38,800 3,400
400
28,000 63,000
13,000
61,600 19,500
1,500
31,000 20,900
60,000
Numbers in the middle column are added in different ways to get

the numbers on the sides (1500 + 1500 + 400 = 3400). The numbers in
the middle can be used as many times as needed to get the desired
sum. Draw arrows from the middle to the numbers on the sides to
obtain the desired sums.
Two examples are given. It is simpler to do it mentally!
38,800 = 25,000 + 400 × 2 + 13,000
3400 = 1500 + 1500 + 400
65

Can we make 1,000 using the numbers in the middle? Why not?
Math
What about 14,000, 15,000 and 16,000? Yes, it is possible. Explore how. Talk
What thousands cannot be made?
Adding and Subtracting

Here, using the numbers in the boxes, we are allowed to use both addition
and subtraction to get the required number. An example is shown.
39,800 = 40,000 – 800 + 300 + 300

40,000 7,000
45,000 =
5,900 =
300 1,500
17,500 =
12,000 800 21,400 =
Digits and Operations

An example of adding two 5-digit numbers to get another 5-digit
number is 12,350 + 24,545 = 36,895.
An example of subtracting two 5-digit numbers to get another
5-digit number is 48,952 – 24,547 = 24,405.
Figure it Out
1. Write an example for each of the below scenarios whenever

possible.
5-digit +
5-digit 5-digit + 4-digit + 5-digit +
5-digit +
to give a 3-digit 4-digit 5-digit
5-digit to
5-digit sum to give a to give a to give a
give 18,500
more than 6-digit sum 6-digit sum 6-digit sum
90,250
5-digit – 5-digit 5-digit 5-digit

5-digit to give – 3-digit − 4-digit − 5-digit 5-digit −
a difference to give to give to give 5-digit to
less than a 4-digit a 4-digit a 3-digit give 91,500
56,503 difference difference difference
66

Number Play
Could you find examples for all the cases? If not, think and
Math
discuss what could be the reason. Make other such questions Talk
and challenge your classmates.
2. Always, Sometimes, Never?
Below are some statements. Think, explore and find out if
each of the statement is ‘Always true’, ‘Only sometimes true’
or ‘Never true’. Why do you think so? Write your reasoning;
discuss this with the class.
a. 5-digit number + 5-digit number gives a 5-digit number
b. 4-digit number + 2-digit number gives a 4-digit number
c. 4-digit number + 2-digit number gives a 6-digit number
d. 5-digit number – 5-digit number gives a 5-digit number
e. 5-digit number – 2-digit number gives a 3-digit number
3.9 Playing with Number Patterns

Here are some numbers arranged in some patterns. Find out the
sum of the numbers in each of the below figures. Should we add
them one by one or can we use a quicker way?
Share and discuss in class the different methods each of you used
to solve these questions.
a. 40 40 b.
40 40
50 50 50 50 50
40 40 40 40
50 50 50 50 50
40 40 40 40
67

c. d.
32 32 32 32 32 32 32 32
32 32 32 32 32 32 32 32
32 32 32 32 32 32 32 32
32 32 32 32 32 32 32 32
64 64 64 64
64 64 64 64
64 64 64 64
64 64 64 64
e. 15 15 35 35 25 25 f. 125 125
125 12
15 15 25 25 5
35 35 25
25 25 15 15 1 250
5
12
35 35 250
250
5
25 25 15 15
12
15 25 500
35 35 125
25 25 15 15 125 250
35 35 500 1000 500
35 35 35 35 250
15 15 25 25 125
35 35 125
25 15 500
15 15 25 25 250 12
5
35 35 250
125
15 15 25 250
25 125
35 35
25 25 15 15 125
125 125
125
25 25 35 35 15 15
3.10 An Unsolved Mystery - the Collatz Conjecture!

Look at the sequences below—the same rule is applied in all the
sequences:
a. 12, 6, 3, 10, 5, 16, 8, 4, 2, 1
b. 17, 52, 26, 13, 40, 20, 10, 5, 16, 8, 4, 2, 1
c. 21, 64, 32, 16, 8, 4, 2, 1
d. 22, 11, 34, 17, 52, 26, 13, 40, 20, 10, 5, 16, 8, 4, 2, 1
Do you see how these sequences were formed?
68

Number Play
The rule is: one starts with any number; if the number is even,
take half of it; if the number is odd, multiply it by 3 and add 1;
repeat.
Notice that all four sequences above eventually reached the
number 1. In 1937, the German mathematician Lothar Collatz
conjectured that the sequence will always reach 1, regardless of
the whole number you start with. Even today—despite many
mathematicians working on it — it remains an unsolved problem as
to whether Collatz’s conjecture is true! Collatz’s conjecture is one of
the most famous unsolved problems in mathematics.
Make some more Collatz sequences like those above, starting

with your favourite whole numbers. Do you always reach 1?
Do you believe the conjecture of Collatz that all such sequences
will eventually reach 1? Why or why not?
3.11 Simple Estimation

At times, we may not know or need an exact count of things and
an estimate is sufficient for the purpose at hand. For example,
your school headmaster might know the exact number of students
enrolled in your school, but you may only know an estimated
count. How many students are in your school? About 150? 400? A
thousand?
Paromita’s class section has 32 children. The other 2 sections of
her class have 29 and 35 children. So, she estimated the number of
children in her class to be about 100. Along with Class 6, her school
also has Classes 7–10 and each class has 3 sections each. She assumed
a similar number in each class and estimated the number of students
in her school to be around 500.
Figure it Out
We shall do some simple estimates. It is a fun exercise, and you may
find it amusing to know the various numbers around us. Remember,
69

we are not interested in the exact numbers for the following questions.
Share your methods of estimation with the class.
1. Steps you would take to walk:
a. From the place you are sitting to the classroom door
b. Across the school ground from start to end
c. From your classroom door to the school gate
d. From your school to your home
2. Number of times you blink your eyes or number of breaths you
take:
a. In a minute
b. In an hour
c. In a day
3. Name some objects around you that are:
a. a few thousand in number
b. more than ten thousand in number
Estimate the answer

Try to guess within 30 seconds. Check your guess with your friends.
1. Number of words in your maths textbook:
a. More than 5000
b. Less than 5000
2. Number of students in your school who travel to school by bus:
a. More than 200
b. Less than 200
3. Roshan wants to buy milk and 3 types of fruit to make fruit
custard for 5 people. He estimates the cost to be ₹ 100. Do you
agree with him? Why or why not?
4. Estimate the distance between Gandhinagar (in Gujarat) to
Kohima (in Nagaland).
[Hint: Look at the map of India to locate these cities.]
70

Number Play
5. Sheetal is in Grade 6 and says she has spent around 13,000 hours
in school till date. Do you agree with her? Why or why not?
6. Earlier, people used to walk long distances as they had no other
means of transport. Suppose you walk at your normal pace.
Approximately how long would it take you to go from:
a. Your current location to one of your favourite places nearby.

b. Your current location to any neighbouring state’s capital city.
c. The southernmost point in India to the northernmost point in
India.
7. Make some estimation questions and challenge your classmates!
3.12 Games and Winning Strategies

Numbers can also be used to play games and develop winning
strategies.
Here is a famous game called 21. Play it with a classmate. Then
try it at home with your family!
Rules for Game #1: The first player says 1, 2 or 3. Then the two
players take turns adding 1, 2, or 3 to the previous number said. The
first player to reach 21 wins!
Play this game several times with your classmate. Are you starting
to see the winning strategy?
Which player can always win if they play correctly? What is the
pattern of numbers that the winning player should say?
There are many variations of this game. Here is another common
variation:
Rules for Game #2: The first player says a number between 1 and
10. Then the two players take turns adding a number between 1 and
10 to the previous number said. The first player to reach 99 wins!
Play this game several times with your classmate. See if you can
figure out the corresponding winning strategy in this case! Which
71

player can always win? What is the pattern of numbers that the
winning player should say this time?
Make your own variations of this game — decide how much one
can add at each turn, and what number is the winning number. Then
play your game several times, and figure out the winning strategy
and which player can always win!
Figure it Out
1. There is only one supercell

(number greater than all its
16,200 39,344 29,765
Try
neighbours) in this grid. If you 23,609 62,871 45,306 This
exchange two digits of one of
the numbers, there will be 4 19,381 50,319 38,408
supercells. Figure out which
digits to swap.
2. How many rounds does your year of birth take to reach the
Kaprekar constant?
3. We are the group of 5-digit numbers between 35,000 and 75,000
such that all of our digits are odd. Who is the largest number in our
group? Who is the smallest number in our group? Who among us
is the closest to 50,000?
4. Estimate the number of holidays you get in a year including
weekends, festivals and vacation. Then try to get an exact number
and see how close your estimate is.
5. Estimate the number of liters a mug, a bucket and an overhead
tank can hold.
6. Write one 5-digit number and two 3-digit numbers such that their
sum is 18,670.
7. Choose a number between 210 and 390. Create a number pattern
similar to those shown in Section 3.9 that will sum up to this number.
72

Number Play
8. Recall the sequence of Powers of 2 from Chapter 1, Table 1. Why is

the Collatz conjecture correct for all the starting numbers in this
sequence?
9. Check if the Collatz Conjecture holds for the starting number 100.
10. Starting with 0, players alternate adding numbers between 1 and 3.
The first person to reach 22 wins. What is the winning strategy now?
Summary
Numbers can be used for many different purposes, including to convey

information, make and discover patterns, estimate magnitudes, pose
and solve puzzles, and play and win games.
Thinking about and formulating set procedures to use numbers for
these purposes is a useful skill and capacity (called “computational
thinking”).
Many problems about numbers can be very easy to pose, but very
difficult to solve. Indeed, numerous such problems are still unsolved
(e.g., Collatz’s Conjecture).
73

4 Data Handling and
Presentation
If you ask your classmates about their favourite colours, you will
get a list of colours. This list is an example of data. Similarly, if you
measure the weight of each student in your class, you would get a
collection of measures of weight—again data.
Any collection of facts, numbers, measures, observations, or other
descriptions of things that convey information about those things is
called data.
We live in an age of information. We constantly see large amounts
of data presented to us in new and interesting ways. In this chapter,
we will explore some of the ways that data is presented, and how we
can use some of those ways to correctly display, interpret and make
inferences from such data!
4.1 Collecting and Organising Data

Navya and Naresh are discussing their favourite games.
Cricket is my I play cricket sometimes

favourite game! but hockey is the game I
like the most.
I think cricket is the I am not sure. How can we find

most popular game in the most popular game in our
our class. class?
Chapter 4_Data Handling and Presentation.indd 74 09-08-2024 16:41:11

Data Handling and Presentation
To figure out the most popular game in

their class, what should Navya and Naresh
do? Can you help them?
Naresh and Navya decided to go to each student in the class and

ask what their favourite game is. Then they prepared a list.
Navya is showing the list:
Mehnoor – Kabaddi Pushkal – Satoliya (Pittu) Anaya – Kabaddi

Jubimon – Hockey Densy – Badminton Jivisha – Satoliya (Pittu)
Simran – Kabaddi Jivika – Satoliya (Pittu) Rajesh – Football
Nand – Satoliya (Pittu) Leela – Hockey Thara – Football
Ankita – Kabaddi Afshan – Hockey Soumya – Cricket
Imon – Hockey Keerat – Cricket Navjot – Hockey
Yuvraj – Cricket Gurpreet – Hockey Hemal – Satoliya (Pittu)
Rehana – Hockey Arsh – Kabaddi Debabrata – Football
Aarna – Badminton Bhavya – Cricket Ananya – Hockey
Kompal – Football Sarah – Kabaddi Hardik – Cricket
Tahira – Cricket
She says (happily) , “I have collected the data. I can figure out the
most popular game now!”
A few other children are looking at the list and wondering, “We
can’t yet see the most popular game. How can we get it from this list?”
Figure it Out
1. What would you do to find the most popular game among Naresh’s
and Navya’s classmates?
2. What is the most popular game in their class?
3. Try to find out the most popular game among your classmates.
4. Pari wants to respond to the questions given below. Put a tick ()
for the questions where she needs to carry out data collection and
75

put a cross () for the questions where she doesn’t need to collect
data. Discuss your answers in the classroom.
a. What is the most popular TV show among her classmates?
b. When did India get independence?
c. How much water is getting wasted in her locality?
d. What is the capital of India?
Shri Nilesh is a teacher. He decided to bring sweets to the class

to celebrate the new year. The sweets shop nearby has jalebi, gulab
jamun, gujiya, barfi, and rasgulla. He wanted to know the choices
of the children. He wrote the names of the sweets on the board and
asked each child to tell him their preference. He put a tally mark
‘|’ for each student and when the count reached 5, he put a line
through the previous four and marked it as ||||.
Sweets Tally Marks No. of Students

Jalebi |||| | 6
Gulab Jamun |||| |||| 9
Gujiya |||| |||| ||| ____________
Barfi ||| ____________
Rasgulla |||| || ____________
Figure it Out
1. Complete the table to help Shri Nilesh to purchase the correct
numbers of sweets:
•• How many students chose jalebi?
•• Barfi was chosen by students?
•• How many students chose gujiya?
•• Rasgulla was chosen by students?
•• How many students chose gulab jamun?
76

Shri Nilesh requested one of the staff members to bring the sweets as
given in the table. The above table helped him to purchase the correct
numbers of sweets.
2. Is the above table sufficient to distribute each type of sweet to

the correct student? Explain. If it is not sufficient, what is the
alternative?
To organise the data, we can write the name of each sweet in one
column and using tally signs, note the number of students who prefer
that sweet. The numbers 6, 9, … are the frequencies of the sweet
preferences for jalebi, gulab jamun … respectively.
Sushri Sandhya asked her students about the sizes of the shoes
they wear. She noted the data on the board —
4 5 3 4 3 4 5 5 4
5 5 4 5 6 4 3 5 6
4 6 4 5 7 5 6 4 5
She then arranged the shoe sizes of the students in ascending order —
3, 3, 3, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 6, 6, 6, 6, 7
Figure it Out
1. Help her to figure out the following –
•• The largest shoe size in the class is _________
•• The smallest shoe size in the class is _________
•• There are _________ students who wear shoe size 5.
•• There are _________ students who wear shoe sizes larger
than 4.
2. How did arranging the data in ascending order help to
Math
answer these questions? Talk
3. Are there other ways to arrange the data?
77

4. Write the names of a few trees you see around you. When you
observe a tree on the way from your home to school (or while
walking from one place to another place), record the data and fill
in the following table —
Tree No. of Trees

Peepal
Neem
…
….
a. Which tree was found in the greatest number?

b. Which tree was found in the smallest number?
c. Were there any two trees found in the same numbers?
5. Take a blank piece of paper and paste any small news item from
a newspaper. Each student may use a different article. Now,
prepare a table on the piece of paper as given below. Count the
number of each of the letters ‘c’, ‘e’, ‘i’, ‘r’, and ‘x’ in the words of
the news article, and fill in the table.
Any other letter

Letter c e i r x
of your choice:
Number of times
found in the news item
a. The letter found the most number of times is ________

b. The letter found the least number of times is ________
c. List the five letters ‘c’, ‘e’, ‘i’, ‘r’, ‘x’ in ascending order of
frequency. Now, compare the order of your list with that of
your classmates. Is your order the same or nearly the same
as theirs? (Almost everyone is likely to get the order ‘x, c, r,
i, e’.) Why do you think this is the case?
78

d. Write the process you followed to complete this task.

e. Discuss with your friends the processes they followed.
f. If you do this task with another news item, what process
would you follow?
Teacher’s Note
Provide more opportunities to collect and organise data. Ask students
to guess what is the most popular colour, game, toy, school subject, etc.,
amongst the students in their classroom, and then collect the data for it.
It can be a fun activity in which they also learn about their classmates.
Discuss how they can organise the data in different ways, each way
having its own advantages and limitations. For all these tasks, and the
tasks under ‘Figure it Out’, discuss the tasks with the children and let
them understand the tasks, and then let them plan and present their
research processes and conclusions in the class.
4.2 Pictographs
Pictographs are one visual and suggestive way to represent data
without writing any numbers. Look at this picture — you may be
familiar with it from previous classes.
Modes of Travelling Number of Students = 1 Student
Private car
Public bus
School bus
Cycle
Walking
This picture helps you understand at a glance the different

modes of travel used by students. Based on this picture, answer the
following questions:
79

•• Which mode of travel is used by the most number of students?

•• Which mode of travel is used by the least number of students?
A pictograph represents data through pictures of objects. It
helps answer questions about data with just a quick glance.
In the above pictograph, one unit or symbol ( ) is used to represent
one student. There are also other pictographs where one unit or
symbol stands for many people or objects.
Example: Nand Kishor collected responses from the children of

his middle school in Berasia regarding how often they slept at least
9 hours during the night. He prepared a pictograph from the data:
Response Number of Children ( = 10 Children)
Always
Sometimes
Never
Answer the following questions using the pictograph:

a. W
hat is the number of children who always slept at least 9
hours at night?
b. How many children sometimes slept at least 9 hours at night?
c. How many children always slept less than 9 hours each
night? Explain how you got your answer.
Solutions
a. In the table, there are 5 pictures for ‘Always’. Each picture
represents 10 children. Therefore, 5 pictures indicate 5 ×
10 = 50 children.
b. There are 2 complete pictures (2 × 10 = 20) and a half picture
(half of 10 = 5). Therefore, the number of children who sleep
at least 9 hours only sometimes is 20 + 5 = 25.
80

c. There are 4 complete pictures for ‘Never’. Hence 4 × 10 = 40

children never sleep at least 9 hours in a night, i.e., they always
sleep less than 9 hours.
Drawing a Pictograph
One day, Lakhanpal collected data on how many students were
absent in each class —
Class 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
No. of
3 5 4 2 0 1 5 7
students
He created a pictograph to present this data and decided to show

1 student as in the pictograph —
= 1 student
VIII
VII
VI
Classes
IV
III
II
No. of students absent
Meanwhile, his friends Jarina and Sangita collected data on how

many students were present in each class —
Class 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
No. of
30 35 20 25 30 25 30 20
students
81

If they want to show their data through a pictograph, where they

also use one symbol for each student, as Lakhanpal did, what are
the challenges they might face?
Jarina made a plan to address this — since there were many
students, she decided to use to represent 5 students. She figured
that would save time and space too.
= 5 students
VIII
VII
VI
Classes
V
IV
III
II
No. of students present
Sangita decided to use one to represent 10 students instead.

Since she used one to show 10 students, she had a problem in
showing 25 students and 35 students in the pictograph. Then, she
realised she could use to show 5 students.
= 10 students
VIII
VII
VI
Classes
IV
III
II
No. of students present
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What could be the problems faced in preparing such a

pictograph, if the total number of students present in a class is Math
Talk
33 or 27?
•• ictographs are a nice visual and suggestive way to represent

P
data. They represent data through pictures of objects.
•• ictographs can help answer questions and make inferences
P
about data with just a quick glance (in the examples above—
about favorite games, favorite colours, most common modes of
conveyance, number of students absent etc.).
•• y reading a pictograph, we can quickly understand the
B
frequencies of the different categories (for example, cricket,
hockey, etc.), and the comparisons of these frequencies.
•• In a pictograph, the categories can be arranged horizontlly or
vertically. For each category, simple pictures and symbols are
then drawn in the designated columns or rows according to the
frequency of that category.
•• A scale or key (for example, : 1 student or : 5 students)
is added to show what each symbol or picture represents. Each
symbol or picture can represent one unit or multiple units.
•• It can be more challenging to prepare a pictograph when the
amount of data is large or when the frequencies are not exact
multiples of the scale or key.
Figure it Out
1. he following pictograph shows the number of books borrowed
T
by students, in a week, from the library of Middle School,
Ginnori —
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Day Number of Books Borrowed ( =1 Book )
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
a. On which day were the minimum number of books borrowed?

b. What was the total number of books borrowed during the
week?
c. On which day were the maximum number of books borrowed?
What may be the possible reason?
2. Magan Bhai sells kites at Jamnagar. Six shopkeepers from nearby
villages come to purchase kites from him. The number of kites he
sold to these six shopkeepers are given below —
Shopkeeper Number of Kites sold
Chaman 250
Rani 300
Rukhsana 100
Jasmeet 450
Jetha Lal 250
Poonam Ben 700
84

Prepare a pictograph using the symbol to represent 100 kites.

Answer the following questions:
a. How many symbols represent the kites that Rani purchased?
b. Who purchased the maximum number of kites?
c. Who purchased more kites, Jasmeet or Chaman?
d.
Rukhsana says Poonam Ben purchased more than double the
number of kites that Rani purchased. Is she correct? Why?
4.3 Bar Graphs

Have you seen graphs
like this on TV or in a
newspaper?
Like pictographs, such
bar graphs can help us to
quickly understand and
interpret information,
such as the highest value,
the comparison of values
of different categories, etc.
However, when the amount
of data is large, presenting
it by a pictograph is not
only time consuming but https://www.statista.com/chart/17122/number-of-
threatened-species-red-list/
at times difficult too. Let us
see how data can be presented instead using a bar graph.
Let’s take the data collected by Lakhanpal earlier, regarding the
number of students absent on one day in each class —
Class 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
No. of
3 5 4 2 0 1 5 7
students
85

He presented the same data using a bar graph —
1 unit length = 1 student
No. of students absent in each class

8
7
Number of students
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Class
Teacher’s Note
If the students have not noticed, please point out the equally spaced
horizontal lines. Explain that this means that each pair of consecutive
numbers on the left has the same gap.
Answer the following questions using the bar graph:

1. In Class 2, ___________ students were absent that day.
2. I n which class were the maximum number of students absent?
___________
3. Which class had full attendance that day? ___________
When making bar graphs, bars of uniform width can be drawn
horizontally or vertically with equal spacing between them; then the
86

length or height of each bar represents the given number. As we saw in

pictographs, we can use a scale or key when the frequencies are larger.
Let us look at an example of vehicular traffic at a busy road
crossing in Delhi, which was studied by the traffic police on a
particular day. The number of vehicles passing through the crossing
each hour from 6 am to 12:00 noon is shown in the bar graph. One
unit of length stands for 100 vehicles.
11–12
10–11
Time intervals
9–10
8–9
7–8
6–7
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
900
1000
1100
1200
Number of vehicles
We can see that the maximum traffic at the crossing is shown

by the longest bar, i.e., for the time interval 7-8 a.m. The bar graph
shows that 1200 vehicles passed through the crossing at that time.
The second longest bar is for 8-9 a.m. During that time, 1000 vehicles
passed through the crossing. Similarly, the minimum traffic is shown
by the smallest bar, i.e., the bar for the time interval 6-7 a.m. During
that time, only about 150 vehicles passed through the crossing. The
second smallest bar is that for the time interval 11 a.m.-12 noon,
when about 600 vehicles passed through the crossing.
The total number of cars passing through the crossing during the
two-hour interval 8.00-10.00 am as shown by the bar graph is about
1000 + 800 = 1800 vehicles.
87

Figure it Out
1. How many total cars passed through the crossing between 6 am
and noon?
2. hy do you think so little traffic occurred during the hour of 6–7
W
am, as compared to the other hours from 7 am-noon?
3. hy do you think the traffic was the heaviest between 7 am and 8
W
am?
4. Why do you think the traffic was lesser and lesser each hour after
8am all the way until noon?
Example:
Population of India in crores
110 102
100
90 84
80
70 68
60 54
50 44
40 36
30
20
10
1951
1961
1971
1981
1991
2001
Years
Population of India in crores
This bar graph shows the population of India in each decade over a
period of 50 years. The numbers are expressed in crores. If you were
to take 1 unit length to represent one person, drawing the bars will
88

be difficult! Therefore, we choose the scale so that 1 unit represents

10 crores. The bar graph for this choice is shown in the figure. So a
bar of length 5 units represents 50 crores and of 8 units represents
80 crores.
•• On the basis of this bar graph, what may be a few questions you
may ask your friends?
•• How much did the population of India increase over 50 years?
How much did the population increase in each decade?
4.4 Drawing a Bar Graph

In a previous example, Shri Nilesh prepared a frequency table
representing the sweet preferences of the students in his class. Let`s
try to prepare a bar graph to present his data —
1. irst, we draw a horizontal
F
Sweet No. of Students
line and a vertical line. On
the horizontal line, we will Jalebi 6
write the name of each of Gulab Jamun 9

the sweets, equally spaced, Gujiya 13
from which the bars will Barfi 3
rise in accordance with
Rasgulla 7
their frequencies; and on
the vertical line we will write the frequencies representing the
number of students.
2. We must choose a scale. That means we must decide how many
students will be represented by a unit length of a bar so that
it fits nicely on our paper. Here, we will take 1 unit length to
represent 1 student.
3. For Jalebi, we therefore need to draw a bar having a height of 6
units (which is the frequency of the sweet Jalebi), and similarly
for the other sweets we have to draw bars as high as their
frequencies.
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4. We therefore get a bar graph as shown below —
Sweet preferences of students

14
13
12
Number of students
11
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
Jalebi Gulab jamun Gujia Barfi Rasgulla
Sweet
When the frequencies are larger and we cannot use the scale of
1 unit length = 1 number (frequency), we need to choose a different
scale like we did in the case of pictographs.
Example: The number of runs scored by Smriti in each of 8 matches

are given in the table below:
Match Match Match Match Match Match Match Match Match

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Runs 80 50 10 100 90 0 90 50
In this example, the minimum score is 0 and the maximum score

is 100. Using a scale of 1 unit length = l run would mean that we
have to go all the way from 0 to 100 runs in steps of l. This would
be unnecessarily tedious. Instead, let us use a scale where 1 unit
length = 10 runs. We mark this scale on the vertical line and draw
the bars according to the scores in each match. We get the following
bar graph representing the above data.
90

Runs scored by Smriti
100
90
80
70
60
Runs
50
40
30
20
10
0
Match 1 Match 2 Match 3 Match 4 Match 5 Match 6 Match 7 Match 8
Match
Example: The following table shows the monthly expenditure of

Imran’s family on various items:
Items Expenditure (in `)
House rent 3000
Food 3400
Education 800
Electricity 400
Transport 600
Miscellaneous 1200
To represent this data in the form of a bar graph, here are the steps —
•• Draw two perpendicular lines, one horizontal and one vertical.
•• Along the horizontal line, mark the ‘Items’ with equal spacing
between them, and along the vertical line, mark the corresponding
expenditures.
91

•• Take bars of the same width, keeping a uniform gap between them.
•• hoose a suitable scale along the vertical line. Let 1 unit length =
C
` 200, and then mark and write the corresponding values (` 200,
` 400, etc.) representing each unit length.
Finally, calculate the heights of the bars for various items as
shown below —
House rent 3000 ÷ 200 15 units

Food 3400 ÷ 200 17 units
Education 800 ÷ 200 4 units
Electricity 400 ÷ 200 2 units
Transport 600 ÷ 200 3 units
Miscellaneous 1200 ÷ 200 6 units
Here is the bar graph that we obtain based on the above steps:
3600
3400
3200
Expenditure ( in `)
3000
2800
2600
2400
2200
2000
1800
1600
1400
1200
1000
800
600
400
200
House rent
Miscellaneous
Electricity
Transport
Education
Food
Item
92

Use the bar graph to answer the following questions:

1. On which item does Imran’s family spend the most and the
second most?
2. Is the cost of electricity about one-half the cost of education?
3. Is the cost of education less than one-fourth the cost of food?
Figure it Out
1. Samantha visited a tea garden and collected data of the insects and
critters she saw there. Here is the data she collected —
Mites Caterpillars Beetles Butterflies Grasshoppers

6 10 5 3 2
Help her prepare a bar graph representing this data.

2. Pooja collected data on the number of tickets sold at the Bhopal
railway station for a few different cities of Madhya Pradesh over a
2-hour period.
City Vidisha Jabalpur Seoni Indore Sagar

Number of
24 20 16 28 16
tickets
She used this data and prepared a bar graph on the board to discuss
the data with her students, but someone erased a portion of the graph.
93

No. of Tickets
Vidisha Jabalpur Seoni Indore Sagar
City
a. Write the number of tickets sold for Vidisha above the bar.
b. Write the number of tickets sold for Jabalpur above the bar.
c. The bar for Vidisha is 6 unit lengths and the bar for Jabalpur
is 5 unit lengths. What is the scale for this graph?
d. Draw the correct bar for Sagar.
e. Add the scale of the bar graph placing the correct numbers
on the vertical axis.
f. re the bars for Seoni and Indore correct in this graph? If
A
not, draw the correct bar(s).
3. Chinu listed the various means of transport that passed across
the road in front of his house from 9 am to 10 am:
bike car bike bus bike bike

bike auto bicycle bullock cart bicycle auto
car scooter car auto bicycle bike
car auto bike scooter bike car
bicycle scooter bicycle scooter bike bus
auto auto bike bicycle bus bike
bicycle scooter bus scooter auto bike
scooter bicycle bike bullock cart auto scooter
car scooter
94

a. Prepare a frequency distribution table for the data.

b. Which means of transport was used the most?
c. If you were there to collect this data, how could you do it?
Write the steps or process.
4. Roll a die 30 times and record the number you obtain each time.
Prepare a frequency distribution table using tally marks. Find the
number that appeared:
a. The minimum number of times.
b. The maximum number of times.
c. Find numbers that appeared an equal number of times.
5. Faiz prepared a frequency distribution table of data on the number
of wickets taken by Jaspreet Bumrah in his last 30 matches:
Wickets Taken Number of Matches
0 2
1 4
2 6
3 8
4 3
5 5
6 1
7 1
a. What information is this table giving?

b. What may be the title of this table?
c. What caught your attention in this table?
d. In how many matches has Bumrah taken 4 wickets?
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e. Mayank says “If we want to know the total number of

wickets he has taken in his last 30 matches, we have to add
the numbers 0, 1, 2, 3 …, up to 7.” Can Mayank get the total
number of wickets taken in this way? Why?
f. How would you correctly figure out the total number of
wickets taken by Bumrah in his last 30 matches, using this
table?
6. The following pictograph shows the number of tractors in five
different villages.
Villages Number of Tractors ( = 1 Tractor )
Village A
Village B
Village C
Village D
Village E
Observe the pictograph and answer the following questions—

a. Which village has the smallest number of tractors?
b. Which village has the most tractors?
c. How many more tractors does Village C have than Village B?
d. omal says, “Village D has half the number of tractors as
K
Village E.” Is she right?
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7. The number of girl students in each class of a school is depicted

by a pictograph:
Number of Girl Students ( = 4 Girls )

Classes
Observe this pictograph and answer the following questions:

a. Which class has the least number of girl students?
b. hat is the difference between the number of girls in Classs
W
5 and 6?
c. If 2 more girls were admitted in Class 2, how would the graph
change?
d. How many girls are there in Class 7?
97

8. Mudhol Hounds (a type of breed of Indian dogs) are largely found

in North Karnataka’s Bagalkote and Vijaypura districts. The
government took an initiative to protect this breed by providing
support to those who adopted these dogs. Due to this initiative, the
number of these dogs increased. The number of Mudhol dogs in six
villages of Karnataka are as follows —
Village A : 18, Village B : 36, Village C : 12, Village D : 48, Village E : 18,
Village F : 24
Prepare a pictograph and answer the following questions:
a. What will be a useful scale or key to draw this pictograph?
b. How many symbols will you use to represent the dogs in
Village B?
c. Kamini said that the number of dogs in Village B and Village D
together will be more than the number of dogs in the other
4 villages. Is she right? Give reasons for your response.
9. A survey of 120 school students was conducted to find out which
activity they preferred to do in their free time.
Preferred Activity Number of Students
Playing 45
Reading story books 30
Watching TV 20
Listening to music 10
Painting 15

Draw a bar graph to illustrate the above data taking the scale of
1 unit length = 5 students. Which activity is preferred by most
students other than playing?
98

10. Students and teachers of a primary school decided to plant tree

saplings in the school campus and in the surrounding village
during the first week of July. Details of the saplings they planted
are as follows —
Number of saplings planted
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday
Day
a. The total number of saplings planted on Wednesday and

Thursday is ___________.
b. he total number of saplings planted during the whole week
T
is ___________.
c. The greatest number of saplings were planted on ___________,
and the least number of saplings were planted on ___________.
Why do you think that is the case? Why were more saplings
planted on certain days of the week and less on others? Can
you think of possible explanations or reasons? How could you
try and figure out whether your explanations are correct?
11. The number of tigers in India went down drastically between 1900
and 1970. Project Tiger was launched in 1973 to track and protect
tigers in India. Starting in 2006, the exact number of tigers in India
was tracked. Shagufta and Divya looked up information about the
number of tigers in India between 2006 and 2022 in 4-year intervals.
They prepared a frequency table for this data and a bar graph to
present this data, but there are a few mistakes in the graph. Can
you find those mistakes and fix them?
99

Year Number of Tigers Number of Tigers in India

(approx.) 2022
2006 1400 2018
Year
2010 1700 2014
2010
2014 2200
2006
2018 3000 0 1000 2000 3000 4000
2022 3700 Number of Tigers
• Like pictographs, bar graphs give a nice visual way to represent

data. They represent data through equally-spaced bars, each of
equal width, where the lengths or heights give frequencies of the
different categories.
• Each category is represented by a bar where the length or height
depicts the corresponding frequency (for example, cost) or
quantity (for example, runs).
• The bars have uniform spaces between them to indicate that they
are free standing and represent equal categories.
• The bars help in interpreting data much faster than a frequency
table. By reading a bar graph, we can compare frequencies of
different categories at a glance.
• We must decide the scale (for example, 1 unit length = 1 student
or 1 unit length = ` 200) for a bar graph on the basis of the data,
including the minimum and maximum frequencies, so that the
resulting bar graph fits nicely and looks visually appealing on the
paper or poster we are preparing. The markings of the unit lengths
as per the scale must start from zero.
Teacher’s Note
The main focus of this chapter is to learn how to handle data to find
answers to specific questions or inquiries, to test hypotheses or to
take specific decisions. This should be kept in mind when providing
practice opportunities to collect, organise, and analyse data.
100

4.5 Artistic and Aesthetic Considerations

In addition to the steps described in previous sections, there are
also some other more artistic and aesthetic aspects one can consider
when preparing visual presentations of data to make them more
interesting and effective. First, when making a visual presentation of
data, such as a pictograph or bar graph, it is important to make it fit in
the intended space; this can be controlled, e.g., by choosing the scale
appropriately, as we have seen earlier. It is also desirable to make
the data presentation visually appealing and easy-to-understand,
so that the intended audience appreciates the information being
conveyed.
Let us consider an example. Here is a table naming the tallest
mountain on each continent, along with the height of each mountain
in meters.
South North
Continent Asia Africa Europe Antarctica Australia
America America
Tallest Kiliman- Vinson

Everest Aconcagua Denali Elbrus Koscuiszko
Mountain jaro Massif
Height 8848m 6962m 6194m 5895m 5642m 4892m 2228m
How much taller is Mount Everest than Mount Koscuiszko? Are

Mount Denali and Mount Kilimanjaro very different in height? This
is not so easy to quickly discern from a large table of numbers.
As we have seen earlier, we can convert the table of numbers
into a bar graph, as shown on the right. Here, each value is drawn
as a horizontal box. These are longer or shorter depending on the
number they represent. This makes it easier to compare the heights
of all these mountains at a glance.
101

Asia — Everest
South America — Aconcagua
North America — Denali
Africa — Kilimanjaro
Europe — Elbrus
Antarctica — Vinson Massif
Australia — Koscuiszko
0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000 8000 9000
However, since the boxes represent heights, it is better and more

visually appealing to rotate the picture, so that the boxes grow
upward vertically from the ground like mountains. A bar graph with
vertical bars is also called a column graph. Columns are the pillars
you find in a building that hold up the roof.
Below is a column graph for our table of tallest mountains. From
this column graph, it becomes easier to compare and visualize the
heights of the mountains.
10000
9000
8000
7000
6000
5000
4000
3000
2000
1000
0
ia t ca ca ca ro e a lia o
ri ri ri nja op s ic if
As res e a e f r u r ct ass t ra zk
Ev
e
Am agu Am ali
A a Eu lbr ta M s is
h c h i lim E An son Au scu
t n
ut on or De K n Ko
So Ac N Vi
102

In general, it is more intuitive, suggestive, and visually appealing

to represent heights, that are measured upwards from the ground,
using bar graphs that have vertical bars or columns. Similarly,
lengths that are parallel to the ground (e.g., distances between
location on Earth) are usually best represented using bar graphs
with horizontal ars.
Figure it Out
1. If you wanted to visually represent the data of the heights of the
tallest persons in each class in your school, would you use a graph
with vertical bars or horizontal bars? Why?
2. If you were making a table of the longest rivers on each continent
and their lengths, would you prefer to use a bar graph with
vertical bars or with horizontal bars? Why? Try finding out this
information, and then make the corresponding table and bar
graph! Which continents have the longest rivers?
Infographics
When data visualisations such as bar graphs are further beautified
with more extensive artistic and visual imagery, they are called
information graphics, or infographics for short. The aim of
infographics is to make use of attention-attracting and engaging
visuals to communicate information even more clearly and quickly,
in a visually pleasing way.
As an example of how infographics can be used to communicate
data even more suggestively, let us go back to the table above listing
the tallest mountain on each continent. We drew a bar graph with
vertical bars (columns), rather than horizontal bars, to be more
indicative of mountains. But instead of rectangles, we could instead
use triangles, which look a bit more like mountains. And we can add
a splash of colour as well. Here is the result.
103

8000m
7000m
6000m
5000m
4000m
3000m
2000m
1000m
Everest Aconcagua Denali Kilimanjaro Elbrus VinsonMassif Koscuiszko

8848m 6962m 6194m 5895m 5642m 4892m 2228m
Asia S America North Africa Europe Antarctica Australia
America
While this infographic might look more appealing and suggestive

at first glance, it does have some issues. The goal of our bar graph
earlier was to represent the heights of various mountains - using bars
of the appropriate heights but the same widths. The purpose of using
the same widths was to make it clear that we are only comparing
heights. However, in this infographic, the taller triangles are also
wider! Are taller mountains always wider? The infographic is
implying additional information that may be misleading and may or
may not be correct. Sometimes going for more appealing pictures can
also accidentally mislead.
Taking this idea further, and to make the picture even more visually
stimulating and suggestive, we can further change the shapes of the
mountains to make them look even more like mountains, and add
other details, while attempting to preserve the heights. For example,
we can create an imaginary mountain range that contains all these
mountains.
Is the infographic below better than the column graph with
rectangular columns of equal width? The mountains look more
realistic, but is the picture accurate?
For example, Everest appears to be twice as tall as Elbrus.
104

The seven highest peaks on

the seven continents.
What is 5642 × 2?
While preparing visually-appealing presentations of data, we
also need to be careful that the pictures we draw do not mislead us
about the facts. In general, it is important to be careful when making
or reading infographics, so that we do not mislead our intended
audiences and so that we, ourselves, are not misled.
Summary
Facts, numbers, measures, observations, and other descriptions of
things that convey information about those things is called data.
Data can be organised in a tabular form using tally marks for easy
analysis and interpretation.
Frequencies are the counts of the occurrences of values, measures, or
observations.
105

Pictographs represent data in the form of pictures/objects or parts of

objects. Each picture represents a frequency which can be 1 or more
than 1 – this is called the scale, and it must be specified.
Bar graphs have bars of uniform width; the length or height then
indicates the total frequency of occurrence. The scale that is used to
convert length/height to frequency again must again be specified.
Choosing the appropriate scale for a pictograph or bar graph is
important to accurately and effectively convey the desired information/
data and to also make it visually appealing.
Other aspects of a graph also contribute to its effectiveness and visual
appeal, such as how colours are used, what accompanying pictures
are drawn, and whether the bars are horizontal or vertical. These
aspects correspond to the artistic and aesthetic side of data handling
and presentation.
However, making visual representations of data too “fancy” can also
sometimes be misleading.
By reading pictographs and bar graphs accurately, we can quickly
understand and make inferences about the data presented.
106

5 PRIME TIME
5.1 Common Multiples and Common Factors
Idli-Vada Game
Children sit in a circle and play a game of numbers.
One of the children starts by saying ‘1’. The second
player says ‘2’, and so on. But when it is the turn of 3, 6,
9, … (multiples of 3), the player should say ‘idli’ instead
of the number. When it is the turn of 5, 10, … (multiples
of 5), the player should say ‘vada’ instead of the number.
When a number is both a multiple of 3 and a multiple
of 5, the player should say ‘idli-vada’! If a player makes
any mistake, they are out.
The game continues in rounds till only one person
remains.
For which numbers should the players say ‘idli’
instead of saying the number? These would be 3, 6, 9,
12, 18, … and so on.
For which numbers should the players say ‘vada’?
These would be 5, 10, 20, … and so on.
Which is the first number for which the players
should say, ‘idli-vada’? It is 15, which is a multiple of 3,
and also a multiple of 5. Find out other such numbers
that are multiples of both 3 and 5. These numbers are
called _____________________________.
Chapter 5_Prime Time.indd 107 09-08-2024 16:59:59

Figure it Out
1. At what number is ‘idli-vada’ said for the 10th time?
2. If the game is played for the numbers from 1 till 90, find out:
a. How many times would the children say ‘idli’ (including the
times they say ‘idli-vada’)?
b. How many times would the children say ‘vada’ (including the
times they say ‘idli-vada’)?
c. How many times would the children say ‘idli-vada’?
3. What if the game was played till Multiples Multiples
900? How would your answers of 3 of 5
change?
4. Is this figure somehow related to 21 18
10 5
the ‘idli-vada’ game? 3 30
21
Hint: Imagine playing the game 25
9 15
till 30. Draw the figure if 20
12
the game is played till 60. 27
Common multiples
Let us now play the ‘idli-vada’ game of 3 and 5
with different pairs of numbers: Fig. 5.1
a. 2 and 5,
b. 3 and 7,
c. 4 and 6.
We will say ‘idli’ for multiples of the smaller number, ‘vada’ for
multiples of the larger number and ‘idli-vada’ for common multiples.
Draw a figure similar to Fig. 5.1 if the game is played up to 60.
Yesterday we played this game

with two numbers. We ended
up saying just ‘idli’ or ‘idli-vada’ Oh, what could
and nobody said just ‘vada’! those numbers be!?
One of the numbers

was 4.
108

Prime Time
Which of the following could be the other number:

2, 3, 5, 8, 10?
Jump Jackpot
Jumpy and Grumpy play a game.
• Grumpy places a treasure on some number. For example, he
may place it on 24.
• Jumpy chooses a jump size. If he chooses 4, then he has to
jump only on multiples of 4, starting at 0.
• Jumpy gets the treasure if he lands on the number where
Grumpy placed it.
Which jump sizes will get Jumpy to land on 24?
If he chooses 4: Jumpy lands on 4 → 8 → 12 → 16 → 20 → 24 → 28 → ...
Other successful jump sizes are 2, 3, 6, 8 and 12.
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
What about jump sizes 1 and 24? Yes, they also will land on 24.
The numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 12, 24 all divide 24 exactly. Recall that
such numbers are called factors or divisors of 24.
Grumpy increases the level of the game. Two treasures are kept
on two different numbers. Jumpy has to choose a jump size and stick
to it. Jumpy gets the treasures only if he lands on both the numbers
with the chosen jump size. As before, Jumpy starts at 0.
Grumpy has kept the treasures on 14 and 36. Jumpy chooses a
jump size of 7.
Will Jumpy land on both the treasures? Starting from 0, he jumps
to 7 → 14 → 21 → 28 → 35 → 42 … We see that he landed on 14 but
109

did not land on 36, so he does not get the treasure. What jump size
should he have chosen?
The factors of 14 are: 1, 2, 7, 14. So these jump sizes will land on 14.
The factors of 36 are: 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 9, 12, 18 and 36. These jump sizes
will land on 36.
So, the jump sizes of 1 or 2 will land on both 14 and 36. Notice that
1 and 2 are the common factors of 14 and 36.
The jump sizes using which both the treasures can be reached are
the common factors of the two numbers where the treasures are
placed.
What jump size can reach both 15 and 30? There are multiple
jump sizes possible. Try to find them all.
Look at the table below. What do you notice?
31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40
41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50
51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60
61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70
In the table,
1. Is there anything common among the shaded
numbers? Math
Talk
2. Is there anything common among the circled
numbers?
3. Which numbers are both shaded and circled? What
are these numbers called?
Figure it Out
1. Find all multiples of 40 that lie between 310 and 410.
110

Prime Time
2. Who am I?
a. I am a number less than 40. One of my factors is 7.
The sum of my digits is 8.
b. I am a number less than 100. Two of my factors are 3 and 5.
One of my digits is 1 more than the other.
3. A number for which the sum of all its factors is equal to twice the
number is called a perfect number. The number 28 is a perfect
number. Its factors are 1, 2, 4, 7, 14 and 28. Their sum is 56 which
is twice 28. Find a perfect number between 1 and 10.
4. Find the common factors of:
a. 20 and 28 b. 35 and 50
c. 4, 8 and 12 d. 5, 15 and 25
5. Find any three numbers that are multiples of 25 but not multiples
of 50.
6. Anshu and his friends play the ‘idli-vada’ game with two numbers,
which are both smaller than 10. The first time anybody says ‘idli-
vada’ is after the number 50. What could the two numbers be
which are assigned ‘idli’ and ‘vada’?
7. In the treasure hunting game, Grumpy has kept treasures on 28
and 70. What jump sizes will land on both the numbers?
8. In the diagram below, Guna has erased all the numbers except
the common multiples. Find out what those numbers could be Math
Talk
and fill in the missing numbers in the empty regions.
Multiples of ____ Multiples of ____
72
48
24
Common multiples
9. Find the smallest number that is a multiple of all the numbers

from 1 to 10 except for 7. Try
This
10. Find the smallest number that is a multiple of all the numbers
from 1 to 10.
111

5.2 Prime Numbers

Guna and Anshu want to pack figs (anjeer) that grow in their farm.
Guna wants to put 12 figs in each box and Anshu wants to put 7 figs
in each box.
How many arrangements are possible?
Think and find out the different ways how —
i. Guna can arrange 12 figs in a rectangular manner.
ii. Anshu can arrange 7 figs in a rectangular manner.
Guna has listed out these possibilities.
Observe the number of rows and
columns in each of the arrangements.
How are they related to 12?
In the second arrangement, for
example, 12 figs are arranged in two
columns of 6 each or 12 = 2 × 6.
Anshu could make only one
arrangement: 7 × 1 or 1 × 7. There are
no other rectangular arrangements
possible.
In each of Guna’s arrangements,
multiplying the number of rows by
the number of columns gives the
number 12. So, the number of rows
or columns are factors of 12.
We saw that the number 12 can be arranged in a rectangle in
more than one way as 12 has more than two factors. The number 7
can be arranged in only one way, as it has only two factors — 1 and 7.
Numbers that have only two factors are called prime numbers or
primes. Here are the first few primes — 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19. Notice
that the factors of a prime number are 1 and the number itself.
What about numbers that have more than two factors? They
are called composite numbers. The first few composite numbers
are — 4, 6, 8, 9, 10, 12, 14, 15, 16, 18, 20.
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Prime Time
What about 1, which has only one factor? The number 1 is neither
a prime nor a composite number.
How many prime numbers are there from 21 to 30? How many
composite numbers are there from 21 to 30?
Can we list all the prime numbers from 1 to 100?
Here is an interesting way to find prime numbers. Just follow the
steps given below and see what happens.
Step 1: Cross out 1 because it is neither prime nor composite.
Step 2: Circle 2, and then cross
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
out all multiples of 2 after that,
11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
i.e., 4, 6, 8 and so on.
Step 3: You will find that the 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
next uncrossed number is 3. 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40
Circle 3 and then cross out all 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50
the multiples of 3 after that, 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60
i.e., 6, 9, 12 and so on. 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70
Step 4: The next uncrossed 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80
number is 5. Circle 5 and then
81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90
cross out all the multiples of 5
91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100
after that, i.e., 10, 15, 20 and so
on.
Step 5: Continue this process till all the numbers in the list are either
circled or crossed out.
All the circled numbers are prime It is definitely not some
magic; there should be a
numbers. All the crossed out numbers, reason why it works.
other than 1, are composite numbers. This
method is called the Sieve of Eratosthenes.
This procedure can be carried on
for numbers greater than 100 also.
Eratosthenes was a Greek mathematician
who lived around 2200 years ago and
developed this method of listing primes.
113

Guna and Anshu started wondering how this simple method is able
to find prime numbers! Think how this method works. Read the steps
given above again and see what happens after each step is carried out.
Figure it Out
1. We see that 2 is a prime and also an even number. Is there any
other even prime?
2. Look at the list of primes till 100. What is the smallest difference
between two successive primes? What is the largest difference?
3. Are there an equal number of primes occurring in every row in the
table on the previous page? Which decades have the least number
of primes? Which have the most number of primes?
Primes through the Ages

Prime numbers are the building blocks of all whole numbers. Starting
from the time of the Greek civilisation (more than 2000 years ago) to
this day, mathematicians are still struggling to uncover their secrets!
Food for thought: is there a largest prime number? Or does the
list of prime numbers go on without an end? A mathematician named
Euclid found the answer and so will you in a later class!
Fun fact: The largest prime number that anyone has ‘written down’
is so large that it would take around 6500 pages to write it! So they
could only write it on a computer!
4. Which of the following numbers are prime? 23, 51, 37, 26

5. Write three pairs of prime numbers less than 20 whose sum is a
multiple of 5.
6. The numbers 13 and 31 are prime numbers. Both these numbers have
same digits 1 and 3. Find such pairs of prime numbers up to 100.
7. Find seven consecutive composite numbers between 1 and 100.
8. Twin primes are pairs of primes having a difference of 2. For
example, 3 and 5 are twin primes. So are 17 and 19. Find the other
twin primes between 1 and 100.
114

Prime Time
9. Identify whether each statement is true or false. Explain.

a. There is no prime number whose units digit is 4.
b. A product of primes can also be prime.
c. Prime numbers do not have any factors.
d. All even numbers are composite numbers.
e. 2 is a prime and so is the next number, 3. For every other
prime, the next number is composite.
10. Which of the following numbers is the product of exactly three
distinct prime numbers: 45, 60, 91, 105, 330?
11. How many three-digit prime numbers can you make using each
of 2, 4 and 5 once?
12. Observe that 3 is a prime number, and 2 × 3 + 1 = 7 is also a prime.
Are there other primes for which doubling and adding 1 gives
another prime? Find at least five such examples.
5.3 Co-prime numbers for safekeeping treasures

Which pairs are safe?
Let us go back to the treasure finding game. This time, treasures are
kept on two numbers. Jumpy gets the treasures only if he is able to
reach both the numbers with the same jump size. There is also a
new rule — a jump size of 1 is not allowed.
Where should Grumpy place the treasures so that Jumpy cannot
reach both the treasures?
Will placing the treasure on 12 and 26 work? No! If the jump size
is chosen to be 2, then Jumpy will reach both 12 and 26.
What about 4 and 9? Jumpy cannot reach both using any jump size
other than 1. So, Grumpy knows that the pair 4 and 9 is safe.
Check if these pairs are safe:
a. 15 and 39 b. 4 and 15
c. 18 and 29 d. 20 and 55
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What is special about safe pairs? They don’t have any common
factor other than 1. Two numbers are said to be co-prime to each
other if they have no common factor other than 1.
Example: As 15 and 39 have 3 as a common factor, they are not
co-prime. But 4 and 9 are co-prime.
Which of the following pairs of numbers are co-prime?
a. 18 and 35 b. 15 and 37 c. 30 and 415
d. 17 and 69 e. 81 and 18
While playing the ‘idli-vada’ game with different number

pairs, Anshu observed something interesting! Math
Talk
a.Sometimes the first common multiple was the same
as the product of the two numbers.
b. At other times the first common multiple was less
than the product of the two numbers.
Find examples for each of the above. How is it related to the
number pair being co-prime?
Co-prime Art
Observe the following thread art. The first diagram has 12
pegs and the thread is tied to every fourth peg (we say that Math
the thread-gap is 4). The second diagram has 13 pegs and the Talk
thread-gap is 3. What about the other diagrams? Observe these
pictures, share and discuss your findings in class.
12 13 16 24 1
11 1 12 1 15 1 22 23 2
14 2 21 3
10 2 11 2 20 4
13 3
19 5
3
9 3 10 12 4 18 6
4 17 7
9 11 5
8 4 16 8
8 5 10 6 15 9
7 5 9 7 14 13 10
6 7 6 8 12 11
In some diagrams, the thread is tied to every peg. In some, it is

not. Is it related to the two numbers (the number of pegs and the
thread-gap) being co-prime?
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Prime Time
Make such pictures for the following:

a. 15 pegs, thread-gap of 10 b. 10 pegs, thread-gap of 7
c. 14 pegs, thread-gap of 6 d. 8 pegs, thread-gap of 3
5.4 Prime Factorisation

Checking if two numbers are co-prime
Teacher: Are 56 and 63 co-prime?
Anshu and Guna: If they have a common factor other than 1, then
they are not co-prime. Let us check.
Anshu: I can write 56 = 14 × 4 and 63 = 21 × 3. So, 14 and 4
are factors, of 56. Further, 21 and 3 are factors of
63. So, there are no common factors. The numbers
are co-prime.
Guna: Hold on. I can also write 56 = 7 × 8 and 63 = 9 × 7.
We see that 7 is a factor of both numbers, so, they
are not co-prime.
Clearly Guna is right, as 7 is a common factor.
But where did Anshu go wrong?
Writing 56 = 14 × 4 tells us that 14 and 4 are both factors of 56, but it
does not tell all the factors of 56. The same holds for the factors of 63.
Try another example: 80 and 63. There are many ways to factorise
both numbers.
80 = 40 × 2 = 20 × 4 = 10 × 8 = 16 × 5 = ???
63 = 9 × 7 = 3 × 21 = ???
We have written ‘???’ to say that there may be more ways to
factorise these numbers. But if we take any of the given factorisations,
for example, 80 = 16 × 5 and 63 = 9 × 7, then there are no common
factors. Can we conclude that 80 and 63 are co-prime? As Anshu’s
mistake above shows, we cannot conclude that as there may be other
ways to factorize the numbers.
What this means is that we need a more systematic approach to
check if two numbers are co-prime.
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Prime Factorisation
Take a number such as 56. It is composite, as we saw that it can be
written as 56 = 4 × 14 . So, both 4 and 14 are factors of 56. Now take one
of these, say 14. It is also composite and can be written as 14 = 2 × 7.
Therefore, 56 = 4 × 2 × 7. Now, 4 is composite and can be written as
4 = 2 × 2. Therefore, 56 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 7. All the factors appearing here, 2
and 7, are prime numbers. So, we cannot divide them further.
In conclusion, we have written 56 as a product of prime numbers.
This is called a prime factorisation of 56. The individual factors are
called prime factors. For example, the prime factors of 56 are 2 and 7.
Every number greater than 1 has a prime factorisation. The idea
is the same: Keep breaking the composite numbers into factors till
only primes are left.
The number 1 does not have any prime factorisation. It is not
divisible by any prime number.
What is the prime factorisation of a prime number like 7? It is just
7 (we cannot break it down any further).
Let us see a few more examples.
By going through different ways of breaking down the number,
we wrote 63 as 3 × 3 × 7 and as 3 × 7 × 3. Are they different? Not
really! The same prime numbers 3 and 7 occur in both cases. Further,
3 appears two times in 36
both and 7 appears once.
Here, you see four
different ways to get 2×18 3×12 4×9 6×6
prime factorisation of 36. 2×2×9 3×3×4 2×2×9 2×3×6
Observe that in all four 2×2×3×3 3×3×2×2 2×2×3×3 2×3×2×3
cases, we get two 2s and
2×2×3×3 2×3×2×3
two 3s.
Multiply back to see
that you get 36 in all four cases.
For any number, it is a remarkable fact that there is only one prime
factorisation, except that the prime factors may come in different
118

Prime Time
orders. As we explain below, the order is not important. However,

as we saw in these examples, there are many ways to arrive at the
prime factorisation!
Does the order matter?

Using this diagram,
can you explain why 30 = 2 × 3 × 5, no matter which way you multiply

2, 3, and 5?
When multiplying numbers, we can do so in any order. The
end result is the same. That is why, when two 2s and two 3s are
multiplied in any order, we get 36. In a later class, we shall study
this under the names of commutativity and associativity of
multiplication.
Thus, the order does not matter. Usually we write the prime
numbers in increasing order. For example, 225 = 3 × 3 × 5 × 5 or 30 =
2 × 3 × 5.
Prime factorisation of a product of two numbers

When we find the prime factorisation of a number, we first write
it as a product of two factors. For example, 72 = 12 × 6. Then, we
find the prime factorisation of each of the factors. In the above example,
12 = 2 × 2 × 3 and 6 = 2 × 3. Now, can you say what the prime factorisation
of 72 is?
The prime factorisation of the original number is obtained by
putting these together.
72 = 2 × 2 × 3 × 2 × 3
119

We can also write this as 2 × 2 × 2 × 3 × 3. Multiply and check that

you get 72 back!
Observe how many times each prime factor occurs in the
factorisation of 72.
Compare it with how many times it occurs in the factorisations of
12 and 6 put together.
Figure it Out
1. Find the prime factorisations of the following numbers: 64, 104,
105, 243, 320, 141, 1728, 729, 1024, 1331, 1000.
2. The prime factorisation of a number has one 2, two 3s, and one
11. What is the number?
3. Find three prime numbers, all less than 30, whose product is 1955.
4. Find the prime factorisation of these numbers without multiplying
first a. 56 × 25 b. 108 × 75 c. 1000 × 81
5. What is the smallest number whose prime factorisation has:
a. three different prime numbers?
b. four different prime numbers?
Prime factorisation is of fundamental importance in the study of
numbers. Let us discuss two ways in which it can be useful.
Using prime factorisation to check if two numbers are co-prime

et us again take the numbers 56 and 63. How can we check if they
L
are co-prime? We can use the prime factorisation of both numbers —
56 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 7 and 63 = 3 × 3 × 7.
Now, we see that 7 is a prime factor of 56 as well as 63. Therefore,
56 and 63 are not co-prime.
What about 80 and 63? Their prime factorisations are as follows:
80 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 5 and 63 = 3 × 3 × 7.
There are no common prime factors. Can we conclude that they
are co-prime? Suppose they have a common factor that is composite.
Would the prime factors of this composite common factor appear in
the prime factorisation of 80 and 63?
120

Prime Time
Therefore, we can say that if there are no common prime factors,

then the two numbers are co-prime.
Let us see some examples.
Example: Consider 40 and 231. Their prime factorisations are as
follows:
40 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 5 and 231 = 3 × 7 × 11
We see that there are no common primes that divide both 40 and
231. Indeed, the prime factors of 40 are 2 and 5 while, the prime
factors of 231 are 3, 7, and 11. Therefore, 40 and 231 are co-prime!
Example: Consider 242 and 195. Their prime factorisations are as
follows:
242 = 2 × 11 × 11 and 195 = 3 × 5 × 13.
The prime factors of 242 are 2 and 11. The prime factors of 195 are
3, 5, and 13. There are no common prime factors. Therefore, 242 and
195 are co-prime.
Using prime factorisation to check if one number is divisible

by another
We can say that if one number is divisible by another, the prime
factorisation of the second number is included in the prime
factorisation of the first number.
We say that 48 is divisible by 12 because when we divide 48 by 12,
the remainder is zero. How can we check if one number is divisible
by another without carrying out long division?
Example: Is 168 divisible by 12? Find the prime factorisations of both:
168 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 3 × 7 and 12 = 2 × 2 × 3.
Since we can multiply in any order, now it is clear that,
168 = 2 × 2 × 3 × 2 × 7 = 12 × 14
Therefore, 168 is divisible by 12.
75 = 3 × 5 × 5 and 21 = 3 × 7.
121

As we saw in the discussion above, if 75 was a multiple of 21, then

all prime factors of 21 would also be prime factors of 75. However, 7
is a prime factor of 21 but not a prime factor of 75. Therefore, 75 is
not divisible by 21.
42 = 2 × 3 × 7 and 12 = 2 × 2 × 3.
All prime factors of 12 are also prime factors of 42. But the prime
factorisation of 12 is not included in the prime factorisation of 42.
This is because 2 occurs twice in the prime factorisation of 12 but
only once in the prime factorisation of 42. This means that 42 is not
divisible by 12.
We can say that if one number is divisible by another, then the
prime factorisation of the second number is included in the prime
factorisation of the first number.
Figure it Out
1. Are the following pairs of numbers co-prime? Guess first and
then use prime factorisation to verify your answer.
a. 30 and 45 b. 57 and 85
c. 121 and 1331 d. 343 and 216
2. Is the first number divisible by the second? Use prime factorisation.
a. 225 and 27 b. 96 and 24
c. 343 and 17 d. 999 and 99
3. The first number has prime factorisation 2 × 3 × 7 and the second
number has prime factorisation 3 × 7 × 11. Are they co-prime?
Does one of them divide the other?
4. Guna says, “Any two prime numbers are co-prime”. Is he right?
5.5 Divisibility Tests

So far, we have been finding factors of numbers in different contexts,
including to determine if a number is prime or not, or if a given pair
of numbers is co-prime or not.
122

Prime Time
It is easy to find factors of small numbers. How do we find factors

of a large number?
Let us take 8560. Does it have any factors from 2 to 10 (2, 3, 4,
5, ..., 9, 10)?
It is easy to check if some of these numbers are factors or not
without doing long division. Can you find them?
Divisibility by 10
Let us take 10. Is 8560 divisible by 10? This is another way of
asking if 10 is a factor of 8560.
For this, we can look at the pattern in the multiples of 10.
The first few multiples of 10 are: 10, 20, 30, 40, … Continue this
sequence and observe the pattern.
Is 125 a multiple of 10? Will this number appear in the previous
sequence? Why or why not?
Can you now answer if 8560 is divisible by 10?
Consider this statement:
Numbers that are divisible by 10 are those that end with Math
Talk
‘0’. Do you agree?
Divisibility by 5
The number 5 is another number whose divisibility can easily be
checked. How do we do it?
Explore by listing down the multiples: 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, ... What do you
observe about these numbers? Do you see a pattern in the last digit?
What is the largest number less than 399 that is divisible by 5? Is
8560 divisible by 5?
Numbers that are divisible by 5 are those that end with Math
Talk
either a ‘0’ or a ‘5’. Do you agree?
Divisibility by 2
The first few multiples of 2 are 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, ... .
What do you observe? Do you see a pattern in the last digit?
123

Is 682 divisible by 2? Can we answer this without doing the long

division?
Is 8560 divisible by 2? Why or why not?

Numbers that are divisible by 2 are those that end with ‘0’,
Math
‘2’, ‘4, ‘6’ or ‘8’. Do you agree? Talk
What are all the multiples of 2 between 399 and 411?
Divisibility by 4
Checking if a number is divisible by 4 can also be done easily!
Look at its multiples: 4, 8, 12, 16, 20, 24, 28, 32, …
Are you able to observe any patterns that can be used? The
multiples of 10, 5 and 2 have a pattern in their last digits which we
are able to use to check for divisibility. Similarly, can we check if a
number is divisible by 4 by looking at the last digit?
It does not work! Look at 12 and 22. They have the same last digit,
but 12 is a multiple of 4 while 22 is not. Similarly 14 and 24 have the
same last digit, but 14 is not a multiple of 4 while 24 is. Similarly, 16
and 26 or 18 and 28. What this means is that by looking at the last
digit, we cannot tell whether a number is a multiple of 4.
Can we answer the question by looking at more digits? Make a list
of multiples of 4 between 1 and 200 and search for a pattern.
Find numbers between 330 and 340 that are divisible by 4. Also,
find numbers between 1730 and 1740, and 2030 and 2040, that are
divisible by 4. What do you observe?
Is 8536 divisible by 4?
Consider these statements:

a. Only the last two digits matter when deciding if a given number is
divisible by 4.
b. If the number formed by the last two digits is divisible by 4, then
the original number is divisible by 4.
c. If the original number is divisible by 4, then the number formed
by the last two digits is divisible by 4.
Do you agree? Why or why not?
124

Prime Time
Divisibility by 8
Interestingly, even checking for divisibility by 8 can be simplified.
Can the last two digits be used for this?
Find numbers between 120 and 140 that are divisible by 8. Also
find numbers between 1120 and 1140, and 3120 and 3140, that are
divisible by 8. What do you observe?
Change the last two digits of 8560 so that the resulting number is
a multiple of 8.
a. Only the last three digits matter when deciding if a given
number is divisible by 8. Math
Talk
b. If the number formed by the last three digits is divisible by
8, then the original number is divisible by 8.
c. If the original number is divisible by 8, then the number
formed by the last three digits is divisible by 8.
Do you agree? Why or why not?
We have seen that long division is not always needed to check if a
number is a factor or not. We have made use of certain observations
to come up with simple methods for 10, 5, 2, 4, 8. Do we have such
simple methods for other numbers as well? We will discuss simple
methods to test divisibility by 3, 6, 7, and 9 in later classes!
Figure it Out
1. 2024 is a leap year (as February has 29 days). Leap years occur in
the years that are multiples of 4, except for those years that are
evenly divisible by 100 but not 400.
a. From the year you were born till now, which years were leap
years?
b. From the year 2024 till 2099, how many leap years are there?
2. Find the largest and smallest 4-digit numbers that are divisible by
4 and are also palindromes.
3. Explore and find out if each statement is always true, sometimes
true or never true. You can give examples to support your reasoning.
125

a. Sum of two even numbers gives a multiple of 4.

b. Sum of two odd numbers gives a multiple of 4.
4. Find the remainders obtained when each of the following
numbers are divided by i) 10, ii) 5, iii) 2.
78, 99, 173, 572, 980, 1111, 2345
5. The teacher asked if 14560 is divisible by all of 2, 4, 5, 8 and
10. Guna checked for divisibility of 14560 by only two of these
numbers and then declared that it was also divisible by all of
them. What could those two numbers be?
6. Which of the following numbers are divisible by all of 2, 4, 5, 8
and 10: 572, 2352, 5600, 6000, 77622160.
7. Write two numbers whose product is 10000. The two numbers
should not have 0 as the units digit.
5.6 Fun with numbers
Special Numbers
There are four numbers in this box. Which number looks special to
you? Why do you say so?
9 16
25 43
Look at the what Guna’s classmates have to share:

• Karnawati says, “9 is special because it is a single-digit
number whereas all the other numbers are 2-digit numbers.
• Gurupreet says, “9 is special because it is the only number
that is a multiple of 3”
• Murugan says, “16 is special because it is the only even
number and also the only multiple of 4”.
• Gopika says, “25 is special as it is the only multiple of 5”.
• Yadnyikee says, “43 is special because it is the only prime
number”.
• Radha says, “43 is special because it is the only number that
is not a square”.
126

Prime Time
elow are some boxes with four numbers in each box. Within
B
Math
each box try to say how each number is special compared to the Talk
rest. Share with your classmates and find out who else gave the
same reasons as you did. Did anyone give different reasons that
may not have occurred to you?!
5 7 3 8 27 3 17 27
12 35 11 24 123 31 44 65
A Prime Puzzle
The figure on the left shows the puzzle. The figure on the right
shows the solution of the puzzle. Think what the rules can be to Math
Talk
solve the puzzle.
75 5 5 3 75
42 2 3 7 42
102 17 2 3 102
170 30 63 170 30 63
Rules
ill the grid with prime numbers only so that the product of each row
F
is the number to the right of the row and the product of each column
is the number below the column.
105 8
20 105
30 70
28 125 18 30 70 28
127

63 343
27 660
190 44
45 42 171 28 154 231
If a number is divisible by another, the second number is called a factor

of the first. For example, 4 is a factor of 12 because 12 is divisible by 4
(12 ÷ 4 = 3).
Prime numbers are numbers like 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, … that have only two
factors, namely 1 and themselves.
Composite numbers are numbers like 4, 6, 8, 9, … that have more
than 2 factors, i.e., at least one factor other than 1 and themselves. For
example, 8 has the factor 4 and 9 has the factor 3, so 8 and 9 are both
composite.
Every number greater than 1 can be written as a product of prime
numbers. This is called the number’s prime factorisation. For example,
84 = 2 × 2 × 3 × 7.
There is only one way to factorise a number into primes, except for
the ordering of the factors.
Two numbers that do not have a common factor other than 1 are said
to be co-prime.
To check if two numbers are co-prime, we can first find their prime
factorisations and check if there is a common prime factor. If there is no
common prime factor, they are co-prime, and otherwise they are not.
A number is a factor of another number if the prime factorisation of
the first number is included in the prime factorisation of the second
number.
128

6 PERIMETER AND AREA
6.1 Perimeter
Do you remember what the perimeter of a closed plane figure is?
Let us refresh our understanding!
The perimeter of any closed plane figure is the distance covered
along its boundary when you go around it once. For a polygon, i.e.,
a closed plane figure made up of line segments, the perimeter is
simply the sum of the lengths of its all sides, i.e., the total distance
along its outer boundary.
The perimeter of a polygon = the sum of the lengths of its all sides.
Let us revise the formulas for the perimeter of rectangles, squares,
and triangles.
Perimeter of a Rectangle
Consider a rectangle ABCD whose length and breadth are 12 cm and
8 cm, respectively. What is its perimeter?
Perimeter of the rectangle = Sum of the lengths of its four sides
= AB + BC + CD + DA
A 12 cm B
8 cm
D C
Chapter 6_Perimeter and Area.indd 129 09-08-2024 17:09:45

= AB + BC + AB + BC
Opposite sides of a
= 2 × AB + 2 × BC rectangle are always
= 2 × (AB + BC) equal. So, AB = CD and
AD = BC
= 2 × (12 cm + 8 cm)
= 2 × (20 cm)
= 40 cm.
From this example, we see that —
Perimeter of a rectangle = length + breadth + length + breadth.
Perimeter of a rectangle = 2 × (length + breadth).
The perimeter of a rectangle is twice the sum of its length and breadth.
1m
Perimeter of a Square
Debojeet wants to put coloured tape all around
a square photo frame of side 1m as shown.
What will be the length of the coloured tape
he requires? Since Debojeet wants to put the
coloured tape all around the square photo
frame, he needs to find the perimeter of the
photo frame.
Thus, the length of the tape required =
perimeter of the square
= sum of the lengths of all four sides of the square
= 1 m + 1 m + 1 m + 1 m = 4 m.
Now, we know that all four sides of a square are equal in length.
Therefore, in place of adding the lengths of each side, we can simply
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
Perimeter of a square = 4 × length of a side.
The perimeter of a square is quadruple the length of its side.
130

Perimeter and Area
Perimeter of a Triangle
Consider a triangle having three given sides of m
5c
4
lengths 4 cm, 5 cm and 7 cm. Find its perimeter.
cm
Perimeter of the triangle = 4 cm + 5 cm + 7 cm
= 16 cm. 7 cm
Perimeter of a triangle = sum of the lengths of its three sides.
Example: Akshi wants to put lace all around a

rectangular tablecloth that is 3 m long and 2 m
wide. Find the length of the lace required.
Solution
Length of the rectangular table cover = 3 m.
Breadth of the rectangular table cover = 2 m.
Akshi wants to put lace all around the
tablecloth.
Therefore, the length of the lace required will be the perimeter of the
rectangular tablecloth.
Now, the perimeter of the rectangular tablecloth = 2 × (length + breadth)
= 2 × (3 m + 2 m) = 2 × 5 m = 10 m.
Hence, the length of the lace required is 10 m.
Example: Find the distance travelled by Usha if she takes three rounds of
a square park of side 75 m.
Solution
Perimeter of the square park = 4 × length
of a side = 4 × 75 m = 300 m.
Distance covered by Usha in one
round = 300 m.
Therefore, the total distance travelled by
Usha in three rounds = 3 × 300 m = 900 m.
131

Figure it Out
1. Find the missing terms:
a. Perimeter of a rectangle = 14 cm; breadth = 2 cm; length = ?.
b. Perimeter of a square = 20 cm; side of a length = ?.
c. Perimeter of a rectangle = 12 m; length = 3 m; breadth = ?.
2. rectangle having sidelengths 5 cm and 3 cm is made using a
A
piece of wire. If the wire is straightened and then bent to form a
square, what will be the length of a side of the square?
3. ind the length of the third side of a triangle having a perimeter
F
of 55 cm and having two sides of length 20 cm and 14 cm,
respectively.
4. hat would be the cost of fencing a rectangular park whose length
W
is 150 m and breadth is 120 m, if the fence costs `40 per metre?
5. piece of string is 36 cm long. What will be the length of each
A
side, if it is used to form:
a. A square,
b. A triangle with all sides of equal length, and
c. A hexagon (a six sided closed figure) with sides of equal
length?
6. A farmer has a rectangular field having length 230 m and breadth
160 m. He wants to fence it with 3 rounds of rope as shown. What
is the total length of rope needed?
132

Perimeter and Area
Matha Pachchi!
70 m
60 m
Akshi and Toshi start running along the rectangular

40 m
tracks as shown in the figure. Akshi runs along the

30 m
outer track and completes 5 rounds. Toshi runs along

the inner track and completes 7 rounds. Now, they
are wondering who ran more. Find out who ran the
longer distance.
Starting Point Starting Point

for Toshi for Akshi
Each track is a rectangle. Akshi’s track has length 70 m and breadth

40 m. Running one complete round on this track would cover 220 m,
i.e., 2 × (70 + 40) m = 220 m. This is the distance covered by Akshi in
one round.
Figure it Out
1. Find out the total distance Akshi has covered in 5 rounds.
2. Find out the total distance Toshi has covered in 7 rounds. Who ran
a longer distance?
3. Think and mark the positions as directed—
a. Mark ‘A’ at the point where Akshi will be after she ran 250 m.
b. Mark ‘B’ at the point where Akshi will be after she ran 500 m.
c. ow, Akshi ran 1000 m. How many full rounds has she finished
N
running around her track? Mark her position as ‘C’.
d. Mark ‘X’ at the point where Toshi will be after she ran 250 m.
e. Mark ‘Y’ at the point where Toshi will be after she ran 500 m.
133

f. Now, Toshi ran 1000 m. How many full rounds has she finished
running around her track? Mark her position as ‘Z’.
Deep Dive: In races, usually there is a common finish line for all
the runners. Here are two square running tracks with the inner track
of 100 m each side and outer track of 150 m each side. The common
finishing line for both runners is shown by 150 m
the flags in the figure which are in the center
of one of the sides of the tracks.
100 m
If the total race is of 350 m, then we have
to find out where the starting positions of the
two runners should be on these two tracks so
that they both have a common finishing line
after they run for 350 m. Mark the starting
points of the runner on the inner track as ‘A’ Common Finishing Line
and the runner on the outer track as ‘B’.
Estimate and Verify

Take a rough sheet of paper or a sheet of newspaper.
Make a few random shapes by cutting the paper
in different ways. Estimate the total length of the
boundaries of each shape then use a scale or measuring
tape to measure and verify the perimeter for each
shape.
Akshi says that the perimeter of this triangle shape is 9 units.

Toshi says it can’t be 9 units and the perimeter will be more than 9
units. What do you think?
No, it will be more

The perimeter is
than 9 units.
9 units.
134

Perimeter and Area
This figure has lines of two different unit lengths. Measure the
lengths of a red line and a blue line; are they same? We will call the
red lines – straight lines and the blue lines – diagonal lines. So, the
perimeter of this triangle is 6 straight units + 3 diagonal units. We
can write this in a short form as: 6s + 3d units.
Write the perimeters of the figures below in terms of straight and
diagonal units.
Perimeter of a Regular Polygon

Like squares, closed figures that have all sides and all angles equal
are called regular polygons. We studied the sequence of regular
polygons as ‘Shape Sequence’ #1 in Chapter 1. Examples of regular
polygons are the equilateral triangle (where all three sides and all
three angles are equal), regular pentagon (where all five sides and
all five angles are equal), etc.
Perimeter of an equilateral triangle
We know that for any triangle its perimeter A
is sum of all three sides.
Using this understanding, we can find the
perimeter of an equilateral triangle.
Perimeter of an equilateral triangle
= AB + BC + AC = AB + AB + AB
B C
= 3 times length of one side.
Perimeter of an equilateral triangle = 3 × length of a side.
What is a similarity between a square and an equilateral triangle?
135

Find various objects from your surroundings that have regular

shapes and find their perimeters. Also, generalise your understanding
for the perimeter of other regular polygons.
Teacher’s Note
Discuss more about regular polygons and encourage students to
come up with a general formula for the perimeter of a regular
polygon.
Split and Rejoin 4 cm
A rectangular paper chit of dimension 6 cm × 4 cm

is cut as shown into two equal pieces. These two
pieces are joined in different ways. 6 cm
a.
6 cm 6 cm
2 cm
For example, the arrangement a. has a perimeter of 28 cm.
Find out the length of the boundary (i.e., the perimeter) of each
of the other arrangements below.
b. c. d.
3 cm
2 cm 2 cm
2 cm
Arrange the two pieces to form a figure with a perimeter of 22 cm.
136

Perimeter and Area
6.2 Area
We have studied the areas of closed figures (regular and irregular)
in previous grades. Let us recall some key points.
The amount of region enclosed by a closed figure is called its area.
In previous grades, we arrived at the formula for the area of a
rectangle and a square using square grid paper. Do you remember?
Area of a square = ________ Area of a rectangle = _______
Teacher’s Note
Help students in recalling the method of finding the area of a
rectangle and a square using grid papers. Provide square grid
papers to students and let them come up with the formula.
Let’s see some real-life problems related to these ideas.

Example: 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.
Solution
Length of the floor = 5 m.
Width of the floor = 4 m.
Area of the floor = length × width = 5 m × 4 m = 20 sq m.
Length of the square carpet = 3 m.
Area of the carpet = length × length = 3 m × 3 m = 9 sq m.
Hence, the area of the floor laid with carpet is 9 sq m.
Therefore, the area of the floor that is not carpeted is: area of the floor
minus the area of the floor laid with carpet = 20 sq m – 9 sq m = 11 sq m.
Example: Four square flower beds each of side 4 m are in four corners
on a piece of land 12 m long and 10 m wide. Find the area of the remaining
part of the land.
137

Solution
Length of the land (l) = 12 m.
Width of land (w) = 10 m.
Area of the whole land = l × w = 12 m × 10 m = 120 sq m.
The sidelength of each of the four square flower beds is (s) = 4 m.
Area of one flower bed = s × s = 4 m × 4 m = 16 sq m.
Hence, the area of the four flower beds = 4 × 16 sq m = 64 sq m.
Therefore, the area of the remaining part of the land is: area of the complete
land minus the area of all four flower beds = 120 sq m – 64 sq m = 56 sq m.
Figure it Out
1. The area of a rectangular garden 25 m long is 300 sq m. What is
the width of the garden?
2. hat is the cost of tiling a rectangular plot of land 500 m long and
W
200 m wide at the rate of ` 8 per hundred sq m?
3. rectangular coconut grove is 100 m long and 50 m wide. If each
A
coconut tree requires 25 sq m, what is the maximum number of
trees that can be planted in this grove?
4. y splitting the following figures into rectangles, find their areas
B
(all measures are given in metres):
5
a. 3 1 b.
2
2
3 3
2
4
4
3
1 1
3
138

Perimeter and Area
Figure it Out
Cut out the tangram pieces given at the end of your textbook.
B
E
D
A
C
G F
1. Explore and figure out how many pieces have the same area.
2. ow many times bigger is Shape D as compared to Shape C? What
H
is the relationship between Shapes C, D and E?
3. hich shape has more area: Shape D or F? Give reasons for your
W
answer.
4. hich shape has more area: Shape F or G? Give reasons for your
W
answer.
5. hat is the area of Shape A as compared to Shape G? Is it twice as
W
big? Four times as big?
Hint: In the tangram pieces, by placing the shapes over each
other, we can find out that Shapes A and B have the same
area, Shapes C and E have the same area. You would have
also figured out that Shape D can be exactly covered using
Shapes C and E, which means Shape D has twice the area of
Shape C or shape E, etc.
6. Can you now figure out the area of the big square formed with all
seven pieces in terms of the area of Shape C?
7. Arrange these 7 pieces to form a rectangle. What will be the area
of this rectangle in terms of the area of Shape C now? Give reasons
for your answer.
8. Are the perimeters of the square and the rectangle formed from
these 7 pieces different or the same? Give an explanation for your
answer.
139

Look at the figures below and guess which one of them has a
larger area.
a. b.
We can estimate the area of any simple closed shape by using a

sheet of squared paper or graph paper where every square measures
1 unit × 1 unit or 1 square unit.
To estimate the area, we can trace the shape onto a piece of
transparent paper and place the same on a piece of squared or graph
paper and then follow the below conventions —
1. The area of one full small square of the squared or graph paper
is taken as 1 sq unit.
2. Ignore portions of the area that are less than half a square.
3. If more than half of a square is in a region, just count it as 1 sq unit.
4. If exactly half the square is counted, take its area as 1 sq unit.
2
Find the area of the following figures.
140

Perimeter and Area
Let’s Explore!
Why is area generally measured using
squares? Why can’t we use
Draw a circle on a graph sheet with circles instead of
squares to find the
diameter (breadth) of length 3. Count
area?
the squares and use them to estimate
the area of the circular region.
As you can see, circles can’t
be packed tightly without gaps in
between. So, it is difficult to get
an accurate measurement of area
using circles as units. Here, the
same rectangle is packed in two
different ways with circles—the
first one has 42 circles and the second one has 44 circles.
Try using different shapes (triangle and rectangle) to fill the

given space (without overlaps and gaps) and find out the merits
associated with using a square shape to find the area rather than
another shape. List out the points that make a square the best shape
to use to measure area.
1. F
ind the area (in square metres) of the floor outside of the
corridor.
2. F
ind the area (in square metres) occupied by your school
playground.
Let’s Explore!
On a squared grid paper (1 square = 1 square unit),
make as many rectangles as you can whose lengths and Math
Talk
widths are a whole number of units such that the area of
the rectangle is 24 square units.
a. Which rectangle has the greatest perimeter?
b. Which rectangle has the least perimeter?
141

c. If you take a rectangle of area 32 sq cm, what will your answers be?
Given any area, is it possible to predict the shape of the rectangle with
the greatest perimeter as well as the least perimeter? Give examples
and reasons for your answer.
6.3 Area of a Triangle

Draw a rectangle on a piece of paper and draw one of its diagonals.
Cut the rectangle along that diagonal and get two triangles.
Check! whether the two triangles overlap each other exactly. Do
they have the same area?
Try this with more rectangles having different dimensions. You
can check this for a square as well.
Can you draw any inferences from this exercise? Please write it
here.
Now, see the figures below. Is the area of the blue rectangle more
or less than the area of the yellow triangle? Or is it the same? Why?
Can you see some relationship between the blue rectangle and
the yellow triangle and their areas? Write the relationship here.
Teacher’s Note
Help students in articulating their inferences and in defining the
relationships they have observed in their own words, gradually
leading to a common statement for whole classroom. Recall the
definition of a diagonal in the classroom.
Draw suitable triangles on grid paper to verify your inferences

and relationships observed in the above exercises.
142

Perimeter and Area
Use your understanding from previous D E C
grades to calculate the area of any closed

figure using grid paper and —
1. Find the area of blue triangle BAD.
__________
2. Find the area of red triangle ABE.
___________
A F B
Both the red and
blue triangles have
the same area but
they look very
different.
Area of rectangle ABCD = ________________

So, the area of triangle BAD is half of the area of the rectangle ABCD.
What about There are

triangle two halves of
ABE? two different
rectangles.
Area of triangle ABE = Area of triangle AEF + Area of triangle BEF.

Here, the area of triangle AEF = half of the area of rectangle AFED.
Similarly, the area of triangle BEF = h
alf of the area of rectangle BFEC.
Thus, the area of triangle ABE = half of the area of rectangle AFED
+ half of the area of rectangle BFEC
143

= half of the sum of the areas of the

rectangles AFED and BFEC
= half of the area of rectangle ABCD.
Conclusion ____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
Figure it Out
1. Find the areas of the figures below by dividing them into rectangles
and triangles.
c
a
d
e
144

Perimeter and Area
Making it ‘More’ or ‘Less’

Observe these two figures. Is there any similarity or difference
between the two?
Using 9 unit squares (having an area of 9 sq units), we have

made figures with two different perimeters—the first figure has a
perimeter of 12 units and the second has a perimeter of 20 units.
Arrange or draw different figures with 9 sq units to get other
perimeters. Each square should align with at least one other square
on at least one side completely and together all squares should form
a single connected figure with no holes.
Using 9 unit squares, solve the following.
1. What is the smallest perimeter possible?
2. What is the largest perimeter possible?
3. Make a figure with a perimeter of 18 units.
4. C
an you make other shaped figures for each of the above three
perimeters, or is there only one shape with that perimeter?
What is your reasoning?
Let’s do something tricky now! We have a figure below having
perimeter 24 units.
Without calculating all over again,
observe, think and find out what
will be the change in the perimeter
if a new square is attached as shown
on the right.
145

Experiment placing this new square at different places and think

what the change in perimeter will be. Can you place the square so
that the perimeter: a) increases; b) decreases; c) stays the same?
Below is the house plan of Charan. It is in a rectangular plot.

Look at the plan. What do you notice?
Utility
(____ ft × ____ ft)
Area = ____
(5ft × 10 ft)
Toilet
Master Bedroom
(15 ft × 15 ft)
Area=225 sq ft Kitchen
(15 ft × 12 ft)
Area = 180 sq ft
30 ft
Small Bedroom
Hall
(15 ft × ____ ft)
Area = 180 sq ft Area = ____
Garden Parking
(____ ft × ____ ft) (____ ft × ____ ft)
Area = ____ Area = ____
Some of the measurements are given.

a. Find the missing measurements.
b. Find out the area of his house.
146

Perimeter and Area
Now, find out the missing dimensions and area of Sharan’s home.
Below is the plan:
42 ft
(____ ft × ____ ft)

Area = 70 sq ft
Toilet
Kitchen
(____ ft ×
Utility
(18 ft × 10 ft)
____ ft)
Area = 180 sq ft
Master Bedroom Area =
(12 ft × 15 ft) ____
Area=180 sq ft
(____ ft × ____ ft)

Area = ____
Hall
Entrance
(23 ft × ____ ft)
Small Bedroom Area = ____
(12 ft × 10 ft)
Area = ____
Some of the measurements are given.

a. Find the missing measurements.
b. Find out the area of his house.
What are the dimensions of all the different rooms in Sharan’s
house? Compare the areas and perimeters of Sharan’s house and
Charan’s house.
147

Area Maze Puzzles

In each figure, find the missing value of either the length of a side or
the area of a region.
a. b.
3 cm
13 sq cm 26 sq cm
? sq cm
10 sq
cm
3 cm 2 cm
15 sq cm ? sq cm
2 cm 10 sq cm
c. d.
? sq cm ? cm
3 cm
4 cm
15 cm 42 sq cm 6 cm
38 sq cm 5 cm
5 cm
18 sq cm
60 sq cm
148

Perimeter and Area
Figure it Out
1. Give the dimensions of a rectangle whose area is the sum of the
areas of these two rectangles having measurements: 5 m × 10 m
and 2 m × 7 m.
2. he area of a rectangular garden that is 50 m long is 1000 sq m.
T
Find the width of the garden.
3. he floor of a room is 5 m long and 4 m wide. A square carpet
T
whose sides are 3 m in length is laid on the floor. Find the area
that is not carpeted.
4. our flower beds having sides 2 m long and 1 m wide are dug at
F
the four corners of a garden that is 15 m long and 12 m wide. How
much area is now available for laying down a lawn?
5. hape A has an area of 18 square units and Shape B has an area
S
of 20 square units. Shape A has a longer perimeter than Shape B.
Draw two such shapes satisfying the given conditions.
6. n a page in your book, draw a rectangular border that is 1 cm
O
from the top and bottom and 1.5 cm from the left and right sides.
What is the perimeter of the border?
7. raw a rectangle of size 12 units × 8 units. Draw another rectangle
D
inside it, without touching the outer rectangle that occupies
exactly half the area.
8. square piece of paper is folded in half. The square is then cut
A
into two rectangles along the fold. Regardless of the size of the
square, one of the following statements is always true. Which
statement is true here?
a. The area of each rectangle is larger than the area of the square.
b. he perimeter of the square is greater than the perimeters of
T
both the rectangles added together.
c. he perimeters of both the rectangles added together is always
T
11 times the perimeter of the square.
2
d. he area of the square is always three times as large as the areas
T
of both rectangles added together.
149

Summary
The perimeter of a polygon is the sum of the lengths of all its sides.
a. T
he perimeter of a rectangle is twice the sum of its length and
width.
b. T
he perimeter of a square is four times the length of any one of its
sides.
T he area of a closed figure is the measure of the region enclosed by
the figure.
Area is generally measured in square units.
The area of a rectangle is its length times its width. The area of a square
is the length of any one of its sides multiplied by itself.
Two closed figures can have the same area with different perimeters,
or the same perimeter with different areas.
Areas of regions can be estimated (or even determined exactly) by
breaking up such regions into unit squares, or into more general-
shaped rectangles and triangles whose areas can be calculated.
150

7
Fractions
Recall that when some whole number of things are shared

equally among some number of people, fractions tell us how
much each share is.
Shabnam: Do you remember, if one roti is divided equally
between two children, how much
roti will each child get?
Mukta: Each child will get half a roti.
Shabnam: The fraction ‘one half’ is written as
1 . We also sometimes read this as
2
‘one upon two.’
Mukta: If one roti is equally shared among
4 children, how much roti will one child get?
Shabnam: Each child’s share is 1 roti.
4
Mukta: And which is more 1 roti or 1 roti?
2 4
Shabnam: When 2 children share 1 roti
equally, each child gets 1 roti. When
2
4 children share 1 roti equally, each
child gets 1 roti. Since, in the second
4
group more children share the
Chapter 7_Fractions.indd 151 10-08-2024 17:52:17

same one roti, each child gets a smaller share. So, 1 roti is
2
more than 1 roti. 1 1
4 2 > 4
7.1 Fractional Units and Equal Shares

Beni: Which fraction is greater? 15 or 19?
Arvin: 9 is bigger than 5. So I would guess that 19 is greater
than 15 . Am I right?
Beni: No! That is a common mistake. Think of these fractions
as shares.
Arvin: If one roti is shared among 5 children, each one gets a
share of 15 roti. If one roti is shared among 9 children,
each one gets a share of 19 roti?
Beni: Exactly! Now think again - which share is higher?
Arvin: If I share with more people, I will get less. So 1 < 1 .
9 5
Beni: You got it!
Oh, so 1 is bigger than 1 !

100 200
When one unit is divided into several equal parts, each part is
called a fractional unit. These are all fractional units:
1, 1, 1, 1, 1, …, 1 , …, 1 , …, 1 , etc.
2 3 4 5 6 10 50 100
We also sometimes refer to fractional units as ‘unit fractions.’
Figure it Out
Fill in the blanks with fractions.
1. Three
guavas together weigh 1 kg. If they are roughly of the same
size, each guava will roughly weigh ____kg.
2. A
wholesale merchant packed 1 kg of rice in four packets
of equal weight. The weight of each packet is ___ kg. Math
Four friends ordered 3 glasses of sugarcane juice and
3. Talk
shared it equally among themselves. Each one drank ____
glass of sugarcane juice
152

Fractions
4. The big fish weighs 1 kg. The small one weighs 1 kg. Math
2 4
Talk
Together they weigh ____ kg.
Knowledge from the past!

Fractions have been used and named in India since ancient
times. In the Rig Veda, the fraction 3 is referred to as tri-
4
pada. This has the same meaning as the words for 3 in many
4
Indian languages today, e.g., ʻteen paavʼ in colloquial Hindi and
‘mukkaal’ in Tamil. Indeed, words for fractions used today in
many Indian languages go back to ancient times.
ind out and discuss the words for fractions that are used in the
F
different languages spoken in your home, city, or state. Ask your
grandparents, parents, teachers, and classmates what words they use
for different fractions, such as for one and a half, three quarters, one
and a quarter, half, quarter, and two and a half, and write them here:
___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________
5. Arrange these fraction words in order of size from the smallest to

the biggest in the empty box below:
One and a half, three quarters, one and a quarter, half, quarter,
two and a half.
Write your answer here.
153

7.2 Fractional Units as Parts of a Whole
The picture shows a whole chikki.
Below, a picture of the chikki broken A whole chikki

into 2 pieces is shown. How much of
the original chikki is each piece?
3
4
1
We can see that the bigger piece has 3 pieces of 4
chikki in it. So, we
can measure the bigger piece using the fractional unit 14 . We see that
3
the bigger piece is 4 chikki.
1
6
1
6
A whole chikki cut A whole chikki cut into 6 equal

into 6 equal pieces. pieces in a different way.
By dividing the whole chikki into 6 equal parts in different

Math
ways, we get 1 chikki pieces of different shapes. Are they of Talk
6
the same size?
154

Fractions
What is the fractional unit of chikki shown below?
We get this piece

by breaking the
chikki into 3
equal pieces. So
1 this is 13 chikki.
A whole chikki 3
Figure it Out
The figures below show different fractional units of a whole chikki.

How much of a whole chikki is each piece?
a. b. c. d.
e. f. g. h.
155

7.3 Measuring Using Fractional Units

Take a strip of paper. We consider this paper strip to be one unit long.
1 Strip Paper
Fold the strip into two equal parts and then open up the strip again.
Taking the strip to be one unit in length, what are the lengths of the
two new parts of the strip created by the crease?
1 1
2 2
What will you get if you fold the previously-folded strip again
into two equal parts? You will now get four equal parts.
1
4
2 times 1 = 2
4 4
3 times 1 = 3
4 4
4 times 1 = 4
4 4
Do it once more! Fill in the blank boxes.
156

Fractions
2 times 1
8
4 times 1 =
8
6 times 1 =
8
8 times 1 = 8
= 1
8 8
Fractional quantities can be measured using fractional units.
Let us look at another example, Represents a

full roti (whole)
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
2 2+2 2+2+2 2+2+2+2 2+2+2+2+2
= 1 times half = 2 times half = 3 times half = 4 times half = 5 times half
We can describe how much the quantity is by collecting together the

fractional units.
157

Figure it Out
1. Continue this table of 12 for 2 more steps.
2. Can you create a similar table for 14 ?
3. Make 1 using a paper strip. Can you use this to also make 1 ?
3 6
4. Draw a picture and write an addition statement as above to show:
a. 5 times 14 of a roti b. 9 times 14 of a roti
5. Match each fractional unit with the correct picture:
1 1 1 1
3 5 8 6
Reading Fractions
We usually read the fraction 34 as ‘three quarters’ or ‘three upon four’,

1
but reading it as ‘3 times 4 ’ helps us to understand the size of the
fraction because it clearly shows what the fractional unit is ( 14 ) and
how many such fractional units (3) there are.
Recall what we call the top number and the bottom number of fractions.
In the fraction 5 , 5 is the numerator and 6 is the denominator.
6
Teacher’s Note
Give several opportunities to the children to explore the idea of
fractional units with different shapes like circles, squares, rectangles,
triangles, etc.
158

Fractions
7.4 Marking Fraction Lengths on the Number Line

We have marked lengths equal to 1, 2, 3, … units on the number line.
Now, let us try to mark lengths equal to fractions on the number line.
What is the length of the blue line? Write the fraction that gives
the length of the blue line in the box?
0 1 2
The distance between 0 and 1 is one unit long. It is divided into

two equal parts. So, the length of each part is 12 unit. So, this blue line
is 12 unit long.
Now, can you find the lengths of the various blue lines shown
below? Fill in the boxes as well.
1. Here, the fractional unit is dividing a length of 1 unit into three
equal parts. Write the fraction that gives the length of the blue
line in the box or in your notebook.
0 1 1 2
3
2. H
ere, a unit is divided into 5 equal parts. Write the fraction that
gives the length of the blue lines in the respective boxes or in
your notebook.
0 1 3 1 2
5 5
3. Now, a unit is divided into 8 equal parts. Write the appropriate

fractions in your notebook.
159

Figure it Out
1. On a number line, draw lines of lengths 1 , 3 , and 4 .

10 10 5 Math
2. Write five more fractions of your choice and mark them on the Talk
number line.
3. How many fractions lie between 0 and 1? Think, discuss with

your classmates, and write your answer.
4. What is the length of the blue line and black line shown below? The
distance between 0 and 1 is 1 unit long, and it is divided into two
equal parts. The length of each part is 1 . So the blue line is 1 units
2 2
long. Write the fraction that gives the length of the black line in the
box.
0 1 1 2
2
5. Write the fraction that gives the lengths of the black lines in the
respective boxes.
0 1 2 3 4 1 2
5 5 5 5
Teacher’s Note
Draw these lines on the board and ask the students to write the
answers in their notebooks.
160

Fractions
7.5 Mixed Fractions

Fractions greater than one
You marked some fractions on the number line earlier. Did you
notice that the lengths of all the blue lines were less than one and
the lengths of all the black lines were more than 1?
Write down all the fractions you marked on the number line
earlier.
Now, let us classify these in two groups:
Lengths less than 1 unit Lengths more than 1 unit
Did you notice something common between the fractions that

are greater than 1?
In all the fractions that are less than 1 unit, the numerator is
smaller than the denominator, while in the fractions that are more
than 1 unit, the numerator is larger than the denominator.
3 5 7
We know that ,
2 2
and 2
are all greater than 1 unit. But can we
see how many whole units they contain?
3 1 1 1 1
2
= 2
+ 2
+ 2
=1+ 2
5 1 1 1 1 1 1
2
= 2
+ 2
+ 2
+ 2
+ 2
=2+ 2
I know that 1 + 1 + 1 = 3 = 1. If I add one more 1 ,

3 3 3 3 3
4
I will get more than 1 unit! So, > 1.
3
161

Figure it Out
1. How many whole units are there in 7 ?
2
Math
Talk
2. How many whole units are there in 43 and in 73 ?
Writing fractions greater than one as mixed numbers

We saw that: 3 = 1 + 1 .
2 2
We can write other fractions in a similar way. For example,

4 1 1 1 1 1
3
= 3
+ 3
+ 3
+ 3
=1+ 3
.
3× 1
3
=1
Figure it Out
1. Figure out the number of whole units in each of the following
fractions:
a. 8 b. 11 c. 9
3 5 4
We saw that
8 2
3
=2+ 3 This number is thus also called ‘two
and two thirds’. We also write it as 2 2 .
3
Fraction Mixed number
2. Can all fractions greater than 1 be written as such mixed numbers?
A mixed number / mixed fraction contains a whole number

(called the whole part) and a fraction that is less than 1 (called the
fractional part).
3. Write the following fractions as mixed fractions (e.g., 9 = 4 1 ):

2 2
a. 9 b. 9 c. 21 d. 47 e. 12 f. 19
2 5 19 9 11 6
162

Fractions
Can we write a mixed

number (mixed fraction)
as a regular fraction?
Yes! I figured out a way to

write a mixed number as a
regular fraction!
Jaya: When I have 3 + 3, this means 1 + 1 + 1 + 3 . I know

4 4
1= 1 1 1 1 .
4 + 4 + 4 + 4
So I get
( 14 + 1
4 +
1
4 +
1)
4 + (4 +
1 1
4 +
1
4 +
1)
4
1
+ (4 +
1
4 +
1
4 +
1)
4
1
+ (4 +
1
4 +
1)
4 =
15
4
.
Therefore, (4 × 1) 1) 1) 1) 15
4
+ (4 × 4
+ (4 × 4
+ (3 × 4
= 4
.
Figure it Out
Write the following mixed numbers as fractions:
a. 3 14 b. 7 2
3
c. 9 4
9 Math
Talk
d. 3 1 e. 2 3 f. 3 9
6 11 10
7.6 Equivalent Fractions

Using a fraction wall to find equal fractional lengths!
In the previous section, you used paper folding to represent various
fractions using fractional units. Let us do some more activities with
the same paper strips.
163

What do you
observe?
1
2 • Are the lengths 1 and 2 equal? 3
2 4
4
• Are the lengths 2 and 4 equal?

4 8
We can say that 1 = 2 = 4 .

2 4 8
2
4
4
8
These are ‘equivalent fractions’ that denote the same length, but
they are expressed in terms of different fractional units.
Now, check whether 13 and 26 are equivalent fractions or not,
using paper strips.
Make your own fraction wall using such strips as given in the
picture below!
Answer the following questions after looking at the fraction wall:
1. Are the lengths 1 and 3 equal?

2 6
2. Are 2 and 4 equivalent 1 UNIT
3 6
1 2
fractions? Why? 2 2
1 2 3
3. H
ow many pieces of 3 3 3
1 2 3 4
1 4 4 4 4
length 6
will make a 1 2 3 4 5
5 5 5 5 5
length of 1 ? 1 2 3 4 5 6
2 6 6 6 6 6 6
4. How many pieces of length 1 will make a length of 1 ?

6 3
164

Fractions
We can extend this idea to make a fraction wall up to the fractional

1 . (This fraction wall is given at the end of the book.)
unit 10
1 UNIT
1 2
2 2
1 2 3
3 3 3
1 2 3 4
4 4 4 4
1 2 3 4 5
5 5 5 5 5
1 2 3 4 5 6
6 6 6 6 6 6
1 2 3 4 5 6 1
7 7 7 7 7 7 7
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10
Figure it Out
1. Are 3 , 4 , 5 equivalent fractions? Why?
6 8 10
2. Write two equivalent fractions for 2 .

6
3. 4
6
= = = = ............ (Write as many as you can)
Understanding Equivalent Fractions using Equal Shares

One roti was shared equally by four children.
What fraction of the whole did each child get?
The adjoining picture shows the division of a
roti among four children.
Fraction of roti each child got is 1 .
4
The four shares must be

equal to each other!
165

You can also express this event through division facts, addition
facts, and multiplication facts.
The division fact is 1 ÷ 4 = 1 .

4
The addition fact is 1 = 1 1 1 1 .

4 + 4 + 4 + 4
The multiplication fact is 1 = 4 × 1 .

4
Figure it Out
1. Three rotis are shared equally by four children. Show the division
in the picture and write a fraction for how much each child gets.
Also, write the corresponding division facts, addition facts, and,
multiplication facts.
Fraction of roti each child gets is ______.
Division fact:
Addition fact:
Multiplication fact:
Compare your picture and answers with your classmates!
2. D
raw a picture to show how much each child gets when 2 rotis
are shared equally by 4 children. Also, write the corresponding
division facts, addition facts, and multiplication facts.
3. Anil was in a group where 2 cakes were divided equally among 5
children. How much cake would Anil get?
What if we put two such groups

Now, if there are 10 children together? one group where
in my group, how many 2 cakes are divided equally
cakes will I need so that they between 5 children, and another
get same amount of cake as group again with 4 cakes and 10
Anil? children.
166

Fractions
Group 1
Group 2
So, the share of each child is the So, 2 = 4 !

5 10
same in both these situations!
Let us examine the shares of each child in the following situations.

• 1 roti is divided equally between 2 children.
• 2 rotis are divided equally among 4 children.
• 3 rotis are divided equally among 6 children.
Let us draw and share!
Did you notice that in each situation the share of every child is
the same? So, we can say that 12 = 24 = 36 .
1 roti is divided 2 rotis are divided 3 rotis are divided

equally between 2 equally among 4 equally among 6
1 1 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 3 3
2 2 4 4 4 4 6 6 6 6 6 6
Fractions where the shares are equal are called ‘equivalent fractions’.
167

So, 1 , 2 , and 3 are all equivalent fractions.

2 4 6
Find some more fractions equivalent to 1. Write them in the

2
boxes here:
Equally divide the rotis in the situations shown below and write
down the share of each child. Are the shares in each of these cases
the same? Why?
2 rotis divided 4 rotis divided 6 rotis divided
equally among equally among equally among
3 children 6 children 9 children
2 2 2
3 3 3
2 is also called the simplest form of 4 . It is also the simplest form of 6 as well.
3 6 9
Do you notice anything about the relationship between the

numerator and denominator in each of these fractions?
Figure it Out
Find the missing numbers:
a. 5 glasses of juice shared equally among 4 friends is the Math
same as ____ glasses of juice shared equally among 8 Talk
friends.
So, 5 = .
4 8
b. 4 kg of potatoes divided equally in 3 bags is the same as
12 kgs of potatoes divided equally in ___ bags.
So, 4 = 12
3
168

Fractions
c. 7 rotis divided among 5 children is the same as____rotis divided

among _____ children.
So, 7 = .
5
In which group will each child get more chikki?

1 chikki divided between 2 children or 5 chikkis divided among 8
children.
Mukta: So, we must compare 1 and 5 . Which is more?
2 8
Shabnam: Well, we have seen that 1 4 ; and clearly 4 5 . So, the

2
= 8 8
< 8
children for whom 5 chikkis is divided equally among 8
will get more than those children for whom 1 chikki is
divided equally among 2. The children of the second
group will get more chikki each.
What about the following groups? In which group will each child
get more?
1 chikki divided between 2 children or 4 chikkis divided among 7
children.
Shabnam: The children of which group will get more chikki this
time?
Mukta: We must compare 1 and 4.
7 7
Now
1×4 4 so, 1 4.
2×4
= 8 2
= 8
Shabnam: But why did you multiply the numerator and denominator
by 4 again?
Mukta: You will see!
When 4 chikkis are divided equally among 7 children, each
one will get 47 chikki. When 4 chikkis are divided equally
among 8 children, each one will get 48 chikki. So 47 > 48 .
169

I f the number of units that are shared

is the same, but the number of
children among whom the units are
shared is more, then the share is less.
Therefore, 4 > 4 and 4 = 1 , so 4 > 1 .

7 8 8 2 7 2
Now I understood why you multiplied
the numerator and denominator by 4.
Suppose the number of children is kept the same, but the number
of units that are being shared is increased? What can you say about
each child’s share now? Why? Discuss how your reasoning explains
1 2 , 3 < 4 , and 1 < 5 .
5
< 5 7 7 2 8
Now, decide in which of the two groups will each child get a
larger share:
1. G
roup 1 : 3 glasses of sugarcane juice divided equally
Math
among 4 children. Talk
G
roup 2: 7 glasses of sugarcane juice divided equally
among 10 children.
2. G
roup 1 : 4
glasses of sugarcane juice divided equally
among 7 children.
G
roup 2: 5
glasses of sugarcane juice divided equally
among 7 children.
Which groups were easier to compare? Why? When the number of
children is the same, it is
Shabnam: To compare the first two groups, easier to compare, isn’t it?
we have to find fractions
equivalent to the fractions
3 and 7 .
4 10
Mukta: How about 68 = 3

4
and 21
30 =
7
10
?
170

Fractions
Shabnam: There is a condition. The fractional unit used for the two
fractions have to be the same! Like 2 and 3 both use the
6 6
same fractional unit 16 (i.e., the denominators are the same).
But 68 and 21
30
do not use the same fractional units (they have
different denominators).
Mukta: Okay, so let us start making equivalent fractions then:
3 6 9 12 15 … But when do I stop?
4 = 8 = 12 = 16 = 20
Shabnam: Got it! How about we go on till 4 × 10 = 40.

Mukta: You mean the product of the two denominators?
Sounds good!
We have 3 and 7 . The product of the two denominators (4
4 10
and 10) is 40.
34 = 6
8 =
9
12 =
12
16 =
15
20 =
18
24 =…=
27
36 =
30
40
.
Go till we reach the
7 14 21 28 denominator 40.
10
= 20 = 30 = 40
.
15 14
But notice that 20 and 20 also had Yes! We just needed to get the
the same denominator! same fractional units for each
fraction.
Shabnam: So, fractions equivalent to 34 and 10

7 with the same fractional
unit (same denominators) are 30 and 28 , or 15 and 14 .

40 40 20 20
Since clearly 30 28 , we conclude that 3 7 .

40 > 40 4 > 10
171

Find equivalent fractions for the given pairs of fractions such that the
fractional units are the same.
a. 72 and 35 b. 8 and 5
3 6
c. 3 and 3
4 5
d. 6 and 8
7 5
e. 94 and 52 f. 1 and 2
10 9
g. 8 and 11
3 4
h. 13 and 1
6 9
Expressing a Fraction in Lowest Terms (or in its Simplest

Form)
In any fraction, if its numerator and denominator have no common
factor except 1, then the fraction is said to be in lowest terms or in
its simplest form. In other words, a fraction is said to be in lowest
terms if its numerator and denominator are as small as possible.
Any fraction can be expressed in lowest terms by finding an
equivalent fraction whose numerator and denominator are as small
as possible.
Let’s see how to express fractions in lowest terms.
Example: Is the fraction 16
20
in lowest terms? No, 4 is a common factor
of 16 and 20. Let us reduce 16 to lowest terms.
20
We know that both 16 (numerator) and 20 (denominator) are
divisible by 4.
So, 16 ÷ 4 4 .
20 ÷ 4 = 5
Now, there is no common factor between 4 and 5. Hence, 16
20
expressed in lowest terms is 45 . So, 4
5
is called the simplest form of 16 ,
20
since 4 and 5 have no common factor other than 1.
Any fraction can be converted to

lowest terms by dividing both the
numerator and denominator by the
highest common factor between
them.
172

Fractions
Expressing a fraction in lowest terms can also be done in steps.

Suppose we want to express 36 60
in lowest terms. First, we notice
that both the numerator and denominator are even. So, we divide
both by 2, and see that 36 18 .
60 = 30
Both the numerator and denominator are even again, so we can
divide them each by 2 again; we get 18 9 .
30 = 15
We now notice that 9 and 15 are both multiples of 3, so we divide

9
both by 3 to get 15 3
= 5.
Now, 3 and 5 have no common factor other than 1, so, 36 in lowest
60
terms is 3 .
5
Alternatively, we could have noticed that in 36
60
, both the numerator
and denominator are multiples of 12 : we see that 36 = 3 × 12 and
60 = 5 × 12. Therefore, we could have concluded that 36 3
60 = 5 straight away.
Either method works and will give the same answer! But
sometimes it can be easier to go in steps.
Figure it Out
Express the following fractions in lowest terms:
a. 17 b. 64 e. 126 d. 525
51 144 147 112
7.7 Comparing Fractions
Which is greater, 4 or 7 ? It can be difficult to compare two such

5 9
fractions directly. However, we know how to find fractions equivalent
to two fractions with the same denominator. Let us see how we can
use it:
4 4×9 36
5 = 5×9 = 45 45 is a common multiple
7 7× 5 35 of 5 and 9, so we can
9 = 8×5 = 45
.
use 45 as a common
denominator.
173

Clearly, 36 35
45 > 45
So, 4 7 !
5 > 9
Let us try this for another pair: 7 and 17 .

9 21
63 is a common multiple of 9 and 21. We can then write:
7 7× 7 49 , 17 17×3 51 .
9 = 9×7 = 63 21 = 21×3 = 63
Clearly, 49 51 . So, 7 17 !
63 < 63 9 < 21
Let’s Summarise!
Steps to compare the sizes of two or more given fractions:

Step 1: Change the given fractions to equivalent fractions so that
they all are expressed with the same denominator / same
fractional unit.
Step 2: Now, compare the equivalent fractions by simply comparing
the numerators, i.e., the number of fractional units each has.
Figure it Out
1. C
ompare the following fractions and justify your answers:
a. 8 , 5 b. 4 , 3 c. 7 , 9
3 2 9 7 10 14
d. 12 , 8 e. 9 , 5
5 5 4 2
2. Write the following fractions in ascending order.

a. 7 , 11 , 2 b. 19 , 5 , 7
10 15 5 24 6 12
3. Write the following fractions in descending order.

a. 25 , 7 , 13 , 17 b. 3 , 12 , 7 , 5
16 8 4 32 4 5 12 4
174

Fractions
7.8 Addition and Subtraction of Fractions

Meena’s father made some chikki. Meena ate 1
2
of it and her younger brother ate 1 of it. How
4
much of the total chikki did Meena and her
brother eat together?
We can arrive at the answer by visualising it. Let us take a piece

of chikki and divide it into two halves first like this.
Meena ate 1 of it as
2
shown in the picture.
Meena ate
Let us now divide the

remaining half into two further halves as shown. Each of these
pieces is 14 of the whole chikki.
Meena’s brother ate 1

4
of the whole chikki, as is Meena ate
shown in the picture.
Brother ate
The total chikki eaten
is 2 (by Meena) and 14 (by her
1
brother)
The total chikki eaten
is = 12 + 14 Total chikki eaten
1 1 1
= 4 + 4 + 4
=3× 1 3 .
4 = 4
How much of the total chikki is remaining?
175

Adding Fractions with the Same Fractional Unit or

Denominator
Example: Find the sum of 2 and 1 .

5 5
Let us represent both using the rectangular strips. In both fractions,

the fractional unit is the same 1 , so, each strip will be divided into 5
5
equal parts.
So 2 will be represented as—

5
And 1 will be represented as—

5
Adding the two given fractions is the same as finding out the total
number of shaded parts, each of which represent the same fractional
unit 1 .
5
In this case, the total number of shaded parts is 3. Since, each

shaded part represents the fractional unit 15 , we see that the 3 shaded
parts together represent the fraction 3 .
5
Therefore, 2 1 3 !
5
+ 5
= 5

7 7
Let us represent both again using the rectangular strip model. Here in
both fractions, the fractional unit is the same, i.e., 17 , so each strip will
be divided into 7 equal parts.
Then 4 will be represented as —
7
176

Fractions
and 6 will be represented as—

7
In this case, the total number of While adding fractions

shaded parts is 10, and each shaded part with the same fractional
1 unit, just add the number of
represents the fractional unit 7
, so, the
fractional units from each
10 shaded parts together represent the fraction.
fraction 10 as seen here.
7

4 6 10
Therefore, 7 + 7 = 7
3
=1+ 7
3
= 1 7.
Try adding 47 + 67 using a number line. Do you get the same answer?
Adding Fractions with Different Fractional Units or

Denominators
4 3
To add fractions with different fractional units, first convert the

fractions into equivalent fractions with the same denominator/
177

fractional unit. In this case, the common denominator can be made

3 × 4 = 12, i.e., we can find equivalent fractions with fractional unit 1 .
12
Let us write the equivalent fraction for each given fraction.
1 1×3 3 , 1 1×4 4 .
4 = 4×3 = 12 3 = 3×4 = 12
Now, 3 and 4 have the same fractional unit, i.e., 1 .

12 12 12
Therefore, 1 1 3 4 7 .
4 + 3 = 12 + 12 = 12
This method of addition, which works for adding any number of

fractions, was first explicitly described in general by Brahmagupta
in the year 628 CE! We will describe the history of the development
of fractions in more detail later in the chapter . For now, we simply
summarise the steps in Brahmagupta’s method for addition of
fractions.
Brahmagupta’s method for adding fractions
1. Find equivalent fractions so that the fractional unit is common

for all fractions. This can be done by finding a common multiple
of the denominators (e.g., the product of the denominators, or the
smallest common multiple of the denominators).
2. Add these equivalent fractions with the same fractional units.
This can be done by adding the numerators and keeping the same
denominator.
3. Express the result in lowest terms if needed.
Let us carry out another example of Brahmagupta’s method.

3 5
The denominators of the given fractions are 3 and 5. The lowest

common multiple of 3 and 5 is 15. Then we see that
2 2×5 10 , 1 1×3 3 .
3 = 3×5 = 15 5 = 5×3 = 15
178

Fractions
Therefore, 2 1 10 3 = 13 .
3 + 5 = 15 + 15 15

6 3
The smallest common multiple of 6 and 3 is 6.
1 will remain 1 .
6 6
1 1×2 2
3 = 3×2
= 6
6 + 3 = 6 + 6 = 6
The fraction 3 can now be re-expressed in lowest terms, if

6
desired. This can be done by dividing both the numerator and
denominator by 3 (the biggest common factor of 3 and 6):
3 3÷3 1 .
6 = 6÷3 = 2
Therefore, 1 1 1 .
6 + 3 = 2
Figure it Out
1. Add the following fractions using Brahmagupta’s method:
a. 2 5 6 b. 3 1 c. 2 5 d. 2 2 e. 3 1 1
7 + 7 + 7 4 + 3 3 + 6 3 + 7 4 + 3 + 5
f. 2 4 4 2 3 5 9 5 8 2
3 + 5 g. 5 + 3
h. 5 + 8
i. 2 + 4
j. 3 + 7
k. 3 1 1 l. 2 4 3 m. 9 5 7
4 + 3 + 5 3 + 5 + 7 2 + 4 + 6
2. Rahim mixes 2 litres of yellow paint with 3 litres of blue paint to

3 4
make green paint. What is the volume of green paint he has made?
3. Geeta bought 25 meter of lace and Shamim bought 34 meter of the
same lace to put a complete border on a table cloth whose perimeter
is 1 meter long. Find the total length of the lace they both have
bought. Will the lace be sufficient to cover the whole border?
179

Subtraction of Fractions with the same Fractional Unit or

Denominator
Brahmagupta’s method also applies when subtracting fractions!

Let us start with the problem of subtracting 47 from 67 , i.e., what is
6 – 4 ?
7 7
To solve this problem, we can again use the rectangular strips.

In both fractions, the fractional unit is the same i.e. 17 . Let us first
represent the bigger fraction using a rectangular strip model as
shown:
6
7
Each shaded part represents 1 . Now, we need to subtract 4 . To do

7 7
this let us remove 4 of the shaded parts:
Fractional parts to
be removed.
We can do this here directly

because both fractions have
the same fractional units.
So, we are left with 2 shaded parts, i.e., 6 4 2 .

7
– 7 = 7
Try doing this same exercise using the number line.
180

Fractions
Figure it Out
1. 5 – 3 2. 7 – 5 3. 10 – 1
8 8 9 9 27 27
Subtraction of Fractions with Different Fractional Units or

Denominators
Example: What is 3 – 2 ?
4 3
As we already know the procedure for subtraction of fractions with
the same fractional units, let us convert each of the given fractions
into equivalent fractions with the same fractional units.
Yes! By doing this we can easily

subtract the two fractions.
3 (3×3) 9
4 = (4×3) = 12
Think! Why did we choose to

multiply both the numerator and
denominator by 3?
and similarly,
2 (2×4) 8 . Again! Why did we choose to multiply
3 = (3×4) = 12 both the numerator and denominator
here by 4?
4
– 3 = 12
– 12 = 12
Brahmagupta’s method for subtracting two fractions—

1.
Convert the given fractions into equivalent fractions with the
same fractional unit, i.e., the same denominator.
2. Carry out the subtraction of fractions having the same fractional
units. This can be done by subtracting the numerators and
keeping the same denominator.
3. Simplify the result into lowest terms if needed.
181

Figure it Out
1. Carry out the following subtractions using Brahmagupta’s method:
8 – 3
a. 15 b. 2 – 4 c. 5 – 4 d. 2 – 1
15 5 15 6 9 3 2
2. Subtract as indicated:
a. 13
4
from 10
3
b. 18 from 23
5 3
c. 29 from 45
7 7
3. Solve the following problems:
7 km from her home. She takes an auto for

a. Jaya’s school is 10
1 km from her home daily, and then walks the remaining
2
distance to reach her school. How much does she walk daily
to reach the school?
Jeevika takes 10 minutes to take a complete round of the

b.
3
park and her friend Namit takes 13 minutes to do the same.
4
Who takes less time and by how much?
7.9 A Pinch of History

Do you know what a fraction was called in ancient India? It was
called bhinna in Sanskrit, which means ‘broken’. It was also called
bhaga or ansha meaning ‘part’ or ‘piece’.
The way we write fractions today, globally, originated in India. In
ancient Indian mathematical texts, such as the Bakshali manuscript
(from around the year 300 CE), when they wanted to write 12 , they
wrote it as 12 which is indeed very similar to the way we write it
today! This method of writing and working with fractions continued
to be used in India for the next several centuries, including by
Aryabhata (499 CE), Brahmagupta (628 CE), Sridharacharya (c. 750
CE), and Mahaviracharya (c. 850 CE), among others. The line segment
between the numerator and denominator in ‘ 12 ’ and in other fractions
182

Fractions
was later introduced by the Moroccan mathematician Al-Hassar (in

the 12th century). Over the next few centuries the notation then
spread to Europe and around the world.
Fractions had also been used in other cultures such as the ancient
Egyptian and Babylonian civilisations, but they primarily used only
fractional units, that is, fractions with a 1 in the numerator. More
general fractions were expressed as sums of fractional units, now
called ‘Egyptian fractions’. Writing numbers as the sum of fractional
units, e.g., 19 1
24 = 2
+ 16 + 18 , can be quite an art and leads to beautiful
puzzles. We will consider one such puzzle below.
General fractions (where the numerator is not necessarily 1)
were first introduced in India, along with their rules of arithmetic
operations like addition, subtraction, multiplication, and even
division of fractions. The ancient Indian treatises called the ‘Sulba-
sutras’ shows that even during Vedic times, Indians had discovered
the rules for operations with fractions. General rules and procedures
for working with and computing with fractions were first codified
formally and in a modern form by Brahmagupta.
Brahmagupta’s methods for working with and computing with
fractions are still what we use today. For example, Brahmagupta
described how to add and subtract fractions as follows:
“By the multiplication of the numerator and the denominator of each
of the fractions by the other denominators, the fractions are reduced
to a common denominator. Then, in case of addition, the numerators
(obtained after the above reduction) are added. In case of subtraction,
their difference is taken.’’ (Brahmagupta, Brahmasphuṭasiddhānta,
Verse 12.2, 628 CE)
The Indian concepts and methods involving fractions were
transmitted to Europe via the Arabs over the next few centuries and
they came into general use in Europe in around the 17th century and
then spread worldwide.
183

Puzzle!
It is easy to add up fractional units to obtain the sum 1, if one
uses the same fractional unit, e.g.,
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
2
+ 2 = 1, 3
+ 3
+ 3 = 1, 4
+ 4
+ 4
+ 4
= 1, etc.
However, can you think of a way to add fractional units that

are all different to get 1?
It is not possible to add two different fractional units to get 1.
The reason is that ½ is the largest fractional unit, and 12 + 12 = 1.
To get different fractional units, we would have to replace at
least one of the 12 ’s with some smaller fractional unit - but then
the sum would be less than 1! Therefore, it is not possible for
two different fractional units to add up to 1.
We can try to look instead for a way to write 1 as the sum of
three different fractional units.
1. C
an you find three different fractional units that add Try
up to 1? This
I t turns out there is only one solution to this problem

(up to changing the order of the 3 fractions)! Can you
find it? Try to find it before reading further.
Here is a systematic way to find the solution. We know that
1 + 1 + 1 = 1. To get the fractional units to be different, we will
3 3 3
have to increase at least one of the 13 ’s, and decrease at least
one of the other 13 ’s to compensate for that increase. The only
way to increase 1 to another fractional unit is to replace it by
3
1. So 1 must be one of the fractional units.
2 2
Now 12 + 14 + 14 = 1. To get the fractional units to be different, we

will have to increase one of the 14 ’s and decrease the other 14 to
compensate for that increase. Now the only way to increase 1
4
184

Fractions
to another fractional unit, that is different from 12 , is to replace

it by 13 . So two of the fractions must be 1
2
and 13 ! What must be
third fraction then, so that the three fractions add up to 1?
T
his explains why there is only one solution to the above
problem.
1 1 1
2 +3+ 6 = 1.
What if we look for four different fractional units that add up

to 1?
2. C
an you find four different fractional units that add
Try
up to 1? This
It turns out that this problem has six solutions! Can
you find at least one of them? Can you find them all?
You can try using similar reasoning as in the cases
of two and three fractional units – or find your own
method!
Once you find one solution, try to divide a circle into parts like
in the figure above to visualize it!
185

Fraction as equal share: When a whole number of units is divided

into equal parts and shared equally, a fraction results.
Fractional Units: When one whole basic unit is divided into equal
parts, then each part is called a fractional unit.
Reading Fractions: In a fraction such as 5 , 5 is called the numerator
6
and 6 is called the denominator.
Mixed fractions contain a whole number part and a fractional part.
Number line: Fractions can be shown on a number line. Every fraction
has a point associated with it on the number line.
Equivalent Fractions: When two or more fractions represent the
same share/number, they are called equivalent fractions.
Lowest terms: A fraction whose numerator and denominator have
no common factor other than 1 is said to be in lowest terms or in its
simplest form.
Brahmagupta’s method for adding fractions: When adding fractions,
convert them into equivalent fractions with the same fractional unit
(i.e., the same denominator), and then add the number of fractional
units in each fraction to obtain the sum. This is accomplished by
adding the numerators while keeping the same denominator.
Brahmagupta’s method for subtracting fractions: When subtracting
fractions, convert them into equivalent fractions with the same
fractional unit (i.e., the same denominator), and then subtract the
number of fractional units. This is accomplished by subtracting the
numerators while keeping the same denominator.
186

8 Playing with
Constructions
8.1 Artwork
Observe the following figures and try drawing them freehand.
Fig. 8.1
Chapter 8_Playing with Constructions.indd 187 10-08-2024 15:58:31

Now, arm yourself with a ruler and a compass. Let us explore if

we can draw these figures with these tools and get familiar with a
compass.
Observe the way a compass is made. What can one draw with the
compass? Explore!
Do you know what curves are? They are any shapes that can be
drawn on paper with a pencil, and include straight lines, circles and
other figures as shown below.
Mark a point ‘P’ in your notebook. Then, mark as many points as

possible, in different directions, that are 4 cm away from P.
Think: Imagine marking all the points of 4 cm distance from the
point P. How would they look?
Try to draw it and verify if it is correct by taking some points on
the curve and checking if their distances from P are indeed 4 cm.
Explore, if you have not already done so,
R
and see if a compass can be used for this
purpose.
cm
You can start by marking a few points

4
of distance 4 cm from P using the compass.

How can this be done? P Q
4 cm
188

Playing with Constructions
You will have to open up the compass against a ruler (see Fig. 8.2)
such that the distance between the tip of the compass and the pencil
is 4 cm.
Now, try to get the full curve.
Hint: Keep the point of the compass fixed moving only the pencil.
What is the shape of the curve? It is a circle!
Take a point on the circle. What will be its distance from P— equal
to 4 cm, less than 4 cm or greater than 4 cm? Similarly, what will be
the distance between P and another point on the circle?
As shown in the figure, the point P is called the centre of the circle
and the distance between the centre and any point on the circle is
called the radius of the circle.
s centre
d iu P
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 ra
Fig. 8.2
Having explored the use of a compass, go ahead and recreate the

images in Fig. 8.1.
Can you make the figures look as good as the figures shown there?
Try again if you want to!
Also, has the use of instruments made the construction easier?
Now try constructing the following figures.
189

Construct
1. A Person
How will you draw this?
This figure has two components.
You might have figured out a way of drawing the first part. For
drawing the second part, see this.
The challenge here is to find out where to place the tip of the
compass and the radius to be taken for drawing this curve. You
can fix a radius in the compass and try placing the tip of the
190

compass in different locations to see which point works for

getting the curve. Use your Estimate where to keep the tip.
2. Wavy Wave
Construct this.
As the length of the central line is not specified, we can take it to

be of any length.
Let us take AB to be the central line such that the length of AB is
8 cm. We write this as AB = 8 cm.
Here, the first wave is drawn as a half circle.
A X B
?
?
8 cm
Figure it Out
1. What radius should be taken in the compass to get this half circle?
What should be the length of AX?
2. Take a central line of a different length and try to draw the wave
on it.
3. Try to recreate the figure where the waves are smaller than a
half circle (as appearing in the neck of the figure ‘A Person’). Try
The challenge here is to get both the waves to be identical. This
This may be tricky!
191

3. Eyes
How do you draw these eyes with a compass?
For a hint, go to the end of the chapter.
Make other artwork of your choice with a ruler and a compass.
8.2 Squares and Rectangles

Now, let us look at some basic figures having straight lines in their
boundary.
Fig. 8.3
What shapes are these? Yes, these are our familiar squares and
rectangles. But what makes them squares and rectangles?
Consider this rectangle ABCD.
A B
The points A, B, C and D are the corners
of the rectangle. Lines AB, BC, CD and DA are
its sides. Its angles are ∠A, ∠B, ∠C and ∠D.
The blue sides AB and CD are called
opposite sides, as they lie opposite to
D C
each other. Likewise, AD and BC is the Fig. 8.4
other pair of opposite sides.
192

Recall that, in a rectangle:

R1) The opposite sides are equal in length, and
R2) All the angles are 90°.
As in the case of rectangles, the corners and sides are defined for
a square in the same manner.
A square satisfies the following two properties:
S1) All the sides are equal, and
o
S2) All the angles are 90 .
See the rectangle in Fig. 8.4 and the name given to it: ABCD. This
rectangle can also be named in other ways — BCDA, CDAB, DABC,
ADCB, DCBA, CBAD and BADC. So, can a rectangle be named using
any combination of the labels around its corners? No! For example,
it cannot be named ABDC or ACBD. Can you see what names are
allowed and what names are not?
In a valid name, the corners occur in an order of travel around
the rectangle, starting from any corner.
Which of the following is not a name for this square?

S P
1. PQSR
2. SPQR
3. RSPQ
4. QRSP R Q
Rotated Squares and Rectangles

Here is a square piece of paper having
all its sides equal in length and all
angles equal to 90°. It is rotated as
shown in the figure. Is it still a square?
Let us check if the rotated paper
still satisfies the properties of a
square.
• Are all the sides still equal? Yes.
• Are all the angles still 90°? Yes.
193

Rotating a square does not change its

lengths and angles.
Therefore, this rotated figure satisfies both
the properties of a square and so, it is a square.
By the same reasoning, a rotated rectangle
is still a rectangle.
Figure it Out
1. Draw the rectangle and four squares configuration (shown in
Fig. 8.3) on a dot paper.
What did you do to recreate this figure so that the four squares
are placed symmetrically around the rectangle? Discuss with
your classmates.
2. Identify if there are any squares in this collection. Use
measurements if needed.
A B C D
hink: Is it possible to reason out if the sides are equal or

T
not, and if the angles are right or not without using any
measuring instruments in the above figure? Can we do this
by only looking at the position of corners in the dot grid?
3. Draw at least 3 rotated squares and rectangles on a dot grid. Draw

them such that their corners are on the dots. Verify if the squares
and rectangles that you have drawn satisfy their respective
properties.
194

8.3 Constructing Squares and Rectangles

Now, let us start constructing squares and rectangles. How would
you construct a square with a side of 6 cm?
For help, you can see the following figures. A square PQRS of
sidelength 6 cm is constructed.
Step 1 Step 2
P 6 cm Q
P 6 cm Q
Mark a point to draw a

perpendicular to PQ through P.
Step 3
Method 1
Mark S on the perpendicular such that

PS = 6 cm using a ruler.
6 cm
90°
P 6 cm Q
Method 2
This can also be done using a compass.
195

6 cm
P 6 cm Q
Can you see why PS should be
6 cm long?
Step 4 Step 5
Draw a perpendicular to line If we had used the compass, then the next
segment PQ through Q. point can easily be marked using it!
R
R
S
P 6 cm Q
P Q
Step 6
R S
6 cm 6 cm How long is the side RS and what

are the measures of ∠R and ∠S?
90º 90º
P 6 cm Q
196

Construct
1. Draw a rectangle with sides of length 4 cm and 6 cm. After
drawing, check if it satisfies both the rectangle properties.
2. Draw a rectangle of sides 2 cm and 10 cm. After drawing, check if
it satisfies both the rectangle properties.
3. Is it possible to construct a 4-sided figure in which—
Try
•• all the angles are equal to 90º but
This
•• opposite sides are not equal?
8.4 An Exploration in Rectangles

Construct a rectangle ABCD with AB = 7 cm and BC = 4 cm.
Imagine X to be a point that can be moved anywhere along
the side AD. Similarly, imagine Y to be a point that can be moved
anywhere along the side BC. Note that X can also be placed
on the end point A or D. Similarly, Y can also be placed on the
end point B or C.
A B A B
5 mm
1 cm
X 2 cm
X
Y
Y
1 cm
D C D C
A B=Y A=X B=Y
4 cm
D=X C D C
197

At which positions will the points X and Y be at their closest?

When do you think they will be the farthest? What does your Math
Talk
intuition say? Discuss with your classmates.
Now, verify your guesses by placing the points X and Y on the
sides and measure how near or far they are.
The distance between X and Y can be obtained by measuring the
length of the line XY.
How does the minimum distance between the points X and Y
compare to the length of AB?
Change the positions of X and Y to check if there are other
positions where they are at their nearest or farthest. You could
construct multiple copies of the rectangle and try out various
positions of X and Y.
How will you keep track of the lengths XY for different positions
of X and Y?
Here is one way of doing it. Suppose here are some of the positions
of X and Y that you have considered:
• When X is 5 mm away from A and Y is 3 cm away from B,
XY = ___ cm __ mm
• When X is 1 cm away from A and Y is 1 cm away from B,
XY = ___ cm ___ mm
•
When X is 2 cm away from A and Y is 4 cm away from B,
XY = ___ cm ___ mm and so on …
Is there a shorthand way of writing it down? In all the sentences,
only the position of X, Y and the length XY changes. So we could
write this as:
Distance of X from A Distance of Y from B Length of XY
198

Have you checked what happens to the length XY when X and Y

are placed at the same distance away from A and B, respectively?
For example, as in the cases like these:
Distance of X Distance of Y Length of XY

from A from B
5 mm 5 mm
1 cm 1 cm
1 cm 5 mm 1 cm 5 mm
and so on …
I n each of these cases, observe

i. how the length XY compares to that of AB and
ii. the shape of the 4-sided figure ABYX.
How does the farthest distance between X and Y compare with
the length of AC? BD?
Construct
Breaking Rectangles
Construct a rectangle that
can be divided into 3 identical
squares as shown in the
figure.
Solution
If this seem difficult, let us simplify the problem.
Explore:
What about constructing a rectangle that can be divided into
two identical squares? Can you try it?
It is wise to first plan and then construct. But how do we plan?
Can you think of a way?
199

One way is to visualise the final figure by drawing a rough

diagram of it.
A B C
F E D
What can we infer from this figure?

Can you identify the equal sides?
Since, the two squares are identical,
AB = BC and FE = ED
Since ABEF and BCDE are squares, all the sides in each of the
squares are equal. This is written as —
AF = AB = BE = FE
BE = BC = CD = ED
So, all the shorter lines are equal!
A convention is followed to represent equal sides. It is done by
putting a ‘|’ on the line. Refer to the rough figure.
Using this analysis, can you try constructing it? Remember, all
that was asked for is a rectangle that can be divided into two
identical squares and with no measurements imposed.
To draw the rectangle ACDF, one could assign any length to AF. For
example, if we assign AF = 4 cm, then what must the length of AC be?
Explore: Can the rectangle now be completed?
In fact, one could proceed by drawing AF without even

measuring its length using a ruler. We could then construct a
line perpendicular to AF that is long enough to contain the other
side. As AB = AF, we need to somehow transfer the length of AF
200

to get the point B. How do we do it without a ruler? Can it be

done using a compass?
Observe, how the length of AF is measured using a compass.
A A B
F F
Use it to mark out the points B and C, and complete the rectangle.
With this idea, try constructing a rectangle that can be divided

into three identical squares.
Give the lengths of the sides of a rectangle that cannot be

divided into —
• two identical squares;
• three identical squares.
Construct
1. A Square within a Rectangle
Construct a rectangle of sides 8 cm and 4 cm. How will you
construct a square inside, as shown in the figure, such that the
centre of the square is the same as the centre of the rectangle?
8 cm
4 cm
201

Hint: Draw a rough figure. What will be the sidelength of the

square? What will be the distance between the corners of
the square and the outer rectangle?
2. Falling Squares
4 cm

Make sure that the

4 cm
squares are aligned
Each is a the way they are
Square of shown.
4 cm side 4 cm
Now, try this.

Square of
side 3 cm
Square of
side 5 cm
Square of
side 7 cm
3. Shadings
Construct this. Choose measurements of your
choice. Note that the larger 4-sided figure is
a square and so are the smaller ones.
202

4. Square with a Hole
Observe that the circular

hole is the same as the
centre of the square.

Hint: Think where the centre of the circle should be.
5. Square with more Holes
6. Square with Curves

Try
This is a square with 8 cm sidelengths. This
Hint: Think where the tip of the compass
can be placed to get all the 4 arcs
to bulge uniformly from each of
the sides. Try it out!
8.5 Exploring Diagonals of Rectangles and Squares

P Q
Consider a rectangle PQRS. Join PR and QS. d e
These two lines are called the diagonals c f
of the rectangle.
Compare the lengths of the diagonals.
First predict the answer. Then construct a b g
a h
S R
203

rectangle marking the points as shown and measure the diagonals.

In rectangle PQRS, the right angles at P and R are referred to as
opposite angles. The other pair of opposite angles are the right
angles at Q and S.
Observe that a diagonal divides each of the pair of opposite
angles into two smaller angles. In the figure, the diagonal PR divides
angle R into two smaller angles which we simply call g and h. The
diagonal also divides angle P into c and d. Are g and h equal? Are c and
d equal?
First predict the answers, and then measure the angles. What do
you observe? Identify pairs of angles that are equal.
Explore
How should the rectangle be constructed so that the diagonal divides
the opposite angles into equal parts?
How will you record your observations? First, identify the

parameters that need to be tracked. They are the sides of the rectangle
and the 8 angles formed by the two diagonals. Are there any other
measurements that you would want to keep track of?
Sides A B C D E F G H
In your experimentation, did you consider the case when all four
sides of the rectangle are equal? That is, did you consider the case of
a square? See what happens in this special case!
What general laws did you observe with respect to the

Math
angles and sides? Try to frame and discuss them with Talk
your classmates.
How can one be sure if the laws that you have observed
will always be true?
204

Construct
1. Construct a rectangle in which one of the diagonals divides
the opposite angles into 60° and 30°.
Solution
Let us start with a rough diagram.
D C
A B
In what order should its parts be drawn?

We will briefly sketch a possible order of construction.
Step 1
A B A B
AB is drawn with an arbitrary length. What is the next point that

can be located?
205

Step 2
60o
A B
Step 3
We know the line on which D lies. Draw a line through A
perpendicular to AB.
60o
A B
Now ∠A is divided into two angles. One measures 60°. Check

what the other angle is.
There are at least two ways of finding the point D —

• ne uses the fact that all the angles of a rectangle are right
O
angles.
• The other uses the fact that opposite sides are equal.
206

Step 4
Method 1
D C
30o
60o
A B
Draw a line perpendicular to BC at C to get the point D.
Method 2
D C
C
60o 60o
A B A B
Using a compass, mark the point D such that AD = BC.

Join CD to get the required rectangle.
We have seen how to construct rectangles when their sides are

given. But what do we do if a side and a diagonal is given?
207

2. Construct a rectangle where one of its sides is 5 cm and the

length of a diagonal is 7 cm.
Solution
A B
Let us draw a rough diagram.
Let us decide the steps of construction. M
7C
Which line can be drawn first?
D 5 CM C
Step 1
The base CD measuring length 5 cm can be easily constructed.
D 5 cm C
Next?
Step 2
Draw a perpendicular to line DC at the point C. Let us call this line l.
D 5 cm C
This is easy as we know that this line is perpendicular to the

base. The point B should be somewhere on this line l.
How do we spot it? What else do we know about the position of B?
We know that it is of distance 7 cm from the point D.
208

One of the ways of marking B is by taking a ruler and trying to

move it around to get a point on line l that is 7 cm from point D.
However, this requires trial and error. There is another efficient
method which doesn’t involve trial and error.
For this, instead of trying to get that one required point of distance
7 cm from D, let us explore a way of getting all the points of
distance 7 cm from D.
We know what this shape is!
Step 3
Method 1
D C
Construct a circle of radius 7 cm with point D as the centre.

Can you spot the point B here? Remember that it is 7 cm away
from point D and on the line l.
Consider the point at which the circle and the line intersect.
What is its distance from point D? If needed, check your figure.
What do you observe?
The point where the circle intersects the line l is the required
point B.
209

Method 2
To locate the point B, was it necessary to draw the
entire circle? We can see that only the arc near the line l is needed.
So, the third step can also be done as shown in the figure below.
D C
Having marked the three points of the rectangle, we only need

to complete it. Recall that we were in a similar situation in the
previous problem also. We saw two methods of completing the
rectangle from here. We could follow any one of those methods.
Step 4
A B
90°
90°
D C
Construct perpendiculars to DC and BC passing through D and B,

respectively. The point where these lines intersect is the fourth
point A.
Check if ABCD is indeed a rectangle satisfying properties R1 and R2.
210

Construct
1. Construct a rectangle in which one of the diagonals divides the
opposite angles into 50° and 40°.
2. Construct a rectangle in which one of the diagonals divides the
opposite angles into 45° and 45°. What do you observe about the
sides?
3. Construct a rectangle one of whose sides is 4 cm and the diagonal
is of length 8 cm.
4. Construct a rectangle one of whose sides is 3 cm and the diagonal
is of length 7 cm.
8.6 Points Equidistant from Two Given Points

Construct A
House
5 cm 5 cm
Recreate this figure.
Note that all the lines forming the
border of the house are of length 5 cm. B C
Solution
5 cm 5 cm
The first task is to identify in what 1 cm
sequence the lines and curve will
2 cm
D E
have to be drawn
5 cm
Step 1
B C
5 cm 5 cm
1 cm
2 cm
D E
5 cm
211

Can you complete the figure? Try!

We need to locate the point A that is of distance 5 cm from the
points B and C. You might have realised that this can be done
using a ruler. However, this leads to a lot of trial and error. This
construction can be further simplified. How?
If you have guessed that this can be done by the use of compass,
you are right! Go ahead and explore how the point A can be
located without trial and error.
There is a similarity between the problem of finding point A in
this problem and point B at step 3 of the second solved example
of the previous section (see page 209).
Step 2
B C
5 cm 5 cm
1 cm
2 cm
D E
5 cm
Draw a curve that has all its points of 5 cm from the point B; the
circle centred at B should be with 5 cm radius.
Does this help in spotting the point A? Construct and explore in
the figure.
The point A can be located by finding the correct point on the circle
that is of distance 5 cm from the point C. Again, this can be done
using a ruler. But can we use a compass for this?
212

Step 3
Method 1
Take a radius of 5 cm in the compass and with C as the centre,
draw a circle.
B C
5 cm 5 cm
1 cm
2 cm
D E
5 cm
Are you able to spot the point A? Check the figure on your
notebook. What do you observe?
See the point at which both the circles intersect. How far is it
from the point B?
How far is it from C?
Thus, this is the point A!
Think
Was it necessary to draw two full circles to get the point A? We
only needed part of both the circles.
Method 2
So the point A could have been obtained just by drawing arcs of
radius 5 cm from points B and C.
213

B C
5 cm 5 cm
1 cm
2 cm
D E
5 cm
Join A to B and A to C by straight lines.
Having obtained point A, what remains is the construction of

the remaining arc. How do we do it?
Can we use the fact that A is of distance 5 cm from both B and C?
Step 4
Take 5 cm radius in the compass and from A, draw the arc
touching B and C as shown in the figure.
5 cm 5 cm
B C
5 cm 5 cm
1 cm
2 cm
D E
5 cm
The house is ready!
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Construct
1. Construct a bigger house in which all the sides are of length 7 cm.
2. Try to recreate ‘A Person’, ‘Wavy Wave’ and ‘Eyes’ from the section
Artwork, using ideas involved in the ‘House’ construction.
3. Is there a 4-sided figure in which all the sides are equal in length
but is not a square? If such a figure exists, can you construct it?
Hints
A) Eyes (from 8.1 Artwork and construct 2 above)
Part of the construction is shown. Observe it carefully. You will see two
horizontal lines drawn lightly. In geometric constructions, one often
constructs supporting curves or figures that are not part of the given
figure but help in constructing it.
A
The technique to draw the upper and the lower curves of the eye is the
same as that used in the figure “A Person”. Points A and B are the locations
where the tip of the compass is placed when drawing the curves of the
eye. Note that the upper curve and the lower curve should together form
a symmetrical figure. For this to happen, where should these points A and
B be placed? Make a good estimate.
215

Try to get the eyes as symmetrical and identical as possible. This might
need many trials.
B) (From Construct 3 above)

or the purpose of construction, let us take the side lengths to be of 5 cm.
F
Consider this figure.
B
m
5c
A C
5 cm
We need to identify only one more point to make this a 4-sided figure. That
point, let us call it D, should be 5 cm from both B and C. How can such a
point be found?
Can any of the ideas used in the ‘House’ problem be used here?
Summary
All the points of a circle are at the same distance from its centre. This
distance is called the radius of the circle.
A compass can be used to construct circles and their parts.
A rough diagram can be useful in planning how to construct a given
figure.
A rectangle can be constructed given the lengths of its sides or that of
one of its sides and a diagonal.
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9
SYMMETRY
Look around you — you may find many objects that catch your
attention. Some such things are shown below:
Flower Butterfly
Rangoli Pinwheel
There is something beautiful about the pictures above.

The flower looks the same from many different angles. What
about the butterfly? No doubt, the colours are very attractive. But
what else about the butterfly appeals to you?
In these pictures, it appears that some parts of the figure are
repeated and these repetitions seem to occur in a definite pattern.
Can you see what repeats in the beautiful rangoli figure? In the
Chapter 9_Symmetry.indd 217 10-08-2024 16:20:09

rangoli, the red petals come back onto themselves when the flower
is rotated by 90˚ around the centre and so do the other parts of the
rangoli.
What about the pinwheel? Can you spot which pattern is repeating?
ook at the hexagon first.
Hint: L
Now, can you say what figure repeats
along each side of the hexagon? What
is the shape of the figure that is stuck to
each side? Do you recognise it? How do
these shapes move as you move along the
boundary of the hexagon? What about
the other pictures — what is it about
those structures that appeals to you and
what are the patterns in those structures
that repeat? Clouds
On the other hand, look at this picture
of clouds. There is no such repetitive pattern.
We can say that the first four figures are symmetrical. and the last one is
not symmetrical. A symmetry refers to a part or parts of a figure that
are repeated in some definite pattern.
Taj Mahal Gopuram
What are the symmetries that you see in these beautiful structures?
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Symmetry
9.1 Line of Symmetry

Figure (a) shows the picture of a blue triangle with a dotted line.
What if you fold the triangle along the dotted line? Yes, one half
of the triangle covers the other half completely. These are called
mirror halves!
(a) (b)
What about Figure (b) with the four puzzle pieces and a dotted line
passing through the middle? Are they mirror halves? No, when we fold
along the line, the left half does not exactly fit over the right half.
A line that cuts a figure into two parts that exactly overlap when
folded along that line is called a line of symmetry of the figure.
Figure it Out
1. Do you see any line of symmetry in the figures at the start of the
chapter? What about in the picture of the cloud?
2. For each of the following figures, identify the line(s) of symmetry
if it exists.
219

Figures with more than one line of symmetry

Does a square have only one line of symmetry?
Take a square piece of paper. By folding, find all its lines of symmetry.
Fold 1
Fold 2
Fold 3
Fold 4
Here are the different folds giving different lines of symmetry.

• Fold the paper into half vertically.
• Fold it again into half horizontally. (i.e. you have folded it
twice). Now open out the folds.
Vertical Fold
Horizontal Fold
Again fold the square into half (for a third time now), but this
time along a diagonal, as shown in the figure. Again, open it.
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Symmetry
Fold it into half (for the fourth time), but this time along the other
diagonal, as shown in the figure. Open out the fold.
Is there any other way to fold the square so that the two halves
overlap?How many lines of symmetry does the square shape have?
Thus, figures can have multiple lines of symmetry. The figures
below also have multiple lines of symmetry. Can you find them all?.
We saw that the diagonal of a square is also a line of symmetry.

Let us take a rectangle that is not a square. Is its diagonal a line of
symmetry?
First, see the rectangle and answer this
question. Then, take a rectangular piece of
paper and check if the two parts overlap by
folding it along its diagonal. What do you
observe?
Reflection
So far we have been saying that when we fold a figure along a line of
symmetry, the two parts overlap completely. We could also say that
the part of the figure on one side of the line of symmetry is reflected
by the line to the other side; similarly, the part of the figure on the
other side of the line of symmetry is reflected to the first side! Let us
understand this by labeling some points on the figure.
The figure shows a square with its corners labeled A, B, C and D.
Let us first consider the vertical line of symmetry. When we reflect
221

the square along this line, the points B, C on the right get reflected to
the left side and occupy the positions occupied earlier by A, D. What
happens to the points A, D? A occupies the position occupied by B and
D that of C!
A B
D C
What if we reflect along the diagonal from A to C? Where do

points A, B, C and D go? What if we reflect along the horizontal line of
symmetry?
A figure that has a line or lines of symmetry is thus also said to have
reflection symmetry.
Generating Shapes having Lines of Symmetry

So far we have seen symmetrical figures and asymmetrical
figures. How does one generate such symmetrical figures? Let us
explore this.
Ink Blot Devils
You enjoyed doing this earlier in Class 5. Take a piece of paper. Fold
it in half. Open the paper and spill a few drops of ink (or paint) on
one half.
Now press the halves together and then open the paper again.
• What do you see?
• Is the resulting figure symmetric?
• If yes, where is the line of symmetry?
• Is there any other line along which it can be folded to produce
two identical parts?
• Try making more such patterns.
222

Symmetry
Paper Folding and Cutting

Here is another way of making symmetric shapes!
In these two figures, a sheet of paper is
folded and a cut is made along the dotted
line shown. Draw a sketch of how the paper
will look when unfolded.
Do you see a line of symmetry in this
figure? What is it?
Make different symmetric shapes by folding and cutting.
There are more ways of folding and cutting pieces of paper to get
symmetric shapes!
Use thin rectangular coloured
paper. Fold it several times and
create some intricate patterns by
cutting the paper, like the one shown
here. Identify the lines of symmetry
in the repeating design. Use such
decorative paper cut-outs for festive
occasions.
Figure it Out
Punching Game
The fold is a line of symmetry. Punch holes at different locations of
a folded square sheet of paper using a punching machine and create
different symmetric patterns.
223

1. In each of the following figures, a hole was punched in a folded

square sheet of paper and then the paper was unfolded. Identify
the line along which the paper was folded.
Figure (d) was created by punching a single hole. How was the
paper folded?
a. b. c. d.
2. Given the line(s) of symmetry, find the other hole(s):
a. b. c. d. e.
3. Here are some questions on paper cutting.

Consider a vertical fold. We represent it this way:
Vertical Fold
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Symmetry
Similarly, a horizontal fold is represented as follows.
Horizontal Fold
4. After each of the following cuts, predict the shape of the hole when
the paper is opened. After you have made your prediction, make
the cutouts and verify your answer.
a. b.
c.
d.
225

5 Suppose you have to get each of these shapes with some folds and
a single straight cut. How will you do it?
a. The hole in the centre is a square.
b. The hole in the centre is a square.
Note: For the above two questions, check if the 4-sided figures in
the centre satisfy both the properties of a square.
6. How many lines of symmetry do these shapes have?

i.
ii. A triangle with equal sides and equal angles.
226

Symmetry
iii. A hexagon with equal sides and equal angles.
7. Trace each figure and draw the lines of symmetry, if any:
227

8. Find the lines of symmetry for the kolam below.
9. Draw the following.

a. A triangle with exactly one line of symmetry
b. A triangle with exactly three lines of symmetry
c. A triangle with no line of symmetry
Is it possible to draw a triangle with exactly two lines of symmetry?
10. Draw the following. In each case, the figure should contain at least
one curved boundary.
a. A figure with exactly one line of symmetry
b. A figure with exactly two lines of symmetry
c. A figure with exactly four lines of symmetry
11. Copy the following on squared paper. Complete them so that the
blue line is a line of symmetry. Problem (a) has been done for you.
(a) (b) (c)
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Symmetry
(a) (b) (c)
(d) (e) (f)

Hint: For (c) and (f ), see if rotating the book helps!
12. Copy the following drawing on squared paper. Complete each one
of them so that the resulting figure has the two blue lines as lines
of symmetry.
A B C
(a) (b) (c)
A B C
D E F
D
(d) E
(e) F
(f)
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13. Copy the following on a dot grid. For each figure draw two more
lines to make a shape that has a line of symmetry.
9.2 Rotational Symmetry

The paper windmill in the picture looks
symmetrical but there is no line of symmetry!
However you fold it, the two halves will not
exactly overlap. On the other hand, if you rotate
it by 90° about the red point at the centre, the
windmill looks exactly the same.
We say that the windmill has rotational
symmetry.
When talking of rotational symmetry, there is always a fixed
point about which the object is rotated. This fixed point is called the 180˚
centre of rotation.
Will the windmill above look exactly the same when rotated
through an angle of less than 90°?
No!
An angle through which a figure can be rotated to look exactly the 180˚
same is called an angle of rotational symmetry, or just an angle of
symmetry, for short.
230

Symmetry
For the windmill, the angles of symmetry are 90° (quarter turn),
180° (half turn), 270° (three-quarter turn) and 360° (full turn).
Observe that when any figure is rotated by 360°, it comes back to its
original position, so 360° is always an angle of symmetry.
Thus, we see that the windmill has 4 angles of symmetry.
Do you know of any other shape that has exactly four angles of
symmetry?
How many angles of symmetry does a square have? How much
rotation does it require to get the initial square?
We get back a square overlapping with itself after 90° of rotation.
This takes point A to the position of point B, point B to the position
of point C, point C to the position of point D and point D back to the
position of point A. Do you know where to mark the centre of rotation?
Line after
rotation
A B B C
Imaginary
reference line Initial
position
D C A D
Square after
rotation
What are the other angles of symmetry?

C D D A A B
Line after 180 o Initial 270 o
Initial
360o
rotation position position
B A C B C D
Line after
rotation
231

Example: Find the angles of symmetry of the following strip.
Solution: Let us rotate the strip in a clockwise direction about its centre.
A rotation of 180° results in the figure above. Does this overlap

with the original figure.
No. Why?
Another rotation through 180° from this position gives the original
shape.
This figure comes back to its original shape only after one
complete rotation through 360°. So we say that this figure does not
have rotational symmetry
Rotational Symmetry of Figures with

Radial Arms
Consider this figure, a picture with 90O
4 radial arms. How many angles of
symmetry does it have? What are they?
Note that the angle between adjacent
central dotted lines is 90°.
Can you change the angles between
the radial arms so that the figure still has
4 angles of symmetry? Try drawing it.
To check if the figure drawn indeed has 4 angles of symmetry,
you could draw the figure on two different pieces of paper. Cut out
the radial arms from one of the papers. Keep the figure on the paper
fixed and rotate the cutout to check for rotational symmetry.
How will you modify the figure above so that it has only two
angles of symmetry?
232

Symmetry
Here is one way:
We have seen figures having 4 and 2 angles of symmetry. Can we

get a figure having exactly 3 angles of symmetry? Can you use
radial arms for this?
Let us try with 3 radial arms as in the figure below. How many
angles of symmetry does it have and what are they?
Here is a figure with three radial arms.
Trace and cut out a copy of this figure. By rotating the cutout over
this figure determine its angles of rotation.
We see that only a full turn or a rotation of 360° will bring the figure
back into itself. So this figure does not have rotational symmetry as
360 degrees is its only angle of symmetry.
However, can anything in the figure be changed to make it have
3 angles of symmetry?
233

Can it be done by changing the angles between the dotted lines?

If a figure with three radial arms should have rotational symmetry,
then a rotated version of it should overlap with the original. Here
are rough diagrams of both of them.
If these two figures must overlap, what can you tell about the
angles?
C A B C
B A
Observe that ∠A must overlap ∠B, ∠B must overlap ∠C and ∠C

must overlap ∠A.
So, ∠A = ∠B = ∠C. What must this angle be?
We know that a full turn has 360 degrees. This is equally distributed
amongst these three angles. So each angle must be 360°/3= 120°.
So, the radial arms figure with 3 arms shows rotational symmetry
when the angle between the adjacent dotted lines is 120 deg. Use
paper cutouts to verify this observation.
Now how many angles of rotation does the figure have and what
are they?
Initial After 120° After 240° After 360°

position rotation (120° + 120°) (120° + 120°+ 120°)
rotation rotation
Note: The colours have been added to show the rotations.
234

Symmetry
Let us explore more figures.

Can you draw a figure with radial arms that has a) exactly 5
angles of symmetry, b) 6 angles of symmetry? Also find the angles of
symmetry in each case.
Hint: Use 5 radial arms for the first case. What should the angle
between two adjacent radial arms be?
Consider a figure with radial arms having exactly 7 angles
of symmetry. What will be its smallest angle of symmetry? Is the
number of degrees a whole number in this case? If not, express it as
a mixed faction.
Let us find the angles of symmetry for other kinds of figures.
Figure it Out
1. Find the angles of symmetry for the given figures about the point
marked •.
(a) (b) (c)
2. Which of the following figures have more than one angle of

symmetry?
235

3. Give the order of rotational symmetry for each figure:
Let us list down the angles of symmetry for all the cases above.
• Angles of symmetry when there are exactly 2 of them: 180°, 360°.
• Angles of symmetry when there are exactly 3 of them: 120°,
240°, 360°.
• Angles of symmetry when there are exactly 4 of them: 90°,
180°, 270°, 360°.
Do you observe something common about the angles of symmetries
in these cases? The first set of numbers are all multiples of 180. The
second are all multiples of 120. The third are all multiples of 90.
In each case, the angles are the multiples of the smallest angle.
You may wonder and ask if this will always happen. What do you
think?
True or False
• Every figure will have 360 degrees as an angle of symmetry.
236

Symmetry
• If the smallest angle of symmetry of a figure is a natural number

in degrees, then it is a factor of 360.
Is there a smallest angle of symmetry for all figures? It turns out
that this is the case for most figures, except for the most symmetric
shapes like the circle, whose symmetries we now discuss.
Symmetries of a circle
The circle is a fascinating figure. What happens when you rotate a
circle clockwise about its centre? It coincides with itself. It does not
matter what angle you rotate it by! So, for a circle, every angle is an
angle of symmetry.
Now take a point on the rim of the circle and join it to the centre.
Extend the segment to a diameter of the circle. Is that diameter
a line of reflection symmetry? It is. Every diameter is a line of
symmetry!
Like wheels, we can find other objects around us having rotational
symmetry. Find them. Some of them are shown below:
Fan Flower Wheel
237

Figure it Out
1. Color the sectors of the circle below so that the figure has i) 3
angles of symmetry, ii) 4 angles of symmetry, iii) what are the
possible numbers of angles of symmetry you can obtain by
coloring the sectors in different ways?
2. Draw two figures other than a circle and a square that have both
reflection symmetry and rotational symmetry.
3. Draw, wherever possible, a rough sketch of
a. A triangle with at least two lines of symmetry and at least two
angles of symmetry.
b. A triangle with only one line of symmetry but not having
rotational symmetry.
c. A quadrilateral with rotational symmetry but no reflection
symmetry. Try
d. A quadrilateral with reflection symmetry but not having This
rotational symmetry.
4. In a figure, 60° is the smallest angle of symmetry. What are
the other angles of symmetry of this figure?
5. In a figure, 60° is an angle of symmetry. The figure has two angles
of symmetry less than 60°. What is its smallest angle of symmetry?
6. Can we have a figure with rotational symmetry whose smallest
angle of symmetry is
a. 45°?
b. 17°?
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Symmetry
7. This is a picture of the new Parliament Building in Delhi.
a. Does the outer boundary of the picture have reflection

symmetry? If so, draw the lines of symmetries. How many are
they?
b. Does it have rotational symmetry around its centre? If so, find
the angles of rotational symmetry.
8. How many lines of symmetry do the shapes in the first shape
sequence in Chapter 1, Table 3, the Regular Polygons, have? What
number sequence do you get?
9. How many angles of symmetry do the shapes in the first shape
sequence in Chapter 1, Table 3, the Regular Polygons, have? What
number sequence do you get?
10. How many lines of symmetry do the shapes in the last shape
sequence in Chapter 1, Table 3, the Koch Snowflake sequence,
have? How many angles of symmetry?
11. How many lines of symmetry and angles of
symmetry does Ashoka Chakra have?
14. Playing with Tiles

a. Use the color tiles given at the end of the
book to complete the following figure so that it has exactly 2
lines of symmetry.
b. Use 16 such tiles to make figures that have exactly:
1 line of symmetry,
2 lines of symmetry
c. Use these tiles in making creative symmetric designs.
239

240

Symmetry
Game
Draw a 6 by 6 grid. Two players
take turns covering two
adjacent squares by drawing Not allowed
a line. The line can be placed
either way: horizontally or
vertically. The lines cannot
overlap. The game goes on till
a player is not able to place any
more lines. The player who is
not able to place a line loses.
With what strategy can one play to win this game?
Summary
When a figure is made up of parts that repeat in a definite pattern,
we say that the figure has symmetry. We say that such a figures is
symmetrical.
A line that cuts a plane figure into two parts that exactly overlap
when folded along that line is called a line of symmetry or axis of
symmetry of the figure.
A figure may have multiple lines of symmetry.
Sometimes a figure looks exactly the same when it is rotated by an
angle about a fixed point. Such an angle is called an angle of symmetry
of the figure. A figure that has an angle of symmetry strictly between
0 and 360 degrees is said to have rotational symmetry. The point
of the figure about which the rotation occurs is called the centre of
rotation.
A figure may have multiple angles of symmetry.
Some figures may have a line of symmetry but no angle of symmetry,
while others may have angles of symmetry but no lines of symmetry. Some
figures may have both lines of symmetry as well as angles of symmetry.
241

10 THE OTHER SIDE OF
ZERO
Integers
More and more numbers!
Recall that the very first numbers we learned about in the study of
mathematics were the counting numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, …
Then we learned that there are even more numbers! For example,
there is the number 0 (zero), representing nothing, which comes before
1. The number 0 has a very important history in India and now in the
world. For example, around the world we learn to write numbers in
the Indian number system using the digits 0 to 9, allowing us to write
numbers however large or however small using just these 10 digits.
We then learned about more numbers that exist between the
numbers 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, … , such as 1 , 3 , and 13 . These are called
2 2 6
fractions.
But are there still more numbers? Well, 0 is an additional number
that we didn’t know about earlier, and it comes before 1 and is less
than 1. Are there perhaps more numbers that come before 0 and are
less than 0?
Phrased another way, we have seen the number line:
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
However, this is actually only a number ‘ray’, in the language we

learned earlier in geometry; this ray starts at 0 and goes forever to
the right. Do there exist numbers to the left of 0, so that this number
ray can be completed to a true number line?
That is what we will investigate in this chapter!
Chapter 10_The Other Side of Zero.indd 242 10-08-2024 19:07:53

The Other Side of Zero
Can there be a number less than 0? Can you think of any ways to
have less than 0 of something?
10.1 Bela’s Building of Fun

Children flock to Bela’s ice cream factory to see
and taste her tasty ice cream. To make it even
more fun for them, Bela purchased a multi-
storied building and filled it with attractions.
She named it Bela’s Building of Fun.
But this was no ordinary building!
Observe that some of the floors in the
‘Building of Fun’ are below the ground. What are the shops that you
find on these floors? What is there on the ground floor?
A lift is used to go up and down between the floors. It has two
buttons: ‘+’ to go up and ‘–’ to go down. Can you spot the lift?
To go to the Art Centre from the Welcome Hall, you
must press the ‘+’ button twice.
We say that the button press is + + or + 2.
To go down two floors, you must press the ‘–’
button twice, which we write as – – or – 2.
So if you press + 1 (i.e., if you press the ‘+’
button once), then you will go up one floor and if
you press – 1 (i.e., if you press the ‘–’ button
once), then you will go down 1 floor.
Lift button presses and numbers:

+++ is written as + 3
– – – – is written as – 4
What do you press to go four floors up?

What do you press to go three floors down?
243

Numbering the Floors in the Building of Fun

Entry to the ‘Building of Fun’ is at the ground floor level and is called
the ‘Welcome Hall’. Starting from the ground floor, you can reach the
Food Court by pressing + 1 and can reach the Art Centre by pressing
+ 2. So, we can say that the Food Court is on Floor + 1 and that the Art
Centre is on Floor + 2.
Starting from the ground floor, you must press – 1 to reach the Toy
Store. So, the Toy Store is on Floor – 1 similarly starting from the ground
floor, you must press – 2 to reach the Video Games shop. So, the Video
Games shop is on Floor – 2.
The Ground floor is called Floor 0. Can you see why?
Number all the floors in the Building of Fun.
Did you notice that + 3 is the floor number of the Book
Store, but it is also the number of floors you move
when you press + 3? Similarly, – 3 is the floor number
but it is also the number of floors you go down when
you press – 3, i.e., when you press – – – .
A number with a ‘+’ sign in front is called a positive
number. A number with a ‘–’ sign in front is called a
negative number.
In the ‘Building of Fun’, the floors are numbered
using the ground floor, Floor 0, as a reference or starting
point. The floors above the ground floor are numbered
with positive numbers. To get to them from the ground
floor, one must press the + button some number of
times. The floors below the ground are numbered with
negative numbers. To get to them from the ground floor,
one must press the – button some number of times.
Zero is neither a positive nor a negative number.
We do not put a ‘+’ or ‘–’ sign in front of it.
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Addition to keep track of movement

Start from the Food Court and press + 2 in the lift. Where will you
reach? ____________
We can describe this using an expression:
Starting floor + Movement = Target floor.
The starting floor is + 1 (Food Court) and the number of button
presses is + 2. Therefore, you reach the target floor (+ 1) + (+ 2) = + 3
(Book Store).
Figure it Out
1. You start from Floor + 2 and press – 3 in the lift. Where will you
reach? Write an expression for this movement.
2. Evaluate these expressions (you may think of them as Starting
Floor + Movement by referring to the Building of Fun).
a. (+ 1) + (+ 4) = _______ b. (+ 4) + (+ 1) = _______
c. (+ 4) + (– 3) = _______ d. (– 1) + (+ 2) = _______
e. (– 1) + (+ 1) = _______ f. 0 + (+ 2) = _________
g. 0 + (– 2) = _________
3. Starting from different floors, find the movements required to
reach Floor – 5. For example, if I start at Floor + 2, I must press – 7
to reach Floor – 5. The expression is (+ 2) + (– 7) = – 5.
Find more such starting positions and the movements needed to
reach Floor – 5 and write the expressions.
Combining button presses is also addition

Gurmit was in the Toy Store and wanted to go down two floors.
But by mistake he pressed the ‘+’ button two times. He realised his
mistake and quickly pressed the ‘–’ button three times. How many
floors below or above the Toy Store will Gurmit reach?
Gurmit will go one floor down. We can show the movement
resulting from combining button presses as an expression:
(+ 2) + (– 3) = – 1.
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Figure it out
Evaluate these expressions by thinking of them as the resulting movement
of combining button presses:
a. (+ 1) + (+ 4) = _____________ b. (+ 4) + (+ 1) = _____________
c. (+ 4) + (– 3) + (– 2) = _______ d. (– 1) + (+ 2) + (– 3) = _______
Back to Zero!
On the ground floor, Basant is in a great hurry and by
mistake he presses +3. What can he do to cancel it and
stay on the ground floor? He can cancel it by pressing
– 3. That is, (+3) + (– 3) = 0.
We call – 3 the inverse of +3. Similarly, the inverse of
– 3 is +3.
If Basant now presses +4 and then presses – 4 in the
lift, where will he reach?
Here is another way to think of the concept of
inverse. If you are at Floor +4 and you press its inverse
– 4, then you are back to zero, the ground floor! If you
are at Floor – 2 and press its inverse +2, then you go to
(– 2) + (+2) = 0, again the ground floor!
Write the inverses of these numbers:
+4, –4, –3, 0, +2, –1.
Connect the inverses by drawing lines.
+5 –7 –8 +9
–9 +8 –5 +7
Comparing numbers using floors

Who is on the lowest floor?
1. Jay is in the Art Centre. So, he is on Floor +2.
2. Asin is in the Sports Centre. So, she is on Floor ___.
3. Binnu is in the Cinema Centre. So, she is on Floor ____.
4. Aman is in the Toys Shop. So, he is on Floor ____.
246

Floor +3 is lower than Floor +4. So, we write +3 < +4. We

also write +4 > +3.
Should we write –3 < – 4 or – 4 < – 3? H
Floor – 4 is lower than Floor – 3. So, – 4 < – 3. It is also
correct to write – 3 > – 4
Figure it Out
1. Compare the following numbers using the Building of
G
Fun and fill in the boxes with < or >.
a. – 2 +5 b. – 5 +4 c. – 5 –3
d. + 6 –6 e. 0 –4 f. 0 +4
F
Notice that all negative number floors are below E
Floor 0. So, all negative numbers are less than 0. All +1
the positive number floors are above Floor 0. So, all 0
positive numbers are greater than 0. D -1
2. Imagine the Building of Fun with more floors. Compare

the numbers and fill in the boxes with < or >:
a. – 10 – 12 b. + 17 – 10
c. 0 – 20 d. +9 –9
C
e. – 25 –7 f. + 15 – 17
3. If Floor A = – 12, Floor D = – 1 and Floor E = + 1 in the
building shown on the right as a line, find the numbers
B
of Floors B, C, F, G and H.
4. Mark the following floors of the building shown on
the right. A -12
a. – 7 b. – 4 c. + 3 d. – 10
Subtraction to Find which Button to Press

In earlier classes, we understood the meaning of subtraction as ‘take
away’. For example, “There are 10 books on the shelf. I take away 4
books. How many are left on the shelf?”
We can express the answer using subtraction: 10 – 4 = 6. Or ‘Ten
take away four is six.’
247

You may also be familiar with another meaning of subtraction which

is related to comparison or making quantities equal. For example,
consider this situation: “I have `10 with me and my sister has `6.”
Now, I can ask the question: ʻHow much more money should my
sister get in order to have the same amount as me?ʼ
We can write this in two ways: 6 + ? = 10 Or 10 – 6 = ?.
Here, we see the connection between ‘finding the missing number
to be added’ and subtraction.
For subtraction of positive and negative numbers, we will use
this meaning of subtraction as ‘making equal’ or ‘finding the missing
number to be added’.
Evaluate 15 – 5, 100 – 10 and 74 – 34 from this perspective.
Teachers’ Note
In general, when there are two unequal quantities, subtraction can
indicate the change needed to make the quantities equal. Subtraction
shows how much the starting quantity should change in order to
become the target quantity. In the context of different floor levels,
what is the change required to reach the Target Floor from the Starting
Floor? Notice that the change needed may be positive (for an increase)
or negative (for a decrease).
Your starting floor is the Art Centre and your target floor is the
Sports Centre. What should be your button press?
You need to go three floors up, so you should press + 3. We can
write this as an expression using subtraction:
Target floor – Starting floor = Movement needed.
In the above example, the starting floor is + 2 (Art Centre) and
the target floor is + 5. The button press to get to + 5 from + 2 is + 3.
Therefore,
(+ 5) – (+ 2) = + 3.
248

Explanation:
Recall the connection between addition and subtraction. For
3 + ? = 5, we can find the missing number using subtraction: 5 – 3 = 2. That
is, subtraction is the same as finding the missing number to be added.
We know that
Starting floor + Movement needed = Target Floor.
If the movement needed is to be found, then,
Starting floor + ? = Target Floor.
So
Target floor – Starting floor = ? = Movement needed.
More examples:
a. If the Target Floor is – 1 and Starting Floor is – 2, what button
should you press?
You need to go one floor up, so, you should press + 1.
Expression: (– 1) – (– 2) = (+1).
b. If the Target Floor is – 1 and Starting floor is +3, what button
should you press?
You need to go four floors down, so, you should press – 4.
Expression: (– 1) – (+ 3) = (– 4).
c. If the Target Floor is +2 and Starting Floor is – 2, what button
should you press?
You need to go four floors up, so, you should press +4.
Expression: (+ 2) – (– 2) = (+ 4).
Figure it Out
omplete these expressions. You may think of them as finding the
C
movement needed to reach the Target Floor from the Starting Floor.
a. (+ 1) – (+ 4) = _______ b. (0) – (+ 2) = _________
c. (+ 4) – (+ 1) = _______ d. (0) – (– 2) = _________
e. (+ 4) – (– 3) = _______ f. (– 4) – (– 3) = ________
g. (– 1) – (+ 2) = _______ h. (– 2) – (– 2) = ________
i. (– 1) – (+1) = _______ j. (+ 3) – (– 3) = ________
249

Adding and subtracting larger numbers

+
The picture shows a mine, a place where
minerals are extracted by digging into the
rock. The truck is at the ground level, but
the minerals are present both above and
below the ground level. There is a fast
moving lift which moves up and down in
a mineshaft carrying people and ore.
Some of the levels are marked in the
picture. The ground level is marked 0.
Levels above the ground are marked by
positive numbers and levels below the
ground are marked by negative numbers.
The number indicates how many meters
above or below the ground level it is.
In the mine, just like in the Building of Fun:
Starting level + Movement = Target level.
For example:
(+ 40) + (+ 60) = + 100 (– 90) + (– 55) = – 145
Target level – Starting level = Movement needed.
For example:
(+ 40) – (– 50) = + 90 (– 90) – (+ 40) = – 130
How many negative numbers are there?

Bela’s Building of Fun had only six floors above and five floors below.
That is numbers – 5 to + 6. In the mine above, we have numbers from
– 200 to + 180. But we can imagine larger buildings or mineshafts.
Just as positive numbers + 1, + 2, + 3, ... keep going up without an end,
similarly, negative numbers – 1, – 2, – 3, ... keep going down. Positive
and negative numbers, with zero, are called integers. They go both
–
ways from 0: … – 4, – 3, – 2, – 1, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, …
250

Figure it Out
+1000
Complete these expressions.
+900 a. (+ 40) + ______ = + 200 b. (+ 40) + _______ = – 200
+800
c. (– 50) + ______ = + 200 d. (– 50) + _______ = – 200
e. (– 200) – (– 40) = _______ f. (+ 200) – (+ 40) = _______
+700 g. (– 200) – (+ 40) = _______
+600 Check your answers by thinking about the movement in the
mineshaft.
+500
+400
Adding, Subtracting, and Comparing any Numbers
To add and subtract even larger integers, we can imagine even larger
+300
lifts! In fact, we can imagine a lift that can extend forever upwards
+200 and forever downwards, starting from Level 0. There does not even
have to be any building or mine around – just an ‘infinite lift’!
+100
We can use this imagination to add and subtract any integers we like.
0
For example, suppose we want to carry out the subtraction + 2000
– 100 – (– 200). We can imagine a lift with 2000 levels above the ground
and 200 below the ground. Recall that
– 200
Target level – Starting level = Movement needed.
– 300
To go from the Starting Floor – 200 to the Target Floor + 2000, we
– 400 must press + 2200 (+ 200 to get to zero, and then + 2000 more after
– 500 that to get to + 2200). Therefore, (+ 2000) – (– 200) = + 2200.
Notice that (+ 2000) + (+ 200) is also + 2200.
– 600
Try evaluating the following expressions by similarly drawing or
– 700
imagining a suitable lift:
– 800 a. – 125 + (– 30) b. + 105 – (– 55)
c. + 105 + (+ 55) d. + 80 – (– 150)
– 900
e. + 80 + (+ 150) f. – 99 – (– 200)
– 1000 g. – 99 + (+ 200) h. + 1500 – (– 1500)
251

In the above example, we saw that + 2000 – (– 200) = + 2000 + (+ 200)

= + 2200. In other words, subtracting a negative number is the same
as adding the corresponding positive number. That is, we can
replace subtraction of a negative number by addition of a positive
number!
In the other exercises that you did above, did you notice
that subtracting a negative number was the same as adding
the corresponding positive number? Math
Talk
Take a look at the ‘infinite lift’ above. Does it remind you
of a number line? In what ways?
Back to the Number Line

The ‘infinite lift’ we saw above looked very much like a number line,
didn’t it? In fact, if we rotate it by 90°, it basically becomes a number
line. It also tells us how to complete the number ray to a number line,
answering the question that we had asked at the beginning of the
chapter. To the left of 0 are the negative numbers – 1, – 2, – 3, …
Usually we drop the + signs on positive numbers, and simply
write them as 1, 2, 3, …
– 10 – 9 – 8 – 7 – 6 – 5 – 4 – 3 – 2 – 1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Instead of traveling along the number line using a lift, we can

simply imagine walking on it. To the right is the positive (forward)
direction, and to the left is the negative (backward) direction.
Smaller numbers are now to the left of bigger numbers, and
bigger numbers are to the right of smaller numbers. So 2 < 5;
– 3 < 2; and – 5 < – 3.
If, from 5 you wish to go over to 9, how far must you travel along
the number line?
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
252

You must travel 4 steps. That is why 5 + 4 = 9.

(Remember: Starting Number + Movement = Target Number.)
The corresponding subtraction statement is 9 – 5 = 4.
(Remember: Target Number – Starting Number = Movement
Needed.)
Now, from 9, if you wish to go to 3, how much must you travel

along the number line?
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
You must move 6 steps backward, i.e., you must move –6. Hence,
we write 9 + (–6) = 3.
(Remember again : S
tarting number + Movement = Target
number.)
The corresponding subtraction statement is 3 – 9 = – 6.
(Remember again: T
arget number – Starting number = Movement
needed.)
Now, from 3, if you wish to go to – 2, how far must you travel?
– 10 – 9 – 8 – 7 – 6 – 5 – 4 – 3 – 2 – 1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
You must travel – 5 steps, i.e., 5 steps backward. Thus 3 + (– 5) = – 2.

The corresponding subtraction statement is: – 2 – 3 = – 5.
Figure it Out
– 10 – 9 – 8 – 7 – 6 – 5 – 4 – 3 – 2 – 1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1. Mark 3 positive numbers and 3 negative numbers on the number

line above.
2. Write down the above 3 marked negative numbers in the following
boxes:
253

3. Is 2 > – 3? Why? Is – 2 < 3? Why?

4. What are (i) – 5 + 0 (ii) 7 + (– 7) (iii) – 10 + 20 (iv) 10 – 20 (v) 7 – (– 7)
(vi) – 8 – (– 10)?
Using the unmarked number line to add and subtract

Just as you can do additions, subtractions and comparisons with small
numbers using the number line above, you can also do them with
large numbers by imagining an ‘infinite number line’, or drawing an
‘unmarked number line’ as follows:
This line shows only the position of zero. Other numbers are not
marked. It can be convenient to use this unmarked number line to
add and subtract integers. You can show, or simply imagine, the scale
of the number line and the positions of numbers on it.
For example, this unmarked number line (UNL) shows the
addition problem: 85 + (– 60) = ? :
– 60
0 +25 +85
We then can visualise that 85 + (– 60) = 25

The following UNL shows a subtraction problem which can also be
written as a missing addend problem: (– 100) – (+ 250) = ? or 250 + ? = – 100.
?
– 100 0 + 250
We can then visualise that ? = –350 in this problem.

In this way, you can carry out addition and subtraction problems,
with positive and negative numbers, on paper or in your head using an
unmarked number line.
254

Use unmarked number lines to evaluate these expressions:

a. – 125 + (– 30) = _______ –5
b. + 105 – (– 55) = _______
c. + 80 – (– 150) = _______
d. – 99 – (– 200) = _______
–3 0 2
Converting subtraction to addition and addition to subtraction
Recall that Target floor – Starting floor = Movement needed

or
Target floor = Starting floor + Movement needed
If we start at 2 and wish to go to – 3, what is the movement needed?
First method: Looking at the number line, we see we need to
move – 5 (i.e., 5 in the backward direction). Therefore, – 3 – 2 = – 5.
The movement needed is –5.
Second method: Break the journey from 2 to –3 into two parts.
a. From 2 to 0, the movement is 0 – 2 = – 2.
b. From 0 to –3, the movement is – 3 – 0 = – 3.
The total movement is the sum of the two movements: – 3 + (– 2) = – 5.
Look at the two coloured expressions. There is no subtraction in
the second one!
In this way, we can always convert subtraction to addition. The
number that is being subtracted can be replaced by its inverse
and then added instead.
Similarly, a number that is being added can be replaced by
its inverse and then subtracted. In this way, we can also always
convert addition to subtraction.
Examples:
a. (+ 7) – (+ 5) = (+ 7) + (– 5)
b. (– 3) – (+ 8) = (– 3) + (– 8)
c. (+ 8) – (– 2) = (+ 8) + (+ 2)
d. (+ 6) – (– 9) = (+ 6) + (+ 9)
255

10.2 The Token Model

Using Tokens for Addition
In Bela’s Building of Fun, the lift attendant is bored. To entertain
himself, he keeps a box containing lots of positive (red) and negative
(black) tokens. Each time he presses the ‘+’ button, he takes a
positive token from the box and puts it in his pocket. Similarly,
each time he presses the ‘–’ button, he takes a negative token and
puts it in his pocket.
He starts on the ground floor (Floor 0) with an empty pocket. After
one hour, he checks his pocket and finds 5 positive and 3 negative
tokens. On which floor is he now?
He must have pressed ‘+’ five times and ‘–’ 3 times and (+ 5)+(– 3)= + 2.
So he is at Floor + 2 now.
Here is another way to do the calculation.
A positive token and a negative token cancel each other, because

the value of this pair of tokens together is zero. These two tokens in
his pocket meant that he pressed ‘+’ once and ‘–’ once, respectively,
and these cancel each other. We say that a positive and a negative
token make a ʻzero pairʼ. When you remove all the zero pairs, you are
left with two positive tokens, so (+5) + (–3) = +2.
We can perform any such addition using tokens!
Example: Add + 5 and – 8.
256

From the picture, we see that we can remove five zero pairs, and we
are then left with – 3. Therefore (+ 5) + (– 8) = – 3.
Figure it Out
1. Complete the additions using tokens.
a. (+ 6) + (+ 4) b. (– 3) + (– 2)
c. (+ 5) + (– 7) d. (– 2) + (+ 6)
2. Cancel the zero pairs in the following two sets of tokens. On what
floor is the lift attendant in each case? What is the corresponding
addition statement in each case?
a. b.
Using Tokens for Subtraction

We have seen how to perform addition of integers with positive
tokens and negative tokens. We can also perform subtraction using
tokens!
Example: Let us subtract:

(+5) – (+4).
This is easy to do. From 5 positives (+ 5) – (+ 4) = + 1

take away 4 positives to see the result.
Example: Let us subtract:

(–7) – (–5).
Is (– 7) – (– 5) the same as (– 7) + (+ 5)? (–7) – (–5) = –2
Example: Let us subtract: (+ 5) – (+ 6).

Put down 5 positives.
But there are not enough tokens to take out 6 positives!
257

To get around this issue, we can put out an extra zero pair (a
positive and a negative), knowing that this does not change the value
of the set of tokens.
Now we can take out 6 positives!
See what is left:
We conclude that (+5) – (+6) = – 1.
Figure it Out
1. Evaluate the following differences using tokens. Check that you
get the same result as with other methods you now know:
a. (+ 10) – (+ 7) b. (– 8) – (– 4) c. (– 9) – (– 4)
d. (+ 9) – (+ 12) e. (– 5) – (– 7) f. (– 2) – (– 6)
2. Complete the subtractions:
a. (– 5) – (– 7) b. (+ 10) – (+ 13) c. (– 7) – (– 9)
d. (+ 3) – (+ 8) e. (– 2) – (– 7) f. (+ 3) – (+ 15)
Example: + 4 – (– 6).
Start with 4 positives.
We have to take out 6 negatives from these. But there are not
enough negatives.
This is not a problem. We add some zero pairs as this does not
change the value of the set of tokens.
But how many zero pairs? We have to take away 6 negatives so
we put down 6 zero pairs:
Now we can take away 6 negatives:
Therefore, + 4 – (– 6) = + 10.
258

Figure it Out
1. Try to subtract: – 3 – (+ 5).
How many zero pairs will you have to put in? What is the result?
2. Evaluate the following using tokens.
a. (– 3) – (+ 10) b. (+ 8) – (– 7) c. (– 5) – (+ 9)
d. (– 9) – (+ 10) e. (+ 6) – (– 4) f. (– 2) – (+ 7)
10.3 Integers in Other Places
Credits and Debits

Suppose you open a bank account at your local bank with the `100
that you had been saving over the last month. Your bank balance
therefore starts at `100.
Then you make `60 at your job the next day and you deposit it in
your account. This is shown in your bank passbook as a ‘credit’.
Your new bank balance is _______.
The next day you pay your electric bill of `30 using your bank
account. This is shown in your bank passbook as a ‘debit’.
Your bank balance is now ______.
The next day you make a major purchase for your business of
`150. Again this is shown as a debit.
What is your bank balance now? ______
Is this possible?
(Yes, some banks do allow your account balance to become negative,

temporarily! Some banks also charge you an additional amount if
your balance becomes negative, in the form of ‘interest’ or a ‘fee’.)
Your strategic large purchase the previous day allows you to

make 200 rupees at your business the next day.
259

What is your balance now? ______

You can think of ‘credits’ as positive numbers and ‘debits’ as negative
numbers. The total of all your credits (positive numbers) and debits
(negative numbers) is your total bank account balance. This can be
positive or negative!
In general, it is better to try to keep a positive balance in your
bank account!
Figure it Out
1. Suppose you start with 0 rupees in your bank account, and then
you have credits of `30, `40, and `50, and debits of `40, `50, and
`60. What is your bank account balance now?
2. Suppose you start with 0 rupees in your bank account, and then
you have debits of `1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, and 128, and then a single
credit of `256. What is your bank account balance now?
3. Why is it generally better to try and maintain a positive balance in
your bank account? What are circumstances under which it may
be worthwhile to temporarily have a negative balance?
As you can see, positive and negative numbers along with zero are
extremely useful in the world of banking and accounting.
Geographical Cross-sections
We measure the height of geographical features like mountains,
plateaus, and deserts from ‘sea level’. The height at sea level is 0m.
Heights above sea level are represented using positive numbers and
heights below sea level are represented using negative numbers.
260

Figure it Out
1. Looking at the geographical cross section fill in the respective heights:
A B C D
E F: G
Height (m)
A
1500 E
1000
500 C
Sea G
0
level
F
-500
B
-1000
D
-1500
Teachers’ Note
Ask what a geographical cross-section is by showing the figure in this
page. It is like imagining a vertical slice taken out at some location on
the earth. This is what would be seen from a side view. Discuss the
notion of “sea level” for measuring heights and depths in geography.
2. Which is the highest point in this geographical cross-section?

Which is the lowest point?
3. Can you write the points A, B, …, G in a sequence of decreasing order
of heights? Can you write the points in a sequence of increasing
order of heights?
4. What is the highest point above sea level on Earth? What is its
height?
5. What is the lowest point with respect to sea level on land or on the
ocean floor? What is its height? (This height should be negative).
261

Temperature
During summertime you would have heard in the news that there is
a ‘heat wave’. What do you think will be the temperature during the
summer when you feel very hot? In winter we have cooler or colder
temperatures.
What has been the maximum temperature during the summer
and the minimum temperature during the winter last year in your
area? Find out.
When we measure temperature, we use Celsius as the unit of
measure (°C). The thermometers below are showing 40°C and 15°C
temperatures.
Figure it Out
1. Do you know that there are some places 100
˚C
100
˚C
in India where temperatures can go 90 90
below 0°C? Find out the places in India 80 80 Math
where temperatures sometimes go 70 70 Talk
60 60
below 0°C. What is common among
50 50
these places? Why does it become colder 40 40
there and not in other places? 30 30
2. Leh in Ladakh gets very cold during 20 20
winter. The following is a table of 10 10
temperature readings taken during 0 0

-10 -10
different times of the day/night in
-20 -20
Leh on a day in November. Match the
temperature with the appropriate time
of the day/night.
Temperature Time
14°C 02:00 am
8°C 11:00 pm
-2°C 02:00 pm
-4°C 11:00 am
262

Teachers’ Note
Talk about thermometers and how they are used to measure
temperature. Bring a laboratory thermometer to the class and
measure the temperature of hot water and cold water. Point out to
children that there are markings in the thermometer that are below
0°C. Have a discussion on what 0°C indicates, namely, the freezing
point of water.
10.4 Explorations with Integers
A Hollow Integer Grid
4 –1 –3 5 –3 –5
–3 1 0 –5
–1 –1 2 –8 –2 7
There is something special about the numbers in these two grids.

Let us explore what that is.
Top row: 4 + (– 1) + (– 3) = 0 5 + (– 3) + (– 5) = ____

Bottom row: (– 1) + (– 1) + 2 = 0 (– 8) + (– 2) + 7 = ____
Left column: 4 + (– 3) + (– 1) = 0 5 + 0 + (– 8) = ____
Right column: (– 3) + 1 + 2 = 0 (– 5) + (– 5) + 7 = ____
In each grid, the numbers in each of the two rows (the top row
and the bottom row) and the numbers in each of the two columns
(the leftmost column and the rightmost column) add up to give the
same number. We shall call this sum as the ‘border sum’. The border
sum of the first grid is ‘0’.
Figure it Out
1. Do the calculations for the second grid above and find the
border sum.
263

2. Complete the grids to make the required border sum:
– 10 6 8 7
–5 –5 –5
9 –2
Border sum is +4 Border sum is – 2 Border sum is – 4
3. For the last grid above, find more than one way of filling the
numbers to get border sum – 4.
4. Which other grids can be filled in multiple ways? What could
be the reason?
5. Make a border integer square puzzle and challenge your
classmates.
An Amazing Grid of Numbers!

Below is a grid having some numbers. Follow the steps as shown
until no number is left.
3 4 0 9 Circle any number
–2 –1 –5 4
Strike out the row and column of the
1 2 –2 7 chosen number
–7 –6 – 10 –1 Circle any unstruck number
When there are no more unstruck numbers, STOP. Add the circled
numbers.
In the example below, the circled numbers are – 1, 9, – 7, – 2. If you
add them, you get – 1.
3 4 0 9 3 4 0 9 3 4 0 9 3 4 0 9
–2 –1 –5 4 –2 –1 –5 4 –2 –1 –5 4 –2 –1 –5 4
1 2 –2 7 1 2 –2 7 1 2 –2 7 1 2 – 2 7
–7 – 6 – 10 – 1 –7 – 6 – 10 – 1 –7 – 6 – 10 – 1 –7 – 6 – 10 – 1
264

Figure it Out
1. Try afresh, choose different numbers this time. What sum did you
get? Was it different from the first time? Try a few more times!
2. Play the same game with the grids below. What answer did
you get?
7 10 13 16 – 11 – 10 –9 –8
–2 1 4 7 –7 –6 –5 –4
– 11 –8 –5 –2 –3 –2 –1 0
– 20 –7 – 14 – 11 1 2 3 4
3. What could be so special about these grids? Is the

magic in the numbers or the way they are arranged Try
This
or both? Can you make more such grids?
Figure it Out
1. Write all the integers between the given pairs, in increasing order.
a. 0 and – 7 b. – 4 and 4
c. – 8 and – 15 d. – 30 and – 23
2. Give three numbers such that their sum is – 8.
3. There are two dice whose faces have these numbers: – 1, 2, – 3, 4, – 5,
6. The smallest possible sum upon rolling these dice is – 10 = (– 5)
+ (– 5) and the largest possible sum is 12 = (6) + (6). Some numbers
between (– 10) and (+ 12) are not possible to get by adding numbers
on these two dice. Find those numbers.
4. Solve these:
8 – 13 (– 8) – (13) (– 13) – (– 8) (– 13) + (– 8)
8 + (– 13) (– 8) – (– 13) (13) – 8 13 – (– 8)
5. Find the years below.

a. From the present year, which year was it 150 years ago? ________
b. From the present year, which year was it 2200 years ago? _______
(Hint: Recall that there was no year 0.)
265

c. What will be the year 320 years after 680 BCE? ________
6. Complete the following sequences:
a. (– 40), (– 34), (– 28), (– 22), _____, ______, ______
b. 3, 4, 2, 5, 1, 6, 0, 7, _____, _____, _____
c. _____, ______, 12, 6, 1, (– 3), (– 6), _____, ______, ______
7. Here are six integer cards: (+ 1), (+ 7), (+ 18), (– 5), (– 2), (– 9).
You can pick any of these and make an expression using addition(s)
and subtraction(s).
Here is an expression: (+ 18) + (+ 1) – (+ 7) – (– 2) which gives a value
(+ 14). Now, pick cards and make an expression such that its value
is closer to (– 30).
8. The sum of two positive integers is always positive but a (positive
integer) – (positive integer) can be positive or negative. What about
a. (positive) – (negative) b. (positive) + (negative)
c. (negative) + (negative) d. (negative) – (negative)
e. (negative) – (positive) f. (negative) + (positive)
9. This string has a total of 100 tokens arranged in a particular
pattern. What is the value of the string?
10.5 A Pinch of History

Like general fractions, general integers (including zero and the
negative numbers) were first conceived of and used in Asia, thousands
of years ago, before they eventually spread across the world in more
modern times.
The first known instances of the use of negative numbers
occurred in the context of accounting. In one of China’s most
important mathematical works, The Nine Chapters on Mathematical
Art (Jiuzhang Suanshu)—which was completed by the first or second
century CE—positive and negative numbers were represented using
red and black rods, much like the way we represented them using
red and black tokens!
266

There was a strong culture of accountancy also in India in ancient

times. The concept of credit and debit was written about extensively
by Kautilya in his Arthaśhāstra (c. 300 BCE), including the recognition
that an account balance could be negative. The explicit use of
negative numbers in the context of accounting is seen in a number
of ancient Indian works, including in the Bakśhālī Manuscript from
around the year 300, where a negative number was written using
a special symbol placed after the number (rather than before the
number as we do today).
The first general treatment of positive numbers, negative numbers,
and zero - all on an equal footing as equally-valid numbers on which
one can perform the basic operations of addition, subtraction,
multiplication and even division–was given by Brahmagupta in his
Brāhma-sphuṭa-siddhānta in the year 628 CE. Brahmagupta gave clear
and explicit rules for operations on all numbers–positive, negative,
and zero–that essentially formed the modern way of understanding
these numbers that we still use today!
Some of Brahmagupta’s key rules for addition and subtraction of
positive numbers, negative numbers, and zero are given below:
Brahmagupta’s Rules for Addition (Brāhma-sphuṭa-siddhānta

18.30, 628 CE):
1. The sum of two positives is positive (e.g., 2 + 3 = 5).
2. The sum of two negatives is negative. To add two negatives, add
the numbers (without the signs), and then place a minus sign to
obtain the result (e.g., (– 2) + (– 3) = – 5).
3. To add a positive number and a negative number, subtract the
smaller number (without the sign) from the greater number
(without the sign), and place the sign of the greater number to
obtain the result (e.g., – 5 + 3 = – 2, 2 + (– 3) = – 1 and – 3 + 5 = 2).
4. The sum of a number and its inverse is zero (e.g., 2 + (– 2) = 0).
5. The sum of any number and zero is the same number (e.g., – 2 + 0
= – 2 and 0 + 0 = 0).
267

Brahmagupta’s Rules for Subtraction (Brāhma-sphuṭa-siddhānta

18.31-18.32):
1. If a smaller positive is subtracted from a larger positive, the result
is positive (e.g., 3 – 2 = 1).
2. If a larger positive is subtracted from a smaller positive, the result
is negative (e.g., 2– 3 = – 1).
3. Subtracting a negative number is the same as adding the
corresponding positive number (e.g., 2 – (– 3) = 2 + 3).
4. Subtracting a number from itself gives zero (e.g., 2 – 2 = 0 and – 2 –
(– 2) = 0).
5. Subtracting zero from a number gives the same number (e.g., – 2
– 0 = – 2 and 0 – 0 = 0). Subtracting a number from zero gives the
number’s inverse (e.g., 0 – (– 2) = 2).
Once you understand Brahmagupta’s rules, you can do addition

and subtraction with any numbers whatsoever - positive, negative,
and zero!
Figure it Out
1. Can you explain each of Brahmagupta’s rules in terms of Bela’s
Building of Fun, or in terms of a number line?
2. Give your own examples of each rule.
Brahmagupta was the first to describe zero as a number on

an equal footing with positive numbers as well as with negative
numbers, and the first to give explicit rules for performing arithmetic
operations on all such numbers, positive, negative, and zero—forming
what is now called a ring. It would change the way the world does
mathematics.
However, it took many centuries for the rest world to adopt zero
and negative numbers as numbers. These numbers were transmitted
to, accepted, by and further studied by the Arab world by the 9th
century, before making their way to Europe by the 13th century.
268

Surprisingly, negative numbers were still not accepted by many

European mathematicians even in the 18th century. Lazare Carnot, a
French mathematician in the 18th century, called negative numbers
‘absurd’. But over time, zero as well as negative numbers proved
to be indispensable in global mathematics and science, and are
now considered to be critical numbers on an equal footing with
and as important as positive numbers—just as Brahmagupta had
recommended and explicitly described way back in the year 628 CE!
This abstraction of arithmetic rules on all numbers paved the way
for the modern development of algebra, which we will learn about
in future classes.
Summary
There are numbers that are less than zero. They are written with a ‘–’
sign in front of them (e.g., – 2), and are called negative numbers. They
lie to the left of zero on the number line.
The numbers ..., – 4, – 3, – 2, – 1, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, ... are called integers. The
numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, ... are called positive integers and the numbers …,
– 4, – 3, – 2, – 1 are called negative integers. Zero (0) is neither positive
nor negative.
Every given number has another number associated to it which when
added to the given number gives zero. This is called the additive
inverse of the number. For example, the additive inverse of 7 is – 7 and
the additive inverse of – 543 is 543.
Addition can be interpreted as Starting Position + Movement = Target
Position.
Addition can also be interpreted as the combination of movements or
increases/decreases: Movement 1 + Movement 2 = Total Movement.
Subtraction can be interpreted as Target Position – Starting Position
= Movement.
269

In general, we can add two numbers by following Brahmagupta’s Rules

for Addition:
a. If both numbers are positive, add the numbers and the result is a
positive number (e.g., 2 + 3 = 5).
b. If both numbers are negative, add the numbers (without the signs),
and then place a minus sign to obtain the result (– 2 + (– 3) = – 5).
c. If one number is positive and the other is negative, subtract the
smaller number (without the sign) from the greater number
(without the sign), and place the sign of the greater number to
obtain the result (e.g., – 5 + 3 = – 2).
d. A number plus its additive inverse is zero (e.g., 2 + (– 2) = 0).
e. A number plus zero gives back the same number (e.g., – 2 + 0 = – 2).
We can subtract two integers by converting the problem into an addition
problem and then following the rules of addition. Subtraction of an
integer is the same as the addition of its additive inverse.
Integers can be compared: … – 3 < – 2 < – 1 < 0 < +1 < +2 < +3 <... Smaller
numbers are to the left of larger numbers on the number line.
We can give meaning to positive and negative numbers by interpreting
them as credits and debits. We can also interpret positive numbers
as distances above a reference point like the ground level. Similarly,
negative numbers can be interpreted as distances below the ground
level. When measuring temperatures in degrees Celsius, positive
temperatures are those above the freezing point of water, and negative
temperatures are those below the freezing point of water.
270

Integers: Snakes and Ladders

Rules
• This is a two player game. Each player has 1 pawn. Both
players start at 0. Players can reach either – 50 or + 50 to win
but need not decide or fix this before or during play.
• Each player rolls two dice at a time. One dice has numbers
from + 1 to + 6 and the other dice has numbers from – 1 to – 6.
• After each roll of the two dice, the player can add or subtract
them in any order and then move the steps that indicate the
result. A positive result means moving towards + 50 and a
negative result means moving towards – 50.
271

Learning Material Sheets.indd 273 06-08-2024 11:15:09
Tangram
Note: Cut each shape along the white border.
B E
A D
F
G

Learning Material Sheets.indd 279
1 UNIT
1 2
2 2
1 2 3
3 3 3
1 2 3 4
4 4 4 4
1 2 3 4 5
5 5 5 5 5
1 2 3 4 5 6
6 6 6 6 6 6
Note: Cut each shape along the white border.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
7 7 7 7 7 7 7
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Fraction Wall
8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10
06-08-2024 11:15:10
Note: Cut the tiles along the white border.

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GANITA PRAKASH

Textbook of Mathematics for

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First Edition ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

OFFICES OF THE PUBLICATION

Chief Production Officer : Arun Chitkara

Chief Editor : Bijnan Sutar

Chief Business Manager : Amitabh Kumar

Published at the Publication Division Cover and Layout

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Dinesh Prasad Saklani

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Member-Coordinator, CAG (Mathematics)

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Summary of Key points

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This is especially required when you see a new question or

You will find that some questions are accompanied by their

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Learning Material Sheets 273

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1.1 What is Mathematics?

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For example, the understanding of patterns in the motion of stars,

1.2 Patterns in Numbers

Among the most basic patterns that occur in mathematics are

Table 1 shows some key number sequences that are studied in

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Table 1 Examples of number sequences

1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, ... (All 1’s)

1.3 Visualising Number Sequences

Many number sequences can be visualised using pictures.

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Table 2 Pictorial representation of some number sequences

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1. Copy the pictorial representations of the number sequences

That’s right, they are called hexagonal numbers! Draw these in

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Here is one possible way of thinking about Powers of 2:

1.4 Relations among Number Sequences

A picture can explain it

Think about it for a moment before reading further!

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Here is how it can be done:

This picture now makes it evident that

Another example of such a relation between sequences:

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Can you find a similar pictorial explanation?

Learning Material Sheets 273

9. Find your own patterns or relations in and among the sequences