GANITA PRAKASH

Textbook of Mathematics
Grade

8
Part-I

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 0874 – Ganita Prakash ISBN 978-93-5729-642-7
Textbook of Mathematics for Grade 8 (Part-I)

First Edition ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

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 FOREWORD
The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 envisages a system of
education in the country that is rooted in an Indian ethos and its
civilisational accomplishments in all fields of knowledge and human
endeavour. At the same time, it aims to prepare students to engage
constructively with the opportunities 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
(NCF-SE) 2023 across curricular areas at all stages. By nurturing
students’ inherent abilities across all five planes of human existence
(pañchakośhas), the Foundational and Preparatory Stages set the
Stage for further learning at the Middle Stage. Spanning Grades 6 to
8, the Middle Stage serves as a critical three-year bridge between the
Preparatory and Secondary Stages.
The NCF-SE 2023, at the Middle Stage, aims to equip students with
the skills that are needed to grow, as they advance in their lives. It aims
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 are intended to play a central role
in mediating between content and pedagogy’s role that helps strike
a judicious balance between direct instruction and opportunities
for exploration and inquiry. Among the 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),
on its part, is committed to providing students with such high-quality
textbooks. Various Curricular Area Groups (CAGs), which have been
constituted for this purpose, comprising notable subject-experts,
pedagogues, and practising teachers as their members, have made all
possible efforts to develop such textbooks. Ganita Prakash, the textbook
of mathematics for Grade 8 (Part 1) is designed to make learning fun,
engaging, and meaningful. Aligned with NEP 2020 and NCF-SE 2023, the
textbook continues to foster the spirit of experiential and inquiry-based
learning, a spirit already introduced in the mathematics textbooks for
Grades 6 and 7. It encourages students to ask questions, think critically,
and understand concepts of mathematics through real-world contexts.

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 The textbook makes efforts to encourage the students to observe and
explore patterns around them and discover mathematical concepts on
their own. The content is structured in a way that supports a joyful
and progressive understanding of increasingly complex concepts,
easing students into more advanced learning. The content attempts to
integrate mathematics with other subject areas, such as Science, Social
Science with cross-cutting themes like environmental education, value
education, inclusive education, and Indian Knowledge Systems (IKS).
At most of the places the concept begins with either a story or a puzzle
that not only makes students think but also feels the importance of the
concept.
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
June 2025 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 Arts, Physical Education, and Vocational
Education. Learning Mathematics contributes to the development of
capacities to make informed choices and decisions. Understanding
numbers and quantitative arguments is necessary for effective and
meaningful democratic and economic participation. Mathematics
thus plays an important role in achieving the overall aims of school
education.
Mathematics at the Middle Stage is a major challenge and performs
the dual role of being both close to the experience and environment of a
learner and being abstract. It performs the role of developing intuition,
while also maintaining and emphasising rigour. It is enhancing critical
and logical thinking, while also developing artistry and creativity, and
a sense of elegance and aesthetics. Mathematics provides students with
plenty of opportunities to explore and discover concepts on their own
while also teaching the best-known methods in the global repertoire of
mathematics.
This textbook attempts to address the goals and challenges of
learning mathematics. The writers have aimed to strike a judicious
balance between informal and formal definitions and methods in
helping students to develop both intuition and rigour. The textbook
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 textbook to encourage constant
exploration. Many of the questions are open-ended to stimulate
classroom discussion.
The Chapter 1: ‘A Square and A Cube’ is an introduction to the
special types of numbers called squares and cubes through engaging
explorations, and contexts. Chapter 2: ‘Power Play’ considers short
and logical ways of expressing very large numbers, and discusses how
they can be written and read without ambiguity. Chapter 3: ‘A Story of
Numbers’ reveals how the idea of number and number representation
evolved over the course of time, across different places in the world,
to finally reach its modern efficient form. Chapter 4: ‘Quadrilaterals’
discusses some interesting types of four-sided figures and problems
based on them. Chapter 5: ‘Number Play’ shows different properties of
numbers studied by the students with a balance of engaging activities

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 through visualisation and rigorous mathematical reasoning. Chapter 6:
‘We Distribute, Yet Things Multiply’ covers aspects related to Algebra,
and in particular, the distributive law. Chapter 7: ‘Proportional
Reasoning’ explores a new way to compare two quantities using
daily life situations. In all the chapters, an attempt has been made to
emphasise connections with other subjects including Art, History and
Science.
By weaving storytelling and hands-on activities together, as done in
Grades 6 and 7, 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 students the opportunity to discuss,
play, engage with each other and 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 the
underlying concepts. The mathematics classroom should not expect a
blind application of algorithms but should rather encourage students
to find many different ways to solve problems.
As per the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, computational
thinking has also been gently introduced through puzzles, games,
and interactive exercises that encourage students on these aspects.
Indian rootedness has also been kept in mind while giving contexts
for different concepts. The contributions of Indian mathematicians
have also 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 in this textbook are related to daily life
situations. An attempt has been made to use contexts and materials
that students are familiar with. Learning material sheets have been
given at the back of the book that may be photocopied and used in
the classroom. Exercises or activities are often given to encourage
peer group efforts and discussions. However, this 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 can revise these concepts in
a spiralling way so that students are able to appreciate the entire
conceptual structure of mathematics. We hope that teachers may
focus more on the ideas of squares and cubes, exponents, evolution
of numbers and other notions that are new to the students, and are
foundational for further learning.
Finally, this textbook aims to be more than just a textbook — it is
a passport to a world of mathematical discovery and exploration.
Whether used in the classroom or at home, we hope that it inspires
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 students to embark on their own mathematical adventures, empowering
them to see the beauty and relevance of Mathematics in everything.
With its engaging approach and comprehensive coverage of Grade 8
mathematics concepts, this textbook aims to captivate young minds
and set them on a lifelong journey of mathematical discovery.
I once again thank all the writers of and contributors of this textbook
for their valuable contribution and service to the nation’s mathematics
teachers, learners and enthusiasts.
We look forward to your comments and suggestions regarding the
textbook and hope that you will send interesting exercises, activities
and tasks that you may develop while teaching and learning for future
editions.

Ashutosh Wazalwar
Professor and Academic Convener
Department of Education in
Science and Mathematics
National Council of Educational
Research and Training

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 NATIONAL SYLLABUS AND
TEACHING LEARNING MATERIAL
COMMITTEE (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 to the
Prime Minister (EAC – PM)
5. Shekhar Mande, Former Director General, 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, Bharatiya Bhasha Samiti,
Ministry of Education
12. Sanjeev Sanyal, Member, Economic Advisory Council to the Prime
Minister (EAC – PM)
13. M.D. Srinivas, Chairperson, Centre for Policy Studies, Chennai
14. Gajanan Londhe, Head, Programme Office
15. Rabin Chhetri, Director, SCERT, Sikkim
16. Pratyusa Kumar Mandal, Professor, Department of Education in
Social Sciences, NCERT, New Delhi
17. Dinesh Kumar, Professor, Department of Education in Science and
Mathematics, 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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 TEXTBOOK DEVELOPMENT TEAM
Contributors
Amartya Kumar Dutta, Professor, Stat-math Unit, Indian Statistical
Institute (ISI), Kolkata
Anjali Gupte, Principal (Retd.), Vidya Bhavan Public School, Udaipur
Ashutosh Kedarnath Wazalwar, Professor, Department of Education
in Science and Mathematics, NCERT, New Delhi — CAG (Mathematics)
(Member Coordinator)
H. S. Sharada, Assistant Mistress, Government High School,
M. C. Thalalu, H. D. Kote Taluk, Mysore, Karnataka
Madhavan Mukund, Director, Chennai Mathematical Institute,
Chennai — CAG Chairperson (Mathematics)
Madhu B., Assistant Professor, Regional Institute of Education (RIE),
Mysuru
Manjul Bhargava, Professor, Princeton University, and Co-Chairperson,
NSTC
Padmapriya Shirali, Former Principal, Sahyadri School KFI, Pune
Patanjali Sharma, Assistant Professor, Regional Institute of Education,
(RIE), Ajmer
Ramchandar Krishnamurthy, Principal, Azim Premji School, Bengaluru
Shivkumar K. M., Senior Consultant, Programme Office, NSTC,
Shravan S. K., Senior Consultant, Programme Office, NSTC
Reviewers
Aaloka Kanhere, Project Scientific Officer, Homi Bhabha Centre for
Science Education, Mumbai
Aparna Lalingakar, Director, Aksharbrahma Consultancy, Pune —
(Team Leader)
Rakhi Bannerjee, Associate Professor, Azim Premji University,
Bengaluru
Sujatha Ramdorai, Professor, University of British Columbia, Canada,
Member NSTC
Vijayan K., Professor, Department of Curriculum Studies and
Development, NCERT, New Delhi

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
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 from different
Institutions were invited. The NCERT acknowledges the valuable
views and inputs given by subject experts — Sreelatha Iyengar, TGT
Mathematics, Bengaluru; Jaspal Kaur, TGT (Maths), School of Excellence,
Delhi; Sunita Sharma, TGT Mathematics, The Heritage School, Delhi;
Sangeeta Solanki, TGT Mathematics, The Heritage School, Delhi;
Rishikesh Kumar, Assistant Professor, DESM, NCERT, New Delhi.
The Council acknowledges the efforts of Nidhi M. Shastri and Tarun
Choubisa from the Programme Office; and Sneha Titus, Cheif Editor, At
Right Angles, Azim Premji University, Bengaluru, Ramu MS Philatelist,
for providing the pictures of the stamps of some endangered species;
Shweta Rao, Banyan Tree, New Delhi for providing Infographic; and
Arkaprovo Das for making world maps.
Acknowledgements are due for 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, Department of Education in Science and
Mathematics, NCERT for providing support in the development of
the textbook. The NCERT gratefully acknowledges the contributions
of Kishore Singhal, Ayaz Ahmad Ansari, DTP Operators (contractual),
Publication Division, and Abhilash Kumar, DTP Operator of DESM
NCERT for all their efforts.
The Council acknowledges the efforts of Ilma Nasir, Editor
(contractual); Adiba Tasneem, Ariba Usman, Jatinder Kumar, Praveen
Kumar and Talha Faisal Khan, Proofreaders (contractual), Publication
Division, NCERT. The Council also appreciates the efforts of Pawan
Kumar Barriar, In charge, DTP Cell; Mohan Singh, Vivek Mandal and
Anita Kumari DTP Operators (contractual), Publication Division, NCERT,
for finalising this textbook.

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 NOTE TO THE 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.
To support you in posing problems, all the problems or questions
in this book are marked using the icons and . These icons
are indicators of potential opportunities to start off a process of
problem-solving and exploration in the classroom. You will find some
Math
of the problems labelled ‘ Talk ’. Such questions can especially be

made as topics for classroom discussion.

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 An owl mascot appears at various points in the textbook to highlight
important mathematical processes, ways of thinking, and problem-
solving approaches. These can be brought out during classroom
discussions, both where the owl is present and also in other similar
situations.
In this grade, justification/proofs of mathematical statements find
an increased presence. Students should be gently encouraged to
deduce properties and not be forced to do it. Whenever students face
challenges in doing it, encourage them to experiment and observe, and
use their intuition in figuring out properties. Providing justification/
proof is a skill that takes time to develop.
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 textbook 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 textbook!

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 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.
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 students 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 the icon
and . This indicates that it is time for figuring things out!
indicates a main question and indicates a sub-question.

The icons for owls and suggest some important

processes in the learning of mathematics.

Sometimes you will find many questions collected together in a
single place under the title ‘Figure it Out’.

Some questions are marked Math . These questions are meant to

Talk
be discussed and worked out with your peers.

Finally, there are questions marked Try . These questions

This
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
Note to the Teacher xi
A Note to Students xiv

Chapter 1
A Square and A Cube  1

Chapter 2
Power Play 19

Chapter 3
A Story of Numbers 48

Chapter 4
Quadrilaterals 82

Chapter 5
Number Play 112

Chapter 6
We Distribute, Yet Things Multiply 136

Chapter 7
Proportional Reasoning-1 159

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 1 A SQUARE AND A CUBE

Queen Ratnamanjuri had a will written that described her fortune of

ratnas (precious stones) and also included a puzzle. Her son Khoisnam
and their 99 relatives were invited to the reading of her will. She wanted
to leave all of her ratnas to her son, but she knew that if she did so, all
their relatives would pester Khoisnam forever. She hoped that she had
taught him everything he needed to know about solving puzzles. She left
the following note in her will—
“I have created a puzzle. If all 100 of you answer it at the same time, you
will share the ratnas equally. However, if you are the first one to solve the
problem, you will get to keep the entire inheritance to yourself. Good luck.”
The minister took Khoisnam and his 99 relatives to a secret room in
the mansion containing 100 lockers.
The minister explained— “Each person is assigned a number from 1 to
100.
• Person 1 opens every locker.
•  erson 2 toggles every 2nd locker (i.e., closes it if it is open, opens
P
it if it is closed).
• Person 3 toggles every 3rd locker (3rd, 6th, 9th, … and so on).
• Person 4 toggles every 4th locker (4th, 8th, 12th, … and so on).
This continues until all 100 get their turn.
In the end, only some lockers remain open. The open lockers reveal
the code to the fortune in the safe.”

Before the process begins, Khoisnam realises that he

already knows which lockers will be open at the end.
How did he figure out the answer?
Hint: Find out how many times each locker is toggled.

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 Ganita Prakash | Grade 8

If a locker is toggled an odd number of times, it will be open. Otherwise,

it will be closed. The number of times a locker is toggled is the same as
the number of factors of the locker number. For example, for locker #6,
Person 1 opens it, Person 2 closes it, Person 3 opens it and Person 6 closes
it. The numbers 1, 2, 3, and 6 are factors of 6. If
the number of factors is even, the locker will be 6:
toggled by an even number of people and it will 1×6
eventually be closed. 2×3
Note that each factor of a number has a Factors are
‛partner factor’ so that the product of the pair 1, 2, 3 and 6.
of factors yields the given number. Here, 1 and
6 form a pair of partner factors of 6, and 2 and 3
form another pair.
Does every number have an even number of factors?

4: 9:
1:
1×4 1×9
1×1
2×2 3×3
The only factor
Factors are Factors are
is 1.
1, 2 and 4. 1, 3 and 9.

We see in some cases, like 2 × 2, that the numbers in the pair are the
same.
Can you use this insight to find more numbers with an odd number of
factors?
For instance, 36 has a factor pair 6 × 6 where both numbers are 6.
Does this number have an odd number of factors? If every factor of 36
other than 6 has a different factor as its partner, then we can be sure
that 36 has an odd number of factors. Check if this is true.
Hence all the following numbers have an odd number of factors —
1 × 1, 2 × 2, 3 × 3, 4 × 4, ...
A number that can be expressed as the product of a number with
itself is called a square number, or simply a square. The only numbers
that have an odd number of factors are the squares, because they each
have one factor which, when multiplied by itself, equals the number.
Therefore, every locker whose number is a square will remain open.

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Write the locker numbers that remain open.

Khoisnam immediately collects word clues from these 10 lockers and

reads, “The passcode consists of the first five locker numbers that
were touched exactly twice.”

Which are these five lockers?

The lockers that are toggled twice are the prime numbers, since each
prime number has 1 and the number itself as factors. So, the code is
2-3-5-7-11.

1.1 Square Numbers

Why are the numbers, 1, 4, 9, 16, …, called squares? We know that the
number of unit squares in a square (the area of a square) is the product
of its sides. The table below gives the areas of squares with different
sides.

Sidelength Area
(in units) (in sq units)

1 1 × 1 = 1 sq. unit

2 2 × 2 = 4 sq. units

3 3 × 3 = 9 sq. units

4 4 × 4 = 16 sq. units

5 5 × 5 = 25 sq. units

10 10 × 10 = 100 sq. units

We use the following notation for squares.

1 × 1 = 12 = 1
2 × 2 = 22 = 4
3 × 3 = 32 = 9,
4 × 4 = 42 = 16
5 × 5 =. 52 = 25.
..
In general, for any number n, we write n × n = n2, which is read as ‛n squared’.
Can we have a square of sidelength 35 or 2.5 units?
Yes, there area in square units are ( 35 ) = ( 35 ) × ( 35 ) = (25
9
2
),
2
and (2.5) = (2.5) × (2.5) = 6.25.
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The squares of natural numbers are called perfect squares. For

example, 1, 4, 9, 16, 25, … are all perfect squares.

Patterns and Properties of Perfect Squares

Find the squares of the first 30 natural numbers and fill in the table below.

12 = 1 112 = 121 212 = 441

22 = 4 122 = 222 =

32 = 9 132 =

42 = 16 142 =

52 = 25 152 =

62 = 162 =

72 = 172 =

82 = 182 =

92 = 192 =

102 = 202 =

What patterns do you notice? Share your observations and make Math
conjectures. Talk
Study the squares in the table above. What are the digits in the
units places of these numbers? All these numbers end with 0, 1, 4, 5, 6 or
9. None of them end with 2, 3, 7 or 8.
Math
If a number ends in 0, 1, 4, 5, 6 or 9, is it always a square? Talk
The numbers 16 and 36 are both squares with 6 in the units place.
However, 26, whose units digit is also 6, is not a square. Therefore, we
cannot determine if a number is a square just by looking at the digit in
the units place. But, the units digit can tell us when a number is not a
square. If a number ends with 2, 3, 7, or 8, then we can definitely say that
it is not a square.
Write 5 numbers such that you can determine by looking at their units
digit that they are not squares.
The squares, 12, 92, 112, 192, 212, and 292, all have 1 in their units place.
Write the next two squares. Notice that if a number has 1 or 9 in the
units place, then its square ends in 1.
Let us consider square numbers ending in 6: 16 = 42, 36 = 62, 196 = 142,
256 = 162, 576 = 242, and 676 = 262.

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Which of the following numbers have the digit 6 in the units place?
(i) 382 (ii) 342 (iii) 462 (iv) 562 (v) 742 (vi) 822

Find more such patterns by observing the numbers and their squares
from the table you filled earlier.
Consider the following numbers and their squares.

102 = 100
We have 202 = 400 But we have
one zero. 2
two zeroes.
40 = 1600

1002 = 10000
We have 2002 = 40000 But we have
two zeroes. 2
700 = 490000 four zeroes.

9002 = 810000

If a number contains 3 zeros at the end, how many zeros will its square
have at the end?
What do you notice about the number of zeros at the end of a number
and the number of zeros at the end of its square? Will this always
happen? Can we say that squares can only have an even number of
zeros at the end?

What can you say about the parity of a number and its square?

Perfect Squares and Odd Numbers

Let us explore the differences between consecutive squares. What do
you notice?
4 – 1 = 3   9 – 4 = 5   16 – 9 = 7   25 – 16 = 9
See if this pattern continues for the next few square numbers.
From this we observe that adding consecutive odd numbers starting
from 1 gives consecutive square numbers, as shown below.

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.

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 Ganita Prakash | Grade 8

Do you remember this pattern from Grade 6?

The picture below explains why each subsequent inverted L gives the
next odd number:

1+3 1 + 3 + (3 + 2) 1+3+5 1 + 3 + 5 + (5 + 2) 1+3+5+7

We see that the sum of the first n odd numbers is n2. Alternatively,
every square is a sum of successive odd numbers starting from 1.

In mathematics, sometimes arguments and reasoning can be

presented without any words. Visual proofs can be complete by
themselves.

Also, we can find out whether a number is a perfect square by

successively subtracting odd numbers. Consider the number 25,
successively subtract 1, 3, 5, ... until you get or cross over 0,

25 – 1 = 24   24 – 3 = 21   21 – 5 = 16   16 – 7 = 9   9 – 9 = 0

This means 25 = 1 + 3 + 5 + 7 + 9 and is thus a perfect square. Since we

subtracted the first five odd numbers, 25 = 52.

Using the pattern above, find 362, given that 352 = 1225.
From the question we know that 1225 is the sum of the first 35 odd
numbers. To find 362, we need to add the 36th odd number to 1225.
How do we find the 36th odd number?
The 1st odd number is 1, 2nd odd number is 3, 3rd number is 5, …, 6th
odd number is 11 and so on.
What is the nth odd number?
The nth odd number is 2n–1.
Therefore, the 36th odd number is 71.
By adding 71 to 1225, we get 1296, which is 362.
Consider a number such as 38 that is not a square and subtract
consecutive odd numbers starting from 1.

38 – 1 = 37 37 – 3 = 34 34 – 5 = 29 29 – 7 = 22 22 – 9 = 13
13 – 11 = 2 2 – 13 = – 11
This shows that 38 cannot be expressed as a sum of consecutive odd
numbers starting with 1.
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 A Square and A Cube

Thus, we can say that a natural number is not a perfect square if it

cannot be expressed as a sum of successive odd natural numbers starting
from 1. We can use this result to find out whether a natural number is a
perfect square.

Find how many numbers lie between two consecutive perfect squares.
Do you notice a pattern?
How many square numbers are there between 1 and 100? How many
are between 101 and 200? Using the table of squares you filled earlier,
enter the values below, tabulating the number of squares in each block
of 100. What is the largest square less than 1000?

1 –100 101 – 200 201 – 300 301 – 400 401 – 500

501 – 600 601 – 700 701 – 800 801 – 900 901 – 1000

Perfect Squares and Triangular Numbers

Do you remember triangular numbers?

1 3 6 10 15

Can you see any relation between triangular numbers and square
numbers? Extend the pattern shown and draw the next term.

1 + 3 = 4 = 22 3 + 6 = 9 = 32 6 + 10 = 16 = 42

Square Roots
The area of a square is 49 sq. cm. What is the length of its side?
We know that 7 × 7 = 49, or 72 = 49.

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So, the length of the side of a square with an area of 49 sq. cm is 7 cm.
We call 7 the square root of 49.
In general, if y= x2 then x is the square root of y.

What is the square root of 64?

We know that 8 × 8 is 64. So, 8 is the square root of 64. What about
– 8 × – 8 ? That is 64 too!
82 = 64, and (– 8)2 = 64.
So, the square roots of 64 are + 8 and – 8.
Every perfect square has two integer square roots. One is positive and
the other is negative. The square root of a number is denoted by
Thus, 64 =± 8 and 100 =± 10 .
Note that 8 =± 8 and 10 =± 10 . In general, n =± n .
2 2 2

In this chapter, we shall only consider the positive square root.

Given a number, such as 576 or 327, how do we find out if it is a

perfect square? If it is a perfect square, how can we find its square Math
root? Talk
We know that perfect squares end in 1, 4, 9, 6, 5, or an even
number of zeros. But, it is not certain that a number that satisfies this
condition is a square.
We can clearly say that 327 is not a perfect square. However, we
cannot be sure that 576 is a perfect square.
1. We can list all the square numbers in sequence and find out
whether 576 occurs among them. We know that 202 = 400, we can
find squares of 21, 22, 23, … and so on until we get 576 or a number
greater than 576.
202 = 400   212 = 441   222 = 484   232 = 529   242 = 576
However, this process becomes inefficient for larger numbers.
2. Recall that every square can be expressed as a sum of consecutive
odd numbers starting from 1.
Consider 81 .

81 – 1 = 80 80 – 3 = 77 77 – 5 = 72 72 – 7 = 65 65 – 9 = 56
56 – 11 = 45 45 – 13 = 32 32 – 15 = 17 17 – 17 = 0

 From 81, we successively subtracted consecutive odd numbers

starting from 1 until we obtained 0 at the 9th step. Therefore 81 = 9.
 Can we find the square root of 729 using this method? Yes, but it
will be time-consuming.
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 A Square and A Cube

3. We know that a perfect square is obtained by multiplying an integer

by itself. Will looking at a number’s prime factorisation help in
determining whether it is a perfect square?
 Yes, if we can divide the prime factors of a number into two
equal groups, then the product of the prime factors in either group
combine to form the square root.

Is 324 a perfect square?

324 = 2 × 2 × 3 × 3 × 3 × 3.
These can be grouped as
324 = (2 × 3 × 3) × (2 × 3 × 3).
= (2 × 3 × 3)2 = 182.
We can also write the prime factors in pairs. That is,
324 = (2 × 2) × (3 × 3) × (3 × 3),
which shows that 324 is a perfect square. Thus,
324 = (2×3×3)2 = 182.
Therefore, 324 =18.
Is 156 a perfect square?
The prime factorisation of 156 is 2 × 2 × 3 × 13.
We cannot pair up these factors.
Therefore, 156 is not a perfect square.
Find whether 1156 and 2800 are perfect squares using prime factorisation.
We can estimate the square root of larger perfect squares by looking
at the closest perfect squares we are familiar with and then narrowing
down the interval to search.
For example, to find 1936 , we can reason as follows:
(i) 1936 is between 1600 (402) and 2500 (502), so 40 < 1936 < 50.
(ii) The last digit of 1936 is 6. So, the last digit of the square root
must either be 4 or 6. It can be 44 or 46.
(iii) If we calculate 452, we can compare it with 1936 to halve
the interval to search from 40–50 to either 40–45 or 45–50.
We can write 452 as (40 + 5) (40 + 5) = 402 + 2 × 40 × 5 + 52
= 1600 + 400 + 25 = 2025.
(iv) 2025 > 1936. So, 40 < 1936 < 45
(v) From the observation in point b we can guess and then verify
that 1936 is 44.
Consider the following situations —
Aribam and Bijou play a game. One says a number and the other
replies with its square root. Aribam starts. He says 25, and Bijou quickly
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responds with 5. Then Bijou says 81, and Aribam answers 9. The game
goes on till Aribam says 250. Bijou is not able to answer because 250
is not a perfect square. Aribam asks Bijou if he can at least provide a
number that is close to the square root of 250.
For this, Bijou needs to estimate the square root of 250.
We know that 100 < 250 < 400 and 100 = 10 and 400 = 20.
So, 10 < 250 < 20.
But, we are still not very close to the number whose square is 250.
We know that 152 = 225 and 162 = 256.
Therefore, 15 < 250 < 16. Since 256 is much closer to 250 than 225,
250 is approximately 16. We also know it is less than 16.
Here is another problem that requires estimating square roots.
Akhil has a square piece of cloth of area 125 cm2. He wants to know
if he can cut out a square handkerchief of side 15 cm. If not, he wants
to know the maximum size handkerchief that can be cut out from this
piece of cloth with an integer side length.
125 is not a perfect square. The nearest perfect squares are 112 = 121
and 122 = 144. So the largest square handkerchief with integer side length
that can be cut out from this piece of cloth has side length 11 cm.

Figure it Out

1. Which of the following numbers are not perfect squares?

(i) 2032 (ii) 2048 (iii) 1027 (iv) 1089
2. Which one among 642, 1082, 2922, 362 has last digit 4?
3. Given 1252 = 15625, what is the value of 1262?
(i) 15625 + 126 (ii) 15625 + 262 (iii) 15625 + 253
(iv) 15625 + 251 (v) 15625 + 512
4. Find the length of the side of a square whose area is 441 m2.
5. Find the smallest square number that is divisible by each of the
following numbers: 4, 9, and 10.
6. Find the smallest number by which 9408 must be multiplied so that
the product is a perfect square. Find the square root of the product.
7. How many numbers lie between the squares of the following
numbers?
(i) 16 and 17 (ii) 99 and 100
8. In the following pattern, fill in the missing numbers:

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 A Square and A Cube

12 + 22 + 22 = 32
22 + 32 + 62 = 72
32 + 42 + 122 = 132
42 + 52 + 202 = (___)2
92 + 102 + (___)2 = (___)2
9. H
 ow many tiny squares are there in the following picture? Write the
prime factorisation of the number of tiny squares.

1.2 Cubic Numbers

You know the word cube from geometry. A cube
is a solid figure all of whose all sides meet at right
angles and are equal. How many cubes of side 1 cm
make a cube of side 2 cm?

How many cubes of side 1 cm will make a cube of side 3 cm?

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Consider the numbers 1, 8, 27, ...

These numbers are called perfect cubes. Can you see why they are
named so?
Each of them is obtained by multiplying a number by itself three
times. We note that
1=1×1×1
8=2×2×2
27 = 3 × 3 × 3
Is 9 a cube?
We see that 2 × 2 × 2 = 8 and 3 × 3 × 3 = 27. This shows that
9 is not a perfect cube. Nor is any number from 10 to 26.

Can you estimate the number of unit cubes in a cube with an

edge length of 4 units?
It has 64 unit cubes! If you notice carefully, each layer
of this cube has 4 × 4 unit cubes. Each square layer has
16 unit cubes (4 × 4), and there are 4 such layers, so the
total number of unit cubes is 4 × 4 × 4 = 64.
Since 53 = 5 × 5 × 5 = 125, 125 is a cube.
In general, for any number n, we write the cube
n × n × n as n3.

Complete the table below.

13 = 1 113 = 1331
23 = 8 123 =
33 = 27 133 = 2197
43 = 64 143 = 2744
53 = 125 153 =
63 = 163 =
73 = 173 = 4913
83 = 183 = 5832
93 = 193 = 6859
103 = 203 =

What patterns do you notice in the table above? Math

Talk
We know that 0, 1, 4, 5, 6, 9 are the only last digits possible for

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 A Square and A Cube

squares. What are the possible last digits of cubes?

Similar to squares, can you find the number of cubes with 1 digit, 2 digits,
and 3 digits? What do you observe?

Can a cube end with exactly two zeroes (00)? Explain.

Just as we can take squares of fractions/decimals — ( 46 )2, (13.08)2, and
(– 6)2 — we also can compute cubes of such numbers — ( 46 )3, (13.08)3, and
(– 6)3.
( 46 )3 = ( 46 ) × ( 46 ) × ( 46 ) = ( 216
64 )

(13.08)3 = 13.08 × 13.08 × 13.08 = 2237.810112

(– 6)3 = – 6 × – 6 × – 6 = – 216.

Taxicab Numbers
Once when Srinivasa Ramanujan was working with
G. H. Hardy at the University of Cambridge, Hardy had
come to visit Ramanujan at a hospital when he was
ill. Hardy had ridden in a taxicab numbered 1729 and
he remarked that 1729 was ‘rather a dull number,’
adding that he hoped that this was not a bad sign.
Ramanujan immediately replied, “No, Hardy, it is a
very interesting number. It is the smallest number
that can be expressed as the sum of two cubes in two
different ways”.
1729 = 13 + 123
= 93 + 103.
Because of this story, 1729 has since been known as the Hardy–
Ramanujan Number. And numbers that can be expressed as the sum of
two cubes in two different ways are called taxicab numbers.

The next two taxicab numbers after 1729 are 4104 and 13832. Find Try
the two ways in which each of these can be expressed as the sum of This
two positive cubes.
How did Ramanujan know this? Well, he loved numbers. All through his
life, he tinkered with numbers. During Ramanujan’s time in Cambridge,
his colleagues often marveled at his ability to see deep patterns in numbers
that seemed arbitrary to others. His colleague, John Littlewood, once said,
“Every positive integer was one of his [Ramanujan's] personal friends”.

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Perfect Cubes and Consecutive Odd Numbers

Consecutive odd numbers have a role to play with cubes too. Look at the
following pattern:
1 = 1 = 13
3 + 5 = 8 = 23
7 + 9 + 11 = 27 = 33
13 + 15 + 17 + 19 = 64 = 43
21 + 23 + 25 + 27 + 29 = 125 = 53
31 + 33 + 35 + 37 + 39 + 41 = 216 = 63.
Later in this series, we get the following set of consecutive numbers:
91 + 93 + 95 + 97 + 99 + 101 + 103 + 105 + 107 + 109.

Can you tell what this sum is without doing the calculation?

Cube Roots
We know that 8 = 23.
We call 2 the cube root of 8 and denote this by 2 = 3
8.
More generally, if y = x , then x is the cube root of y. This is denoted by
3

x = 3 y . So, 3 8 = 2 = 2.
3 3

Similarly, 3 27 = 3 33 = 3 and 3 1000 = 3 103 =3. In general, 3 n3 = n .

How do we find out if a number is a cube? Taking inspiration from the
case of squares, let us see if we can use prime factorisations.

Let us check if 3375 is a perfect cube.

3375 = 3 × 3 × 3 × 5 × 5 × 5.
Can the factors be split into three identical groups? For 3375, we can
form three groups of (3 × 5). So,
3375 = (3 × 5) × (3 × 5) × (3 × 5)
= (3 × 5)3 = 153.
Another way is to check if the factors can be grouped into triplet(s):
3375 = (3 × 3 × 3) × (5 × 5 × 5) = 33 × 53.
This means 3 3375 =15 .

Is 500 a perfect cube?

500 = 2 × 2 × 5 × 5 × 5. We see that the factors cannot be split into three
identical groups. Therefore, 500 is not a perfect cube.

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 A Square and A Cube

Prime Factorisation of a
Prime Factorisation of its Cube
Number

4=2×2 43 = 64 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 = 23 × 23

6=2×3 63 = 216 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 3 × 3 × 3 = 23 × 33

15 = 3 × 5 153 = 3375 = 3 × 3 × 3 × 5 × 5 × 5 = 33 × 53

123 = 1728 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 3 × 3 × 3
12 = 2 × 2 × 3
= 23 × 23 × 33

Observe that each prime factor of a number appears three times in

the prime factorisation of its cube.

Find the cube roots of these numbers:

(i) 3
64 = (ii) 3
512 = (iii) 3
729 =

Successive Differences
We know that the differences between consecutive perfect squares gives
the sequence of odd numbers. Observe the figure below where the
differences are computed successively for perfect squares. After two
levels, all the differences are the same.
Perfect Squares
1 4 9 16 25 36 ...
Level 1 3 5 7 9 11 ...

Level 2 2 2 2 2 ...

Compute successive differences over levels for perfect cubes until all the
differences at a level are the same. What do you notice?
Perfect Cubes
1 8 27 64 125 216 ...

1.3 A Pinch of History

The first known list of perfect squares and perfect
cubes was compiled by the Babylonians as far
back as 1700 BCE. These lists, found on clay tablets,
were used to quickly find square roots and cube

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 Ganita Prakash | Grade 8

roots in problems involving land measurement, architectural design,

and other areas where geometric calculations were necessary.
In ancient Sanskrit works the term varga was used both for the square
figure or its area, as well as the square power, and the term ghana was
used both for the solid cube as well as the product of a number with
itself three times. The fourth power was called varga-varga . These terms
were used in India at least from the third century BCE.
Aryabhata (499 CE) states
“A square figure of four equal sides and the number representing its area
are called varga. The product of two equal quantities is also called varga.”
Thus, the term varga for square power has its origin in the graphical
representation of a square figure.
Why is the word ‘root’ (the root of a plant) used for the mathematical
operation √ (square root, cube root, etc.)?
It is because, in ancient India, the Sanskrit word mula, meaning
root of a plant, basis, cause, origin, etc., was used for the mathematical
operations of taking roots.
In Sanskrit, varga-mula (the basis, cause, origin of the square) was
used for square-root and ghana-mula was used for cube-root. This use of
mula for the mathematical concept of root was subsequently emulated
in Arabic and Latin through their corresponding words for the root of
a plant — jidhr and radix respectively. The term mula for root has been
used in India at least from the first century BCE. Another term used was
pada (foot, basis, cause, origin). Brahmagupta (628 CE) explains, ‘The
pada (root) of a krti (square) is that of which it is a square.’

Figure it Out

1. Find the cube roots of 27000 and 10648.

2. What number will you multiply by 1323 to make it a cube number?
3. State true or false. Explain your reasoning.
(i) The cube of any odd number is even.
(ii) There is no perfect cube that ends with 8.
(iii) The cube of a 2-digit number may be a 3-digit number.
(iv) The cube of a 2-digit number may have seven or more digits.
(v) Cube numbers have an odd number of factors.
4. You are told that 1331 is a perfect cube. Can you guess without
factorisation what its cube root is? Similarly, guess the cube roots of
4913, 12167, and 32768.

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5. Which of the following is the greatest? Explain your reasoning.

(i) 673 – 663 (ii) 433 – 423 (iii) 672 – 662 (iv) 432 – 422

SUMMARY
„ A number obtained by multiplying a number by itself is called
a square number. Squares of natural numbers are called
perfect squares.
„ All perfect squares end with 0, 1, 4, 5, 6 or 9. Squares can only
have an even number of zeros at the end.
„ Square root is the inverse operation of square. Every perfect
square has two integral square roots. The positive square root
9 = 3.
of a number is denoted by the symbol √ . For example, √
„ A number obtained by multiplying a number by itself three
times is called a cube. For example 1, 8, 27, ... ,etc., are cubes.
„ A number is a perfect square if its prime factors can be split
into two identical groups.
„ A number is a perfect cube if its prime factors can be split into
three identical groups
„ The symbol 3 denotes cube root. For example, 3
27 = 3.

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 Square Pairs!

Look at the following numbers: 3 6 10 15 1

They are arranged such that each pair of adjacent numbers adds up to
a square.
3 + 6 = 9, 6 + 10 = 16, 10 + 15 = 25, 15 + 1 = 16.
Try arranging the numbers 1 to 17 (without repetition) in a row in a
similar way — the sum of every adjacent pair of numbers should be a
square.
Can you arrange them in more than one way? If not, can you explain
why?

Can you do the same with numbers from 1 to 32 (again, without

repetition), but this time arranging all the numbers in a circle?

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1 A SQUARE AND A CUBE

Page No. 2
Does every number have an even number of factors?
Ans. No
Can you use this insight to find more numbers with an odd number of
factors?
Ans. Yes, all square numbers have an odd number of factors.

Page No. 3
Write the locker numbers that remain open
Ans. 1, 4, 9, 16, 25, 36, 49, 64, 81, 100.

Page No. 5
Which of the following numbers have the digit 6 in the units place?
(i) 382 (ii) 342 (iii) 462 (iv) 562 (v) 742 (vi) 822.
Ans. (ii) 342 (iii) 462 (iv) 562 (v) 742
If a number contains 3 zeros at the end, how many zeros will its square
have at the end?
Ans. Six zeros.
What do you notice about the number of zeros at the end of a number and
the number of zeros at the end of its square? Will this always happen?
Can we say that squares can only have an even number of zeros at the
end?
Ans. Number of zeros at the end of the square is double the number of
zeros at the end of a number. Yes. Yes.
What can you say about the parity of a number and its square?
Ans. Square of an even number is even & square of an odd number is
odd.

1
 Page No. 7
Find how many numbers lie between two consecutive perfect squares.
Do you notice a pattern?
Ans. If p & q are successive perfect square numbers, then there will be
(q − p − 1) numbers between them.

Yes.

Page No. 10

Figure it Out
1. Which of the following numbers are not perfect squares?
(i) 2032 (ii) 2048 (iii) 1027 (iv) 1089
Ans. (i), (ii) and (iii)
2. Which one among 642 , 1082 , 2922 , 362 has last digit 4?
Ans. 1082 and 2922
3. Given 1252 = 15625, what is the value of 1262?
(i) 15625 + 126 (ii) 15625 + 262 (iii) 15625 + 253
(iv) 15625 + 251 (v) 15625 + 512
Ans. (iv)
4. Find the length of the side of a square whose area is 441 m2.
Ans. 21 m
5. Find the smallest square number that is divisible by each of the
following numbers: 4, 9, and 10
Ans. 900
6. Find the smallest number by which 9408 must be multiplied so that
the product is a perfect square. Find the square root of the product.
Ans. 3; 168
7. How many numbers lie between the squares of the following numbers?
(i) 16 and 17
Ans. 32

(ii) 99 and 100

Ans. 198

2
8. In the following pattern, fill in the missing numbers:
Ans. 12 + 22 + 22 = 32
22 + 32 + 62 = 72
32 + 42 + 122 = 132
42 + 52 + 202 = (21)2
92 + 102 + (90)2 = (91)2

Page No. 13
Can a cube end with exactly two zeroes (00)? Explain.
Ans. No

Page No. 14
Can you tell what this sum is without doing the calculation?
Ans. 103 = 1000

Page No. 15
Find the cube roots of these numbers:
(i) 3
√64 = (ii) 3√512 = (iii) 3√729 =
Ans. (i) 4 (ii) 8 (iii) 9

Page No. 16

Figure it Out
1. Find the cube roots of 27000 and 10648.
Ans. (i) Cube root of 27000 = 30 (ii) Cube root of 10648 = 22
2. What number will you multiply by 1323 to make it a cube number?
Ans. 7
3. State true or false. Explain your reasoning.
(i) The cube of any odd number is even.
(ii) There is no perfect cube that ends with 8.
(iii) The cube of a 2-digit number may be a 3-digit number.
(iv) The cube of a 2-digit number may have seven or more digits.
(v) Cube numbers have an odd number of factors

3
 Ans.
(i) False
(ii) False
(iii) False
(iv) False
(v) False
4. You are told that 1331 is a perfect cube. Can you guess without
factorisation what its cube root is? Similarly, guess the cube roots of
4913, 12167, and 32768.
Ans. Yes it is 11.
3
√1331 = 11, 3√4913 = 17, 3√12167 = 23, 3√32768=32
Use your own strategies to guess.

Page No. 17

5. Which of the following is the greatest? Explain your reasoning.

(i) 673 – 663 (ii) 433 – 423 (iii) 672 – 662 (iv) 432 – 422
Ans. (i) 673 − 663 is the greatest.

4
 2 POWER PLAY

2.1 Experiencing the Power Play ...

An Impossible Venture!
Take a sheet of paper, as large a sheet as you can find. Fold it once. Fold
it again, and again.

How many times can you fold it over and over?

Estu says “I heard that a sheet of paper can’t be folded more than
7 times”.
Roxie replies “What if we use a thinner paper, like a newspaper or a
tissue paper?”
Try it with different types of paper and see what happens.

What! That’s crazy!

If you can fold a paper Just 46 times!? You
46 times, it will be so must have ignored
thick that it can reach Well, why
several zeros
the Moon! don’t you find
after 46.
out yourselves.

Say you can fold a sheet of paper as many times as you wish. What would
its thickness be after 30 folds? Make a guess.
Let us find out how thick a sheet of paper will be after 46 folds. Assume
that the thickness of the sheet is 0.001 cm.

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The following table lists the thickness after each fold. Observe that the
thickness doubles after each fold.

Fold Thickness Fold Thickness Fold Thickness

1 0.002 cm 7 0.128 cm 13 8.192 cm
2 0.004 cm 8 0.256 cm 14 16.384 cm
3 0.008 cm 9 0.512 cm 15 32.768 cm
4 0.016 cm 10 1.024 cm 16 65.536 cm
5 0.032 cm 11 2.048 cm 17 ≈ 131 cm
6 0.064 cm 12 4.096 cm
(We use the sign ‘≈’ to indicate ‘approximately equal to’.)
After 10 folds, the thickness is just above 1 cm (1.024 cm).
After 17 folds, the thickness is about 131 cm (a little more than 4 feet).
Now, what do you think the thickness would be after 30 folds? Math
45 folds? Make a guess. Talk

Fill the table below.

Fold Thickness Fold Thickness Fold Thickness

18 ≈ 262 cm 21 24
19 ≈ 524 cm 22 25
20 ≈ 10.4 m 23 26
After 26 folds, the thickness is approximately 670 m. Burj Khalifa
in Dubai, the tallest building in the world, is 830 m tall.
Fold Thickness Fold Thickness
27 ≈ 1.3 km 29
28 30
After 30 folds, the thickness of the paper is about 10.7 km, the
typical height at which planes fly. The deepest point discovered in
the oceans is the Mariana Trench, with a depth of 11 km.
Fold Thickness Fold Thickness Fold Thickness
31 36 41
32 37 42
33 38 43
34 39 44
35 40 45

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 Power Play

It might be hard to digest the fact that after just 46 folds, the thickness
is more than 7,00,000 km. This is the power of multiplicative growth,
also called exponential growth. Let us analyse the growth.
We have seen that the thickness doubles after every fold.

Fold 4 0.016 cm Fold 9 0.512 cm

Fold 5 0.032 cm Fold 10 1.024 cm

Notice the change in thickness after two

Fold 4 0.016 cm
folds. By how much does it increase?
After any 3 folds, the thickness increases 8 Fold 6 0.064 cm
times (= 2 × 2 × 2). Check if that is true. Similarly,
from any point, the thickness after 10 folds increases by 1024 times
(= 2 multiplied by itself 10 times), as shown in the table below.

Fold Thickness Times increased by

0 to 10 1.024 cm – 0.001 cm 1.024 ÷ 0.001
= 1.023 cm = 1024
10 to 20 10.485 m – 1.024 cm 10.485 m ÷ 1.024 cm
≈ 10.474 m = 1024
20 to 30 10.737 km – 10.485 m 10.737 km ÷ 10.485 m
≈ 10.726 km = 1024
30 to 40 10995 km – 10.737 km 10995 km ÷
≈ 10984.2 km 10.737 km = 1024

2.2 Exponential Notation and Operations

The initial thickness of the paper was 0.001 cm.
Upon folding once, its thickness became 0.001 cm × 2 = 0.002 cm.
Folding it twice, its thickness became —
0.001 cm × 2 × 2 = 0.004 cm, or 0.001 cm × 22 = 0.004 cm (in shorthand).
Upon folding it thrice, its thickness became —
0.001 cm × 2 × 2 × 2, or 0.001 cm × 23 = 0.008 cm.
When folded four times, its thickness became —
0.001 cm × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2, or 0.001 cm × 24 = 0.016 cm.
Similarly, the expression for the thickness of the paper when folded 7
times will be 0.001 cm × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2, or 0.001 cm × 27 = 0.128 cm.
We have seen that square numbers can be expressed as n2 and cube
numbers as n3.
n × n = n2 (read as ‘n squared’ or ‘n raised to the power 2’)

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n × n × n = n3 (read as ‘n cubed’ or ‘n raised to the power 3’)

n × n × n × n = n4 (read as ‘n raised to the power 4’ or ‘the 4th power of n’)
n × n × n × n × n × n × n = n7 (read as ‘n raised to the power 7’ or ‘the 7th
power of n’) and so on.
In general, we write na to denote n multiplied by itself a times.
54 = 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 = 625.
54 is the exponential form of 625. Here, 4 is the
exponent/power, and 5 is the base. Exponents of 5 is read as
4

the form 5n are called powers of 5: 51, 52, 53, 54, etc. ‘5 raised to the power 4’ or
‘5 to the power 4’ or
2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 = 210 = 1024.
‘5 power 4’ or
Remember the 1024 from earlier? There, it meant ‘4th power of 5’
that after every 10 folds, the thickness increased
1024 times.

Which expression describes the thickness of a sheet of paper after

it is folded 10 times? The initial thickness is represented by the
letter-number v.
(i) 10v (ii) 10 + v (iii) 2 × 10 × v
(iv) 210 (v) 210v (vi) 102v
Some more examples of exponential notation:
4 × 4 × 4 = 43 = 64.
(– 4) × (– 4) × (– 4) = (– 4)3= – 64.
Similarly,
a × a × a × b × b can be expressed as a3b2 (read as a cubed b squared).
a × a × b × b × b × b can be expressed as a2b4 (read as a squared b raised
to the power 4).
Remember that 4 + 4 + 4 = 3 × 4 = 12, whereas 4 × 4 × 4 = 43 = 64.

Express the number 32400 as a product of its prime factors

2 32400
and represent the prime factors in their exponential form.
2 16200
32400 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 5 × 5 × 3 × 3 × 3 × 3. 2 8100
In exponential form, this would be 2 4050
32400 = 24 × 52 × 34. 5 2025
5 405
What is (– 1)5 ? Is it positive or negative? What about (– 1)56 ?
3 81
Is (– 2)4 = 16? Verify. What is 02, 05 ? 3 27
What is 0n ? 3 9
Figure it Out
3 3
1. Express the following in exponential form:
1
(i) 6×6×6×6 (ii) y×y
(iii) b×b×b×b (iv) 5×5×7×7×7
(v) 2×2×a×a (vi) a×a×a×c×c×c×c×d

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 Power Play

2. Express each of the following as a product of powers of their prime

factors in exponential form.
(i) 648    (ii) 405    (iii) 540    (iv) 3600
3. Write the numerical value of each of the following:
(i) 2 × 103 (ii) 72 × 23 (iii) 3 × 44
(iv) (– 3)2 × (– 5)2 (v) 32 × 104 (vi) (– 2)5 × (– 10)6
The Stones that Shine ...
Three daughters with curious eyes,
Each got three baskets — a kingly prize.
Each basket had three silver keys,
Each opens three big rooms with ease.
Each room had tables — one, two, three,
With three bright necklaces on each, you see.
Each necklace had three diamonds so fine…
Can you count these stones that shine?
Hint: Find out the number of baskets and rooms.
How many rooms were there altogether?
The information given can be visualised as shown below.
King

daughters

baskets

keys

rooms

From the diagram, the number of rooms is 34. This can be computed
by repeatedly multiplying 3 by itself,
3 × 3 = 9.
9 × 3 = 27.
27 × 3 = 81.
81 × 3 = 243.
How many diamonds were there in total? Can we find out by just one
multiplication using the products above?
The number of diamonds is 3 × 3 × 3 × 3 × 3 × 3 × 3 = 37.

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 Ganita Prakash | Grade 8

We can write
37 = (3 × 3 × 3 × 3) × (3 × 3 × 3)
We had computed till 34. To find 37, we can just multiply 34 (= 81) with
33 (= 27).
= 34 × 33 3×3×3×3×3×3×3
= 81 × 27 = 2187 34 33
37 can also be written as 32 × 35. Can you reason out why?
This can be easily extended to products where exponents are the
same letter-numbers.
Write the product p4 × p6 in exponential form.
p4 × p6 = (p × p × p × p) × (p × p × p × p × p × p) = p10.
We can generalise this to —
na × nb = na+b, where a and b are counting numbers.
Use this observation to compute the following. Math
(i) 2 9
(ii) 5 7
(iii) 46 Talk
4 can be evaluated in these two ways,
6

(4 × 4 × 4) × (4 × 4 × 4) = 43 × 43 (4 × 4) × (4 × 4) × (4 × 4) = 42 × 42 × 42
                     =64 × 64                        =16 × 16 × 16
                     =4096.                       =4096.
43 × 43 is the square of 43, i.e., 42 × 42 × 42 is the cube of 42, i.e.,
3
43 × 43 can also be written as 42 × 42 × 42 can also be written as (42) .
2
(43) .
2
Similarly, 74 = (7 × 7) × (7 × 7) = 72 × 72 = (72) , and
210 = (2 × 2) × (2 × 2) × (2 × 2) × (2 × 2) × (2 × 2)
= (22) × (22) × (22) × (22) × (22)
5
= (22) .
10 2
Is 2 also equal to (25) ? Write it as a product.
10
2 = (2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2) × (2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2)
= (25) × (25)
= (25)2.
In general,
b a a×b ab
(na) =(nb) = n =n , where a and b are counting numbers.

Write the following expressions as a power of a power in at least two

different ways:
(i) 86    (ii) 715    (iii) 914    (iv) 58

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 Power Play

Magical Pond
In the middle of a beautiful, magical pond
lies a bright pink lotus. The number of
lotuses doubles every day in this pond.
After 30 days, the pond is completely
covered with lotuses. On which day was
the pond half full?
If the pond is completely covered by
lotuses on the 30th day, how much of it is
covered by lotuses on the 29th day?
Since the number of lotuses doubles every day, the pond should be
half covered on the 29th day.
Write the number of lotuses (in exponential form) when the pond was —
(i) fully covered (ii) half covered

There is another pond in which the number of lotuses triples every day.
When both the ponds had no flowers, Damayanti placed a lotus in the
doubling pond. After 4 days, she took all the lotuses from there and put
them in the tripling pond. How many lotuses will be in the tripling pond
after 4 more days?
After the first 4 days, the number of lotuses is 1 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 = 24.
After the next 4 days, the number of lotuses is 24 × 3 × 3 × 3 × 3 = 24 × 34.
What if Damayanti had changed the order in which she placed the
flowers in the lakes? How many lotuses would be there?
1 × 34 × 24 = (3 × 3 × 3 × 3) × (2 × 2 × 2 × 2).
Can this product be expressed as an exponent mn, where m and n are
some counting numbers?
By regrouping the numbers,
= (3 × 2) × (3 × 2) × (3 × 2) × (3 × 2)
= (3 × 2)4 = 64.
In general form,
ma × na = (mn)a , where a is a counting number.
Use this observation to compute the value of 25 × 55.
Simplify 10
4

54 and write it in exponential form.

In general, we can show that m ( n) .
m a­
a

n a =

25

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 Ganita Prakash | Grade 8

How Many Combinations

Estu has 4 dresses and 3 caps. How many different ways can Estu combine
the dresses and caps?
For each cap, he can choose any of the 4 dresses, so for 3 caps, 4 + 4 +
4 = 4 × 3 = 12 combinations are possible. We can also look at it as — for
each dress, Estu can choose any of the 3 caps, so for 4 outfits, 3 + 3 + 3 +
3 = 3 × 4 = 12 combinations are possible.

Roxie has 7 dresses, 2 hats, and 3 pairs of shoes. How many different
ways can Roxie dress up?
Hint: Try drawing a diagram like the one above.

Estu and Roxie came across a safe containing old stamps and coins
that their great-grandfather had collected. It was secured with a
5-digit password. Since nobody knew the password, they had no
option except to try every password until it opened. They were
unlucky and the lock only opened with the last password, after
they had tried all possible combinations. How many passwords
did they end up checking?

If you can’t solve a problem, try to find a simpler version of the

problem that you can solve. This technique can come in handy
many times.

Instead of a 5-digit lock, let us assume we have a 2-digit lock and try
to find out how many passwords are possible.
There are 10 options for the first digit (0 to 9). For each of these, there
are 10 options for the second digit (If 0 is the first digit then 00, 01, 02,
03, …, 09 are possible). Therefore the total number of combinations for
a 2-digit lock is 10 × 10 = 100.
Now, suppose we have a 3-digit lock. For each of the earlier 100
(2-digit) passwords there are 10 choices for the third digit. So, there are
100 × 10 = 1000 combinations for a 3-digit lock. You can list them all: 000,
001, 002, ….., 997, 997, 999.

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 Power Play

How many 5-digit passwords are possible? 0 0

Each digit has 10 choices, so a
1 1
5-digit lock will have:
Oh no! Maybe my 10 × 10 × 10 × 10 × 10 = 105 2 2
entire vacation will
be gone trying to = 1,00,000 passwords. This is
3 3
unlock this… the same as writing numbers
till 99,999 with all 5 digits, i.e., 4 4
00000, 00001, 00002, …00010,
5 5
00011, …, 00100, 00101, …, 00999,
…, 30456, …, 99998, 99999. 6 6
Estu says, “Next time, I will
7 7
buy a lock that has 6 slots with
the letters A to Z. I feel it is safer.” 8 8
How many passwords are possible with such a lock? 9 9

Think about how many combinations are possible in different Try

contexts. Some examples are — This
(i) Pincodes of places in India — The Pincode of Vidisha in
Madhya Pradesh is 464001. The Pincode of Zemabawk in
Mizoram is 796017.
(ii) Mobile numbers.
(iii) Vehicle registration numbers.
Try to find out how these numbers or codes are allotted/generated.

2.3 The Other Side of Powers

Imagine a line of length 16 units. Erasing half of it would result in
2×2×2×2
24 ÷ 2 = 2 = 2 × 2 × 2 = 23 = 8 units.
Erasing half one more time would result in,
2×2×2×2
(24 ÷ 2) ÷ 2 = 24 ÷ 22 = 2×2 = 2 × 2 = 22 = 4 units.
Halving 16 cm three times may be written as,
2×2×2×2
24 ÷ 23 = 2 × 2 × 2 = 2 = 21 = 2 units.
From this we can see that
24 ÷ 23 = 24 – 3 = 21.

What is 2100 ÷ 225 in powers of 2?

In a generalised form,
na ÷ nb = na – b,
where n ≠ 0 and a and b are counting numbers and a > b.

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Why can’t n be 0? Math

Talk
We have not covered the case when the exponent is 0; for example,
what is 20?
Let us define 20 in a way that the generalised form above holds true.
2×2×2×2
20 = 24 – 4 = 24 ÷ 24 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 = 1.
In fact for any letter number a
20 = 2a – a = 2a ÷ 2a = 1.
In general,
xa ÷ xa = xa – a = x0, and so
1 = x0 ,
where x ≠ 0 and a is a counting number.

When Zero is in Power!

When a line of length 24 units is halved 5 times,

2×2×2×2 1
24 ÷ 25 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 = 2 units.
Using the generalised form, we get 24 ÷ 25= 2(4 – 5) = 2– 1.
1
So, 2– 1 = 2 .
When a line of length 24 units is halved 10 times,
we get 24 ÷ 210= 2(4 – 10) = 2– 6 units.
2×2×2×2 1 1
When expanded, 24 ÷ 210 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 = 26 = 64 ,
which is also written as 2– 6.

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 Power Play

1 1
Similarly, 10–3 = 103 , 7–2 = 72 , etc.
1
Can we write 103 = ?
10–3
We can write,
1 1
= 1/103 = 1 ÷ 1 3 = 1×103 = 103.
10–3 10
1 1
Similarly, 72 = and 4a = .
7– 2 4– a
In a generalised form,
1
Math
1
n– a = and na = , where n ≠ 0. Talk
na n–a
Consider the following general forms we have identified.

na × nb = na + b (na)b = (nb)a = na × b na ÷ nb = na – b

We had required a and b to be counting numbers. Can a and b be any

integers? Will the generalised forms still hold true?

Write equivalent forms of the following.

(i) 2– 4 (ii) 10– 5 (iii) (– 7)–2
(iv) (– 5)– 3 (v) 10– 100

Simplify and write the answers in exponential form.

(i) 2– 4 × 27 (ii) 32 × 3– 5 × 36 (iii) p3 × p–10
–2 p
(iv) 24 × (– 4) (v) 8 × 8q

Power Lines
Let us arrange the powers of 4 along a line.
48 65536
÷4
47 16384 × 16
48 ÷ 43 46 4096 65536 ÷ 64

43 × 42 45 1024 64 × 16
1
47 × 4–2 44 256 16384 ×
16
43 64
2
÷ 16 4 16
×4
41 4
0
4 1
1
4–1
4
4–2 1
16

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Can we say that 16384 (47) is 16 (42) times larger than 1,024 (45)?
Yes, since 47 ÷ 45 = 42.
How many times larger than 4–2 is 42?

Use the power line for 7 to answer the following questions.

77 823543 2,401 × 49 =
76 117649
493 =
16807
75
343 × 2,401 =
2401
74
16,807
73 343
49 =
49
72 7 =
1
7 343
7
1 16,807 =
70 8,23,543
1
7–1 7 1,17,649 × 1 =
1 343
7–2 49 1 × 1 =
1 343 343
7–3 343
7–4 1
2401

2.4 Powers of 10
We have used numbers like 10, 100, 1000, and so on when writing Indian
numerals in an expanded form. For example,
47561 = (4 × 10000) + (7 × 1000) + (5 × 100) + (6 × 10) + 1.
This can be written using powers of 10 as
(4 × 104) + (7 × 103) + (5 × 102) + (6 × 101) + (1 × 100).

Write these numbers in the same way: (i) 172, (ii) 5642, (iii) 6374.

How can we write 561.903?

561.903 = (5 × 100) + (6 × 10) + 1 + (9 × 1 ) + (0 × 1 ) + (3 × 1 ).
10 100 1000
Writing it using powers of 10, we have
561.903 = (5 × 102) + (6 × 101) + (1 × 100) + (9 × 10–1) + (0 × 10–2) + (3 × 10–3).

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 Power Play

Scientific Notation
Let’s look at some facts involving large numbers —
(i) The Sun is located 30,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,000 m from the
centre of our Milky Way galaxy.
(ii) The number of stars in our galaxy is 1,00,00,00,00,000.
(iii) The mass of the Earth is 59,76,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,000 kg.
As the number of digits increases, it becomes difficult to read the
numbers correctly. We may miscount the number of zeroes or place
commas incorrectly. We will then read the wrong value. It is like getting
₹5,000 when you were supposed to get ₹50,000. The number of zeroes is
more important than the initial digits in several cases.
Can we use the exponential notation to simplify and read these very
large numbers correctly?
For example, the number 5900 can be expressed as —
5900 = 590 × 10 = 590 × 101
= 59 × 100 = 59 × 102
   = 5.9 × 1000 = 5.9 × 103
   = 0.59 × 10000 = 0.59 × 104.
Any number can be written as the product of a number between
1 and 10 and a power of 10. For example,
5900 = 5.9 × 103 20800 = 2.08 × 104 80,00,000 = 8 × 106

Write the large-number facts we read just before in this form.

In scientific notation or scientific form (also called standard form),
we write numbers as x × 10 y, where x ≥ 1 and x < 10 is the coefficient and
y, the exponent, is any integer. Often, the exponent y is more important
than the coefficient x. When we write the 2 crore population of Mumbai
as 2 × 107, the 7 is more important than the 2. Indeed, if the 2 is changed
to 3, the population increases by one-half, i.e., 2 crore to 3 crore, whereas
if the 7 is changed to 8, the change in population is 10 times, i.e., 2 crores
to 20 crores. Therefore, the standard form explicitly mentions the
exponent, which indicates the number of digits.
If we say that the population of Kohima is 1,42,395, then it gives the
impression that we are quite sure about this number up to the units
place. When we use large numbers, in most cases, we are more concerned
about how big a quantity or measure is, rather than the exact value. If
we are only sure that the population is around 1 lakh 42 thousand, we
can write it as 1.42 × 105. If we can only be certain that it is around 1 lakh
40 thousand, we write it as 1.4 × 105. The number of digits in the coefficient
reflects how well we know the number. The most important part of any

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 Ganita Prakash | Grade 8

number written in scientific form is the exponent, and then the first
digit of the coefficient. The digits following the coefficient are small
corrections to the first digit.

...when I started
It is 70 million
How old is working here, it
and 15 years old…
this dinosaur’s was 70 million
skeleton? years old.

These values are rounded-off estimates, averages, or approximations;

most of the time, they serve the purpose at hand.
The distance between the Sun and Saturn is 14,33,50,00,00,000 m
= 1.4335 × 1012 m.
The distance between Saturn and Uranus is 14,39,00,00,00,000 m
= 1.439 × 1012 m. The distance between the Sun and Earth is
1,49,60,00,00,000 m = 1.496 × 1011 m.

Can you say which of the three distances is the smallest?

The number line below shows the distance between the Sun and Saturn
(1.4335 × 1012 m). On the number line below, mark the relative position of
the Earth. The distance between the Sun and the Earth is 1.496 × 1011 m.

Sun Saturn
Express the following numbers in standard form.
(i) 59,853 (ii) 65,950
(iii) 34,30,000 (iv) 70,04,00,00,000

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 Power Play

2.5 Did You Ever Wonder?

Last year, we looked at interesting thought experiments in the chapter
on Large Numbers. Let us continue this journey.
Nanjundappa wants to donate jaggery equal to Roxie’s weight and
wheat equal to Estu’s weight. He is wondering how much it would cost.

What would be the worth (in rupees) of the donated jaggery? What
would be the worth (in rupees) of the donated wheat?
In order to find out, let us first describe the relationships among the
quantities present.
Worth of jaggery (in rupees) = Roxie’s weight in kg × cost of 1 kg jaggery.
Worth of wheat (in rupees) = Estu’s weight in kg × cost of 1 kg wheat.
Make necessary and reasonable assumptions for the unknowns and find
the answers. Remember, Roxie is 13 years old and Estu is 11 years old.
Assuming Roxie’s weight to be 45 kg and the cost of 1 kg of jaggery to be
₹70, the worth of donated jaggery is 45 × 70 = ₹3150. Assuming Estu’s
weight to be 50 kg and the cost of 1 kg of wheat to be ₹50, the worth of
donated wheat is 50 × 50 = ₹2500.

The practice of offering goods equal to the weight of a person, called

Tulābhāra or Tulābhāram, is quite old and is still followed in many
places in Southern India. It is a symbol of bhakti (surrendering oneself),
a token of gratitude; it also supports the community.

Roxie wonders, “Instead of jaggery if we use 1-rupee coins, how many

coins are needed to equal my weight?”. How can we find out?
For questions like these, you can consider following the steps suggested
below.
1. Guessing: Make an instinctive (quick) guess of what the answer could
be, without any calculations.

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2. Calculating using estimation and approximation —

(i) Describe the relationships among the quantities that are needed
to find the answer.
(ii) Make reasonable assumptions and approximations if the required
information is not available.
(iii) Compute and find the answer (and check how close your guess
was).
Would the number of coins be in hundreds, thousands, lakhs, crores, or
even more? Make an instinctive guess.
Find the answer by making necessary and
reasonable assumptions and approximations for How about measuring
the unknowns. Remember, we are not looking for to find out the weight
of a 1-rupee coin?
an exact answer but a reasonably close estimate.

Initially, your guesses may be very far off from the answer and
it is perfectly fine! You will get better at it like as you do it often
and in different situations. Guessing and estimating can build
intuition about numbers and various quantities.

Estu asks, “What if we use 5-rupee coins or 10-rupee notes instead?

How much money could it be?”
Make an instinctive guess first. Then find out (make necessary and
reasonable assumptions about the unknown details and find the
answers).
Estu says, “When I become an adult, I would like to donate notebooks
worth my weight every year”. Roxie says, “When I grow up, I would like
to do annadāna (offering grains or meals) worth my weight every year”.

How many people might benefit from each of these offerings in a Math
year? Again, guess first before finding out. Talk
Roxie and Estu overheard someone saying — “We did pādayātra for
about 400 km to reach this place! We arrived early this morning.”

How long ago would they have started their journey?

Find answers by making necessary assumptions and approximations.

Do guess first before calculating to check how close your guess was!

Note to the Teacher: Assumptions can vary greatly at times, and as a result the
answers computed using these you can also vary. This is perfectly alright. Modelling
the situation properly is crucial, which can also be done in different ways sometimes.
The accuracy of the assumed numbers or quantities can get better with exposure
and practice.

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 Power Play

Pādayātra, is the traditional practice of walking long distances as part

of a religious or spiritual pursuit. People across religions in our country
observe similar forms of pilgrimage or spiritual walking, although they
may have different names or purposes.

Some of the pilgrimages are Ajmer Sharif Dargah Ziyarat,

Pandharpur Wari, Kānwar Yatra, Sabarimala Yatra, Sammed
Shikharji Yatra, Lumbini to Sarnath Yatra.

Before the rise of modern transport, people moved from one place to
another by walking — sometimes merchants, sages, and scholars walked
thousands of kilometres to different parts of the world across deserts,
mountains, and rivers.

How many times can a person circumnavigate (go around the world) the
Earth in their lifetime if they walk non-stop? Consider the distance around
the Earth as 40,000 km.

Linear Growth vs. Exponential Growth

Roxie tells Estu about a science-fiction novel she is reading where they
build a ladder to reach
the moon, “... I wonder if
we actually had a ladder
like that, how many steps
would it have?”.

What do you think? Make

an instinctive guess first.

Would the number of steps

be in thousands, lakhs,
crores, or even more?
To find out, we would
need to know the gap between consecutive steps of the ladder. Let’s
assume a reasonable distance of 20 cm. Visualising the problem as shown,

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We have to find out how many 20 cm make 3,84,400 km.

If we calculate the value, we get the result as 1,92,20,00,000 steps, which
is 192 crore and 20 lakh steps or 1 billion 922 million steps. The fixed
increase in the distance from the earth with each step (a 20 cm gain after
each step) is called linear growth.
To cover the distance between the Earth and the Moon, it takes
1,92,20,00,000 steps with linear growth whereas it takes just 46 folds of
a piece of paper with exponential growth! Linear growth is additive,
whereas exponential growth is multiplicative.
20 + 20 + 20 + ………… 0.001 × 2 × 2 × 2 ……….

1,92,20,00,000 46 times
times

Some examples of exponential growth we have seen earlier in

this chapter are ‘The Stones that Shine’, ‘Magical Pond’, ‘How Many
Combinations’. We shall explore more such interesting examples in a
later chapter and also in the next grade.

Can you come up with some examples of linear growth and of

exponential growth?

Getting a Sense for Large Numbers

Last year, we learnt about lakhs and crores, as well as millions and
billions. A lakh is 105 (1,00,000), a crore is 107 (1,00,00,000), and an arab
is 109 (1,00,00,00,000), whereas a million is 106 (1,000,000) and a billion
is 109 (1,000,000,000).
You might know the size of the world’s human population. Have you
ever wondered how many ants there might be in the world or how long ago
humans emerged? In this section, we shall explore numbers significantly
larger than arabs and billions. We shall use powers of 10 to represent and
compare these numbers in each case.
100  As of mid-2025, there are only two northern white rhinos
remaining in the world, both females, and they reside at the
Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya (= 2 × 100).
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101 As of early 2024, the total population of Hainan gibbons is a

meagre 42 ( ≈ 4 × 101).
102 There are just 242 Kakapo alive as of mid-2025 (≈ 2 × 102).
103 There are fewer than 3000 Komodo dragons in the world, all
based in Indonesia (≈ 3 × 103).
104 
A 2005 estimate of the maned wolf population showed that
there are more than 17000 of them; most are located in Brazil
(1.7 × 104).

105 
As of 2018, there are around 4.15 lakh African elephants
(≈ 4 × 105).
106 There are an estimated 50 lakh / 5 million American alligators as
of 2025 (5 × 106).
107 
The global camel population is estimated to be over 3.5 crore/
35 million (3.5 × 107). India has only about 2.5 lakhs of them.
The global horse population is around 5.8 crore / 58 million
(5.8 × 107), with about half of them in America.
108 More than 20 crore / 200 million (2 × 108) water buffaloes are
estimated worldwide, with a vast majority of them in Asia.
109 The estimated global population of starlings is around 1.3
arab/1.3 billion (_________). The global human population as of
2025 is 8.2 arab/8.2 billion (8.2 × 109).

A picture of a starling murmuration over a farm in the UK. Starling murmuration is a

mesmerising aerial display of thousands of starlings flying in synchronised, swirling
patterns. It is often described as a ‘choreographed dance’.

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With a global human population of about 8 × 109 and about 4 × 105

African elephants, can we say that there are nearly 20,000 people for
every African elephant?
1010 The global chicken population living at any time is estimated at
≈ 33 billion (3.3 × 1010).
1012 The estimated number of trees (2023) globally stands at 30
kharab/3 trillion (3 × 1012). One kharab is 100 arab, and one
trillion is 1000 billion.
1014 The estimated mosquito population worldwide
(2023) is 11 neel/110 trillion (________). A derived
estimate of the population of the Antarctic krill
stands at 50 neel/500 trillion (5 × 1014).
1015 An estimate of the beetle population stands
at 1 padma/1 quadrillion (1 × 1015). The
estimate of the earthworm population is
also at 1 padma/1 quadrillion.
1016 The estimated population of ants globally
is 20 padma/20 quadrillion (2 × 1016). Ants
alone outweigh all wild birds and wild
mammals combined.
1021 is supposed to be the number of grains of sand
on all beaches and deserts on Earth. This is enough
sand to give every ant 10 little sand castles to live in.

1023 The estimated number of stars in the observable universe is

2 × 1023.
10 There are an estimated 2 × 1025 drops of water on Earth (assuming
25

16 drops per millilitre).

Calculate and write the answer using scientific notation:

(i) How many ants are there for every human in the world?
(ii) If a flock of starlings contains 10,000 birds, how many flocks
could there be in the world?

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 Power Play

(iii) If each tree had about 104 leaves, find the total number of leaves
on all the trees in the world.
(iv) If you stacked sheets of paper on top of each other, how many
would you need to reach the Moon?
A different way to say your age! I am
“How old are you?” asked Estu. 69,70,710 …
old
“I completed 13 years a few weeks ago!” said Roxie.
“How old are you?” asked Estu again.
“I’m 4840 days old today!” said Roxie.
“How old are you?” asked Estu again.
“I’m ______ hours old!” said Roxie.
Make an estimate before finding this number.
Estu: “I am 4070 days old today. Can you find out my
date of birth?” What could this number mean?
Find out!
If you have lived for a million seconds, how old would
you be?
We shall look at approximate times and timelines of some events and
phenomena, and use powers of 10 to represent and compare these
quantities.

Time in seconds Comparison to real-world events/phenomena

100 = 1 second - Time taken for a ball thrown up to fall back on the
ground (typically a few seconds).
101 = 10 seconds - Time blood takes to complete one full circulation
through the body: 10 – 20 seconds (1 × 101 – 2 × 101
seconds).
- Typical waiting time at a traffic signal.

Isn’t it quite amazing how someone is able to estimate things

like the number of ants in the world or the time blood takes
to fully circulate? You may carry this wonder whenever you
encounter such facts. You will come across such facts in subjects
like Science and Social Science, where such estimates are made
frequently.

102 seconds - Time needed to make a cup of tea: 5 – 10 minutes

≈1.6 minutes (≈ 4 × 102 – 8 × 102 seconds).
- Time for light to reach the Earth from the Sun: about
8 minutes (≈ 5 × 102 seconds).
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These liars!!
It never gets
cooked before 10
minutes…

They should
approximate it as
order of 102 seconds
noodles  —  that way
whether it takes
120 seconds or 900
seconds, the claim
will be true.

103 seconds - Satellites in low Earth orbits take

≈ 16.6 minutes between 90 minutes (≈ 5.5 × 103  seconds)
to 2 hours to complete one full
revolution around the Earth.
104 seconds - The time needed to digest a meal: about
≈ 2.7 hours 2 – 4 hours to pass through the stomach.
- Lifespan of an adult mayfly: about a day
(≈ 9 × 104 seconds).

105 seconds ≈ 1.16 days and 106 seconds ≈ 11.57 days. Think of some
events or phenomena whose time is of the order of (i) 105 seconds and
(ii) 106 seconds. Write them in scientific notation.

107 seconds - Time spent sleeping in a year: about 4 months.

≈ 115.7 days /
- Time taken by Mangalyaan mission to reach Mars:
≈ 3.8 months
298 days (≈ 2.65 × 107 seconds).
- Time taken by Mars for one full revolution around
the Sun: 687 Earth-days/1.88 Earth-years
(≈ 6 × 107 seconds).
108 seconds - The typical lifespan of most dogs is 3 to 15 years.
≈ 3.17 years
109 seconds - The orbital period of Halley’s comet is 75 – 79 years;
≈ 31.7 years the next expected return is in the year 2061
(≈ 2.4 × 109 seconds).
- Duration of one full revolution of Neptune around
the Sun: 60,190 Earth-days/~165 Earth-years or
89,666 Neptunian days/1 Neptunian-year (≈ 5.2 × 109
seconds). A day on Neptune is about 16.1 hours
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 Power Play

Notice how rapid exponential growth is — 106 seconds is less than a

fortnight, but 109 seconds is a whopping 31 years (about half the life
expectancy of a human)!
1010 seconds - The Chola dynasty ruled for more than 900 years
≈ 317 years (≈ 3 × 1010 seconds) between the 3rd Century BCE and
12th Century CE.
1011 seconds - Age of the oldest known living tree: about 5000 years
≈ 3,170 years (≈ 1.57 × 1011 seconds).
- Time since the last peak ice age: 19,000 – 26,000 years
ago (≈ 6 × 1011 seconds – 8.2 × 1011 seconds).
1012 seconds - Early Homo sapiens first appeared 2 – 3 lakh years ago
≈ 31,700 (≈7 × 1012 – 9 × 1012 seconds). The entire population
years around that time could fit in a large cricket stadium.

1013 seconds - The Steppe Mammoth is

≈ 3.17 lakh estimated to have
years appeared around
8 – 18 lakh years ago.

1014 seconds - A fossil of Kelenken Guillermoi,

≈ 3.17 million a type of terror bird, is dated
years to 15 million years ago
( ≈_______________ seconds).

1015 seconds - Age of Himalayas: 5.5 crore years/55 million years (≈ 1.7
≈ 3.17 crore × 1015 seconds); they continue to grow a few mm every
years year.
- Dinosaurs went extinct 6.6 crore years ago/66 million
years ago (≈ 2 × 1015 seconds).
- Dinosaurs first appeared more than 20 crore/200 million
years ago (≈ 6 × 1015 seconds).
- It takes about 23 crore years for the Sun to make one
complete trip around the Milky Way (≈ 7 × 1015 seconds).

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1016 seconds - Plants on land started 47 crore/470 million years

≈ 31.7 crore years ago ( ≈ _______________ seconds).
1017 seconds The oldest fossil evidence suggests that bacteria
≈ 3.17 billion years first appeared about 3.7 billion years ago.
- The Earth is 4.5 billion years old.
- The Milky Way galaxy was formed 13.6 billion
years ago, and the Universe was formed 13.8
billion years ago.

Notice that 109 seconds is of the order of the lifespan of a human,

whereas 1018 seconds ago the universe did not exist according to modern
physics!! The exponential notation can capture very large quantities in
a concise manner.

Calculate and write the answer using scientific notation:

(i) If one star is counted every second, how long would it take to
count all the stars in the universe? Answer in terms of the
number of seconds using scientific notation.
(ii) If one could drink a glass of water (200 ml) every 10 seconds,
Try
how long would it take to finish the entire volume of water This
on Earth?

Very large quantities are often beyond our experience and

comprehension. To put them into perspective, we can relate and
compare them with quantities we are familiar with. This can
give an essence of how large a number or a measure is!

2.5 A Pinch of History

In the Lalitavistara, a Buddhist treatise from the first century BCE, we see
number - names for odd powers of ten up to 1053. The following occurs
as part of the dialogue between the mathematician Arjuna and Prince
Gautama, the Bodhisattva.
“Hundred kotis are called an ayuta (109), hundred ayutas a niyuta (1011),
hundred niyutas a kankara (1013), …, hundred sarva-balas a visamjna-
gati (1047), hundred visamjna-gatis a sarvajna (1049), hundred sarvajnas
a vibhutangama (1051), a hundred vibhutangamas is a tallakshana (1053).”
Mahaviracharya gives a list of 24 terms (i.e., up to 1023) in his treatise
Ganita-sara-sangraha. An anonymous Jaina treatise Amalasiddhi gives a
list with a name for each power of ten up to 1096 (dasha-ananta). A Pali
grammar treatise of Kāccāyana lists number-names up to 10140, named
asaṅkhyeya.
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 Power Play

For expressing high powers of ten, Jaina and Buddhist texts use bases
like sahassa (thousand) and koṭi (ten million); for instance, prayuta (106)
would be dasa sata sahassa (ten hundred thousand).
The modern naming is similar to this, where we say,
A hundred 100 × 1000 = 1,00,000 102 × 103 = 105
thousand is a lakh
A hundred lakhs 100 × 1,00,000 = 1,00,00,000 102 × 105 = 107
is a crore
A hundred crores 100 × 1,00,00,000 = 1,00,00,00,000 102 × 107 = 109
is an arab
A hundred arab is 100 × 1,00,00,00,000 102 × 109 = 1011
a kharab = 1,00,00,00,00,000
Continuing this, a hundred kharab is a neel (1013), a hundred neel is a
padma (1015), a hundred padma is a shankh (1017) and a hundred shankh
is a maha shankh (1019).
In the American/International system, we say
A thousand thousand 1000 × 1000 = 1,000,000 103 × 103 = 106
is a million
A thousand million is 1000 × 1,000,000 = 1,000,000,000 103 × 106 = 109
a billion
A thousand billion is 1000 × 1,000,000,000 103 × 109 = 1012
an trillion = 1,00,000,000,000
Continuing this, a thousand trillion is a quadrillion (1015). This pattern
continues. Observe the names million (106), billion (109), trillion (1012),
quadrillion (1015), quintillion (1018), sextillion (1021), septillion (1024),
octillion (1027), nonillion (1030), decillion (1033).
What does the first part of each name denote?
The number 10100 is also called a googol. The estimated number
of atoms in the universe is 1078 to 1082. The number 10googol is called a
googolplex. It is hard to imagine how large this number is!
The currency note with the highest denomination in India currently
is 2000 rupees. Guess what is the highest denomination of a currency
note ever, across the world. The highest numerical value banknote ever
printed was a special note valued 1 sextillion pengő (1021 or 1 milliard
bilpengő) printed in Hungary in 1946, but it was never issued. In 2009,
Zimbabwe printed a 100 trillion (1014) Zimbabwean dollar note, which at
the time of printing was worth about $30.

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Figure it Out
1. Find out the units digit in the value of 2224 ÷ 432? [Hint: 4 = 22]
2. There are 5 bottles in a container. Every day, a new container is
brought in. How many bottles would be there after 40 days?
3. Write the given number as the product of two or more powers in
three different ways. The powers can be any integers.
(i) 643 (ii)   1928 (iii)   32–5
4. Examine each statement below and find out if it is ‘Always True’,
‘Only Sometimes True’, or ‘Never True’. Explain your reasoning.
(i) Cube numbers are also square numbers.
(ii) Fourth powers are also square numbers.
(iii) The fifth power of a number is divisible by the cube of that
number.
(iv) The product of two cube numbers is a cube number.
(v) q46 is both a 4th power and a 6th power (q is a prime number).
5. Simplify and write these in the exponential form.
(i) 10– 2 × 10– 5 (ii) 57 ÷ 54
–3
(iii) 9– 7 ÷ 94 (iv) (13– 2)
(v) m5n12(mn)9
6. If 122 = 144 what is
(i) (1.2)2 (ii) (0.12)2
(iii) (0.012)2 (iv) 1202

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 Power Play

7. Circle the numbers that are the same —

24 × 36     64 × 32     610     182 × 62     624
8. Identify the greater number in each of the following —
(i) 43 or 34 (ii) 28 or 82 (iii) 1002 or 2100
9. A dairy plans to produce 8.5 billion packets of milk in a year. They
want a unique ID (identifier) code for each packet. If they choose to
use the digits 0–9, how many digits should the code consist of?
10. 64 is a square number (82) and a cube number (43). Are there Math
other numbers that are both squares and cubes? Is there a way Talk
to describe such numbers in general?
11. A digital locker has an alphanumeric (it can have both digits and
letters) passcode of length 5. Some example codes are G89P0, 38098,
BRJKW, and 003AZ. How many such codes are possible?
12. The worldwide population of sheep (2024) is about 109, and that of
goats is also about the same. What is the total population of sheep
and goats?
(ii) 209 (ii) 1011 (iii) 1010
(iv) 1018 (v) 2 × 109 (vi) 109 + 109
13. Calculate and write the answer in scientific notation:
(i) If each person in the world had 30 pieces of clothing, find the
total number of pieces of clothing.
(ii) There are about 100 million bee colonies in the world. Find the
number of honeybees if each colony has about 50,000 bees.
(iii) The human body has about 38 trillion bacterial cells. Find the
bacterial population residing in all humans in the world.
(iv) Total time spent eating in a lifetime in seconds.
14. What was the date 1 arab/1 billion seconds ago? Try
This

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SUMMARY
� We analysed some situations, asked questions, and found
answers by first guessing, then modelling the problem
statement, followed by making assumptions and
approximations to carry out the calculations.
„ We experienced how rapid exponential growth, also called
multiplicative growth, can be compared to additive growth.

„ na is n × n × n × n ×…× n (n multiplied by itself a times) and n–a= 1a.

n
„ Operations with exponents satisfy
y na × nb = na+b
y (na)b = (nb)a = na × b
y na ÷ nb = na – b (n ǂ 0)
y na × ma = (n × m)a
y na ÷ ma = (n ÷ m)a (m ǂ 0)
y n0 = 1 (n ǂ 0)
„ The scientific notation for the number 308100000 is 3.081 × 108.
The standard form of the scientific notation of any number is
x × 10 y, where x ≥ 1 and x < 10, and y is an integer.
„ Engaging in interesting thought experiments can be used as
means to understand how large a number or a quantity is.

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 Tremendous in Ten!

Find a partner to play this game with. In 10 seconds, the person who
writes a number or an expression, using only the digits 0 - 9 and
arithmetic operations, that gives a number that is the larger between
the two wins the round.

In Round 1, Roxie wrote 10000000000000 and Estu wrote 999999 × 999999.

Between these two, Roxie’s number is greater. Can you see why? Roxie’s
2
number is 1013, whereas Estu’s number is less than (106) .
In Round 2, Roxie wrote 101000 + 101000 + 101000 + 101000 and Estu wrote
(101000000) × 9000. Can you say which is greater?

Below are some conditions that you may consider for different rounds.
(i) Exponents are not allowed. Only addition is allowed.
(ii) Exponents are not allowed. Only addition and multiplication
are allowed.
(iii) Exponents are allowed. Only addition is allowed.
(iv) Exponents are allowed. Any arithmetic operation is allowed.
You can create your own conditions and/or involve more people to play
together.

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 2 POWER PLAY

Page No. 22
Which expression describes the thickness of a sheet of paper after
it is folded 10 times? The initial thickness is represented by the
letter-number v.
(i) 10v (ii) 10 + v (iii) 2 × 10 × v
(iv) 2 10
(v) 2 v
10
(vi) 102v
Ans: (v) 210v
What is (– 1)5 ? Is it positive or negative? What about (– 1)56 ?
Ans: (– 1)5 is negative
(– 1)56 is positive
Is (– 2)4 = 16? Verify.
Ans: Yes.

Page No. 22-23

Figure it Out
1. Express the following in exponential form:
(i) 6 × 6 × 6 × 6 (ii) y×y
(iii) b × b × b × b (iv) 5×5×7×7×7
(v) 2 × 2 × a × a (vi) a×a×a×c×c×c×c×d
Ans:
(i) 64 (ii) y2
(iii) b4 (iv) 52 × 73
(v) 22 × a2 (vi) a3 × c4 × d

2. Express each of the following as a product of powers of their prime

factors in exponential form.
(i) 648 (ii) 405 (iii) 540 (iv) 3600
Ans:
(i) 23 × 34 (ii) 34 × 5
(iii) 22 × 33 × 5 (iv) 24 × 32 × 52

1
 3. Write the numerical value of each of the following:
(i) 2 × 103 (ii) 72 × 23 (iii) 3 × 44
(iv) (– 3)2 × (– 5)2 (v) 32 × 104 (vi) (– 2)5 × (– 10)6
Ans:
(i) 2000 (ii) 392 (iii) 768
(iv) 225 (v) 90000 (vi) – 32000000

Page No. 24
37 can also be written as 32 × 35. Can you reason out why?
Ans:
37 = 3 × 3 × 3 × 3 × 3 × 3 × 3
= (3 × 3) × (3 × 3 × 3 × 3 × 3)
= 32 × 3 5
Use this observation to compute the following.
(i) 29 (ii) 57 (iii) 46
Ans:
(i) One of the ways is
29 = 24 × 25 = 16 × 32 = 512
(ii) One of the ways is
57 = 53 × 54 = 125 × 625 = 78125
Write the following expressions as a power of a power in at least two
different ways:
(i) 86 (ii) 715 (iii) 914 (iv) 58
Ans:
(i) 86 = (82)3
86 = (23)6 = 218
(ii) 715 = (73)5 ; 715 = (75)3
(iii) 914 = (92)7
914 = (32)14 = 328
(iv) 58 = (52)4
8
5 = (54)2

Page No. 25
Write the number of lotuses (in exponential form) when the pond was —
(i) fully covered (ii) half covered
Ans:
(i) 230 (ii) 229

2
Simplify 10
4

54 and write it in exponential form.

Ans: 24 = 16

Page No. 26
Roxie has 7 dresses, 2 hats, and 3 pairs of shoes. How many different
ways can Roxie dress up?
Ans: 7 × 2 × 3 ways

Page No. 27
How many passwords are possible with such a lock?
Ans: 26 × 26 × 26 × 26 × 26 × 26 = (26)6
What is 2100 ÷ 225 in powers of 2?
Ans: 275

Page No. 28
Why can’t n be 0?
Ans: If n = 0, then we get 00 which is not defined.

Page No. 29
We had required a and b to be counting numbers. Can a and b be any
integers? Will the generalised forms still hold true?
Ans: Yes.
Write equivalent forms of the following.
(i) 2– 4 (ii) 10– 5 (iii) (– 7)–2
(iv) (– 5)– 3 (v) 10– 100
Ans:
1 1 1
(i) 24 (ii) 105 (iii) (–7)2
1 1
(iv) (–5)3 (v) (10)100
Simplify and write the answers in exponential form.
(i) 2– 4 × 27 (ii) 32 × 3– 5 × 36 (iii) p3 × p–10
–2 p
(iv) 24 × (– 4) (v) 8 × 8q
Ans:
(i) 23 (ii) 33 (iii) p–7
(iv) 1 (v) 8p + q

3
 Page No. 30
How many times larger than 4–2 is 42?
Ans: 4 4 times
Use the power line for 7 to answer the following questions.
Ans:

823543 2,401 × 49 = 7 6
77

76 117649 493 = 7 6
16807
75 343 × 2,401 = 77
2401
74
16,807
3 343 49 = 73
7
49 7
72 = 7–2
343
7
71
16,807 = 7–2
1 8,23,543
70
1
7–1 7 1,17,649 × 1 = 73
343
–2
1
7 1
49 × 1 = 7–6
–3 1 343 343
7 343
7–4 1
2401

Write these numbers in the same way: (i) 172, (ii) 5642, (iii) 6374.
Ans:
(i) 172 = 1 × 102 + 7 +101 + 2 × 100
(ii) 5642 = 5 × 103 + 6 × 102 + 4 × 101 + 2 × 100
(iii) 6374 = 6 × 103 + 3 × 102 + 7 × 101 + 4 × 100

Page No. 32
Can you say which of the three distances is the smallest?
Ans: Distance between Sun and Earth is the smallest.
The number line below shows the distance between the Sun and Saturn
(1.4335 × 1012 m). On the number line below, mark the relative position of
the Earth. The distance between the Sun and the Earth is 1.496 × 1011 m.

Sun Saturn

4
Ans:

Sun Earth Saturn

Express the following numbers in standard form.
(i) 59,853 (ii) 65,950
(iii) 34,30,000 (iv) 70,04,00,00,000
Ans:
(i) 5.9853 × 104 (ii) 6.595 × 104
(iii) 3.43 × 106 (iv) 7.004 × 1010

Page No. 38
Calculate and write the answer using scientific notation:
(i) How many ants are there for every human in the world?
(ii) If a flock of starlings contains 10,000 birds, how many flocks
could there be in the world?
(iii) If each tree had about 104 leaves, find the total number of leaves
on all the trees in the world.
(iv) If you stacked sheets of paper on top of each other, how many
would you need to reach the Moon?
Ans:
(i) 2.5 × 106 ants
(ii) 1.3 × 105 flocks
(iii) 3 × 1016 leaves
(iv) 3.844 × 1013 sheets

Page No. 39
If you have lived for a million seconds, how old would you be?
Ans: Lived for approximately 12 days.

Page No. 42
Calculate and write the answer using scientific notation:
(i) If one star is counted every second, how long would it take
to count all the stars in the universe? Answer in terms of the
number of seconds using scientific notation.
(ii) If one could drink a glass of water (200 ml) every 10 seconds,
how long would it take to finish the entire volume of water on
Earth?

5
 Ans:
(i) 2.0 × 1023 seconds
(ii) 6.25 × 1022 seconds

Page No. 43
What does the first part of each name denote?
Ans: The first part of each name denotes the number of times 1000s are
multiplied to 1000.

Page No. 44 – 45

Figure it Out
1. Find out the units digit in the value of 2224 ÷ 432? [Hint: 4 = 22]
Ans: The units digit is ‘6’
2. There are 5 bottles in a container. Every day, a new container is
brought in. How many bottles would be there after 40 days?
Ans: 200 = 2 × 102 bottles.
3. Write the given number as the product of two or more powers in
three different ways. The powers can be any integers.
(i) 643 (ii) 1928 (iii) 32–5
Ans: Some of the ways are
(i) 210 × 28, 4 5 × 4 4 , 83 × 83
(ii) 248 × 38 , 240 × 28 × 38
240 × 68
(iii) 2–10 × 2–15, 2–5 × 2–20, 4–12 × 2–1
4. Examine each statement below and find out if it is ‘Always True’, ‘Only
Sometimes True’, or ‘Never True’. Explain your reasoning.
(i) Cube numbers are also square numbers.
(ii) Fourth powers are also square numbers.
(iii) The fifth power of a number is divisible by the cube of that
number.
(iv) The product of two cube numbers is a cube number.
(v) q46 is both a 4th power and a 6th power (q is a prime number)
Ans:
(i) Only Sometimes True.
“This is only true for numbers that have powers as 6.”
n6= (n2)3 = (n3)2

6
 (ii) Always True.
We can write n4 = (n2)2
(iii) Always True.
n5 2
As n3 = n ,
(iv) Always True.
(n1)3 × (n2)3 = (n1× n2)3 = (n1n2)3
(v) Never True.
q46 , here q is prime number and 46 is not divisible by 4 and 6.
5. Simplify and write these in the exponential form.
(i) 10– 2 × 10– 5 (ii) 57 ÷ 54 (iii) 9– 7 ÷ 94
(iv) (13– 2)–3 (v) m5n12(mn)9
Ans:
1
(i) 10-7 or 107
(ii) 53
1
(iii) 9–11 or 911
(iv) 136
(v) m14 n21
6. If 122 = 144 what is
(i) (1.2)2 (ii) (0.12)2
(iii) (0.012)2 (iv) 1202
Ans: If (12)2 = 144, then
(i) (1.2)2 = 1.44
(ii) (0.12)2 = 0.0144
(iii) (0.012)2 = 0.000144
(iv) (120)2 = 14400
7. Circle the numbers that are the same —
24 × 36    64 × 32    610     182 × 62    624
Ans: 24 × 36, 64 × 32 and 182 × 62 are same.
8. Identify the greater number in each of the following —
(i) 43 or 34 (ii) 28 or 82 (iii) 1002 or 2100
Ans:
(i) 34 is greater than 43
(ii) 28 is greater than 82
(iii) 2100 is greater than 102

7
 9. A dairy plans to produce 8.5 billion packets of milk in a year. They
want a unique ID (identifier) code for each packet. If they choose to
use the digits 0–9, how many digits should the code consist of?
Ans: Total packets of milk in a year = 8,500,000,000
Total digits (0-9) = 10, Let each code have ‘n’ digits
So, number of unique ID codes possible = 10n
So, 10n ≥ 8,500,000,000
But, 109 < 8,500,000,000 and 1010 > 8,500,000,000. So, n = 10
Hence at least 10 digits are required in the code.
10. 64 is a square number (82) and a cube number (43). Are there other
numbers that are both squares and cubes? Is there a way to describe
such numbers in general?
Ans: Yes, there are infinitely many such numbers.
In general the numbers are 6th powers (n6) for some integer n.
Examples: 16(1), 36(729), 4 6(4096) and so on.
11. A digital locker has an alphanumeric (it can have both digits and
letters) passcode of length 5. Some example codes are G89P0, 38098,
BRJKW, and 003AZ. How many such codes are possible?
Ans: We have 26 letters and 10 digits (0-9) there are 36 possible characters
for each of the length of 5.
Total possible codes are 36 × 36 × 36 × 36 × 36 = 365.
12. The worldwide population of sheep (2024) is about 109, and that of
goats is also about the same. What is the total population of sheep
and goats?
(i) 209 (ii) 1011 (iii) 1010
(iv) 1018 (v) 2 × 109 (vi) 109 + 109
Ans: (vi)
13. Calculate and write the answer in scientific notation:
(i) If each person in the world had 30 pieces of clothing, find the
total number of pieces of clothing.
(ii) There are about 100 million bee colonies in the world. Find the
number of honeybees if each colony has about 50,000 bees.
(iii) The human body has about 38 trillion bacterial cells. Find the
bacterial population residing in all humans in the world.
(iv) Total time spent eating in a lifetime in seconds.
Ans:
(i) The estimated global population is 8.2 × 109
Each person has 30 pieces of clothes.
So, total pieces of clothing = 8.2 × 109 × 30
= 2.46 × 1011
8
 (ii) Bee colonies = 100 million = 108
Number of bees in each colony = 50,000.
So, total number of honeybees = 50,000 × 108
= 5.0 × 1012
(iii) Human body has about 38 × 1012 bacterial cells.
World population = 8.2 × 10 9
Total becterial population = 38 × 8.2 × 1012 × 109
= 3.116 × 1023
(iv) Estimated life time 70 years, and eating time per day
= 1 hour = 3600 seconds.
Total number of seconds = 3600 × 365 × 70 = 91980000
= 9.198 × 107 seconds

14. What was the date 1 arab/1 billion seconds ago?

Ans: A billion (1 × 109) seconds ago means approx. 11574 days ago or
approx. 31.7 years ago and calculate as per the present date

9
 A STORY OF
3 NUMBERS

3.1 Reema’s Curiosity

One lazy afternoon, Reema was flipping through an old book when —
whoosh! — a piece of paper slipped out and floated to the floor. She
picked it up and stared at the strange symbols all over it. “What is this?”
she wondered.
She ran to her father, holding the paper as if it were a secret treasure.
He looked at it and smiled. “Around 4000 years ago, there flourished a
civilisation in a region called Mesopotamia, in the western part of Asia,
containing a major part of the present-day Iraq and a few other
neighbouring countries. This is one of the ways they wrote their
numbers!”

Reema’s eyes lit up, “Seriously? These strange symbols were numbers?”
Her curiosity was sparked, and questions started swirling in her head.

Since What was their

when have need for counting?
humans been What were they
counting? counting?

How would the

Since when Mesopotamians
have written
have people
20? 50? 100?
been writing
numbers in
the modern
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Sensing her curiosity, her father started telling her how the idea of
number and number representation evolved over the course of time,
across geographies, to finally reach its modern efficient form.
Get ready to travel back in time with them!
Humans had the need to count even as early as the Stone
Age. They were counting to determine the quantity of food
they had, the number of animals in their livestock, details
regarding trades of goods, the number of offerings given in
rituals, etc. They also wanted to keep track of the passing
days, e.g., to know and predict when important events such
as the new moon, full moon, or onset of a season would occur.
However, when they said or wrote down such numbers, they
didn’t make use of the numbers that we use today.
The structure of the modern oral and written numbers that we use
today had its origin thousands of years ago in India. Ancient Indian texts,
such as the Yajurveda Samhita, mentioned names of numbers based on
powers of 10, almost as we say them orally today. For example, they listed
names for the numbers one (eka), ten (dasha), hundred (shata), thousand
(sahasra), ten thousand (āyuta), etc., all the way up to 1012 and beyond.
The way we write our numbers today — using the digits 0 through 9 —
also originated and were developed in India, around 2000 years ago. The
first known instance of numbers being
written using ten digits, including the digit 0
(which was then notated as a dot), occurs in
the Bakhshali manuscript (c. 3rd century
CE). Aryabhata (c. 499 CE) was the first
mathematician to fully explain, and do
elaborate scientific computations with the Zero in the Bakhshali manuscript
Indian system of 10 symbols.
The Indian number system was transmitted to the Arab world
by around 800 CE. It was popularised in the Arab world by the great
Persian mathematician Al-Khwārizmī (after whom the word ‘algorithm’
is named) through his book On the Calculation with Hindu Numerals
(c. 825) and by the noted philosopher Al-Kindi through his work On the
Use of the Hindu Numerals (c. 830).
From the Arab world, the Hindu numerals were transmitted to Europe
and to parts of Africa by around 1100 CE. Though Al-Khwārizmī’s work
on calculation with Hindu numerals was translated into Latin, it was the
Italian mathematician Fibonacci who around the year 1200 really made
the case to Europe to adopt the Indian numerals. However, the Roman
numerals were so ingrained in European thinking and writing at the
time that the Indian numerals did not gain widespread use for several
more centuries. But eventually, during the European Renaissance and
by the 17th century, not adopting them became impossible or it would
impede scientific progress.
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“The ingenious method of expressing every possible number using a set of ten
symbols (each symbol having a place value and an absolute value) emerged in
India. The idea seems so simple nowadays that its significance and profound
importance is no longer appreciated. Its simplicity lies in the way it facilitated
calculations and placed arithmetic foremost among useful inventions.”
— Pierre-Simon Laplace (1749 – 1827)

Their use then spread to every continent, and are now used in every
corner of the world.
Because European scholars learned the Indian numerals from the
Arab world, they called them ‛Arabic numerals’ to reflect their European
perspective. On the other hand, as noted above, Arab scholars, such as
Al-Khwārizmī and Al-Kindi, called them ‛Hindu numerals’. During the
period of European colonisation, the European term Arabic numbers
became widely used. However, in recent years, this mistake is being
corrected in many textbooks and documents around the world, including
in Europe. The most commonly used terminologies for the numbers we
use today are ‛Hindu numerals’, ‛Indian numerals’, and the transitional
‛Hindu-Arabic numerals’. It is worth noting that the word ‛Hindu’ here
does not refer to a religion, but rather a geography/people from whom
these numbers came.
The shape of the digits 0, 1, 2, ..., 9 used to write numbers in the Indian
number system today evolved over a period of time, as shown below:

Evolution of the digits used in the Indian number system

Prior to the global adoption of the Indian system of numerals, different

groups of people used different methods of representing numbers. We
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shall take a glimpse of some of them. We will not be looking at different

systems in a chronological order, but rather an order that shows us the
main stages in the development of the idea of number representation.
But first, let us explore some of the foundational ideas needed to count
and to determine the number of objects in a given collection.

The Mechanism of Counting

Imagine that we are living in the Stone Age, say, around ten thousand
years ago. Suppose we have a herd of cows. Here are some natural
questions that we might ask about our herd —

Q1. How do we ensure that all cows have returned safely after
grazing?

Q2. Do we have fewer cows than our neighbour?

Math
Talk
Q3. I f there are fewer, how many more cows would we need so
that we have the same number of cows as our neighbour?
We need to tackle these questions without the use of the
number names or written numbers of the Hindu number
system. How do we do it?
Here are some possible methods.
Method 1: We could tackle the questions by using pebbles, sticks or
any object that is available in abundance. Let us choose sticks. For every
cow in the herd, we could keep a stick. The final collection of sticks tells
us the number of cows, which can be used to check if any cows have
gone missing.

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This way of associating each cow with a stick, such that no two cows are
associated or mapped to the same stick is called a one-to-one mapping.
This mapping can then be used to come up with a way to represent
numbers, as shown in the table.

Number Its representation (using sticks)

1
2
3
4
5
. .
. .
. .

How will you use such sticks to answer the other two questions (Q2 and
Q3)?
Method 2: Instead of objects, we could use a standard sequence of
sounds or names. For example, we could use the sounds of the letters
of any language. While counting, we could make a one-to-one mapping
between the objects and the letters: that is, associate each object to be
counted with a letter, following the letter-order. This mapping can then
be used to come up with a way of verbally representing numbers.
For example, we get the following number representation if we use
English letters ‘a’ to ‘z’.

Number Its representation (using

sounds or names)
1 a
2 b
3 c
4 d
5 e
. .
. .
. .
26 z

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An obvious limitation of using only the letters of the English alphabet

in this form is that it cannot be used to count collections having more
than 26 objects.

How many numbers can you represent in this way using the sounds Math
of the letters of your language? Talk
Method 3: We could use a sequence of written symbols as follows.

Table 1

Number 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Representation I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X

using symbols
Number 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Representation XI XII XIII XIV XV XVI XVII XVIII XIX XX

using symbols

Do you see a way of extending this method to represent bigger numbers

as well? How?
From the discussion above, we see that for counting and finding the
size of a collection, we need a standard sequence of objects, or names,
or written symbols, that has a fixed order. Let us call this standard
sequence a number system. A collection of objects can be counted by
making a one-to-one mapping between them and the standard sequence,
following the sequence order.
Since there is no end to numbers, the challenge is to come up with
an unending standard sequence/number system that is easy to count
with. Using sticks gives an unending standard sequence/number system.
However, it is not convenient to count larger collections, as we will
need as many sticks as the number of objects being counted. Using the
sounds of the letters of a language, as in Method 2, is convenient for
the counting process but is not an unending standard sequence/number
system. The standard sequence/number system given in Method 3 was
actually the system used in Europe before it got replaced by the Hindu
number system. It is called the Roman number system. It was widely
used in Europe for centuries, and was convenient for many purposes,
but had the similar drawback that one cannot write arbitrarily large
numbers without introducing more and more symbols. We will learn
more about this system of writing numbers later on.

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As illustrated by the three methods, history gives us examples of

number systems formed using physical objects (such as sticks, pebbles,
body parts, etc.), names, and written symbols. Some groups of people
had numbers represented both by physical objects as well as by names,
while others like the Chinese had all three forms of representation. The
symbols occurring in a written number system are called numerals.
For example, 0, 1, 5, 36, 193, etc., are some of the numerals occurring in
the Hindu number system. Numerals representing ‘smaller’ numbers
always had names, and so a number system composed of written
symbols always went hand in hand with a number system composed of
names, as is the case with the modern-day Hindu system.

Figure it Out
1. Suppose you are using the number system that uses sticks to
represent numbers, as in Method 1. Without using either the
Math
number names or the numerals of the Hindu number system, Talk
give a method for adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing
two numbers or two collections of sticks.
2. One way of extending the number system in Method 2 is by
using strings with more than one letter — for example, we could Math
use ‘aa’ for 27. How can you extend this system to represent all Talk
the numbers? There are many ways of doing it!
3. Try making your own number system. Try
This

3.2 Some Early Number Systems

I. Use of Body Parts

Many groups of people across the world have used their hands and body
parts for counting. Here is how a group of people in Papua New Guinea
used and still use their body parts as the standard sequence/number
system.

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 A Story of Numbers

II. Tally Marks on Bones and Other Surfaces

One of the oldest methods of number representation is by making
notches — marks cut on a surface such as a bone or a wall of a cave.
These marks are also called tally marks.
In this method, a mark is made for each object that is being counted.
So the final collection of marks represents the total number of objects. This
method is very similar to the method of using sticks to count (Method 1),
except for the fact that a mark is made instead of adding a stick.
Archaeologists have discovered bones dating back more than 20,000
years that seem to have tally marks. The oldest known such bones with
markings that are thought to represent numbers are the Ishango bone
and the Lebombo bone. The Ishango bone, dating back 20,000 to 35,000
years, was discovered in the Democratic Republic of Congo. It features
notches arranged in columns, possibly indicating calendrical systems.
The Lebombo bone, discovered in South Africa, is an even older tally
stick with 29 notches, estimated to be around 44,000 years old. It is
considered one of the oldest mathematical artefacts, and may have
served as a tally stick or lunar calendar.

Lebombo bone Ishango bone

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III. Number Names Obtained by Counting in Twos

A group of indigenous people in Australia called the Gumulgal had the
following words for their numbers.

Gumulgal
(Australia)
1. urapon
2. ukasar
3. ukasar-urapon
4. ukasar-ukasar
5. ukasar-ukasar-urapon
6. ukasar-ukasar-ukasar

Can you see how their number names are formed?

The number name for 3 is composed of number names of 2 and 1.
The number name for 4 is composed of two occurrences of the number
name for 2.

Can you see how the names of the other numbers are formed?
The numbers are counted in 2s, using which the number names are
formed: 3 = 2 + 1, 4 = 2 + 2, 5 = 2 + 2 + 1, 6 = 2 + 2 + 2.
Gumulgal called any number greater than 6 ras.
There is a very interesting and puzzling historical phenomenon
associated with this number system. Look at the following number
systems of a group of indigenous people in South America, and the
Bushmen of South Africa:

1 - tokale India
2- ahage
3- ahage tokale
Bakairi 1 - urapon
(or ahawao) Bushmen
4- ahage ahage tokale Gumulgal 2 - ukasar
1 - xa 3- ukasar-urapon
5- ahage ahage ahage
2- t'oa 4- ukasar-ukasar
3- 'quo 5- ukasar-ukasar-urapon
Map not to scale
4- t'oa-t'oa 6- ukasar-ukasar-ukasar
5- t'oa-t'oa-t'a
6- t'oa-t'oa-t'oa

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Despite being so far apart geographically, and with no trace of contact

between them, these three groups have developed equivalent number
systems! Historians have wondered how this happened. One theory is
that these three groups of people may have had common ancestors, who
used this number system. In course of time, their descendants migrated
to these places.
Even though the number system of Gumulgal had number names for
numbers only till 6, we can see the emergence of an idea here. Counting
in 2s is more efficient for representing numbers than, for example, a tally
system. A general form which this idea has taken in different number
systems is as follows: count in groups of a certain number (like 2 in the
case of Gumulgal’s system), and use the word or symbol associated with
this group size to represent bigger numbers. Some of the commonly
used group sizes in different number systems have been 2, 5, 10 and 20.
You can find the idea of counting by 5s in the Roman system (Table 1).

This idea of counting in a certain group size and using it to represent

numbers is an important idea in the history of the evolution of
number systems.

One of the phenomena that could have led people to this idea might
be the human limit for immediately knowing the size of a collection at a
glance. Let us try out the following activity.

Quickly count the number of objects in each of the following boxes:

Up to what group size could you immediately see the number of

objects without counting? Most humans find it difficult to count groups
having 5 or more objects in a single glance.
This limit of perception could have prompted people using tally Math
marks to replace every group of, say, 5 marks, with a new symbol, Talk
as seen in the system shown in Table 1.
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What could be the difficulties with using a number system that counts
only in groups of a single particular size? How would you represent a
number like 1345 in a system that counts only by 5s?
Even though counting in groups of a particular size and using it for
number representation is more efficient than the tally system, this
method can still become cumbersome for larger numbers. The next
system shows a refinement of this idea.

IV. The Roman Numerals

We have already seen the Roman number system till 20 (Table 1). We
have seen that it uses I for 1, V for 5, X for 10.
To get the Roman numeral for any number till 39, it is first grouped
into as many 10s as possible, the remaining is grouped into as many 5s
as possible, and finally the remaining is grouped into 1s.
Example: Let us take the number 27.
27 = 10 + 10 + 5 + 1 + 1
So, 27 in Roman numerals is XXVII.
Instead of representing 50 as XXXXX, a new symbol is given to it: L.
Following the way the number 4 is represented as 1 less than 5 — that
is, as IV — 40 is represented as 10 less than 50 — that is, as XL. However,
people using this system were not always consistent with this practice.
Sometimes, 40 was also represented as XXXX.
The Roman number system introduces newer symbols to represent
certain bigger numbers. Let us call all these numbers that have a new
basic symbol as landmark numbers. Here are some of the landmark
numbers of the Roman system and their associated numerals.

I V X L C D M

1 5 10 50 100 500 1,000

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These symbols are used to denote other numbers as well. For example,
consider the number 2367. Writing it as a sum of landmark numbers
starting from 1000 such that we take as many 1000s as possible, 500s as
possible, and so on, we get
2367 = 1000 + 1000 + 100 + 100 + 100 + 50 + 10 + 5 + 1 + 1
So in Roman numerals, this number is MMCCCLXII.

Figure it Out
1. Represent the following numbers in the Roman system.
(i) 1222    (ii) 2999    (iii) 302    (iv) 715
We see how vastly efficient this system is compared to some of the
previous number systems that we have seen. This system seems to have
evolved out of the ancient Greek number system in around the 8th
century BCE in Rome, and evolved over time. It spread throughout
Europe with the expansion of the Roman empire.

The efficiency of this system is due to the grouping of a given number

by not just one group size, but a sequence of group sizes that we
call landmark numbers, and then using these landmark numbers
to represent the given number. This idea is the next important
breakthrough in the history of the evolution of number systems.

Despite the relative efficiency of the Roman system, it doesn’t lend

itself to an easy performance of arithmetic operations, particularly
multiplication and division.

Example: Try adding the following numbers without converting them

to Hindu numerals:
(a) CCXXXII + CCCCXIII
Let us find the total number of Is, Xs, and Cs, and group them
starting from the largest landmark number.
Apparently, it looks like the largest landmark number is C, but
note that 5 Cs (100s) make a D (500). So the sum is

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Do it yourself now:
(b) LXXXVII + LXXVIII

How will you multiply two numbers given in Roman numerals,

without converting them to Hindu numerals? Try to find the product Try
This
of the following pairs of landmark numbers: V × L, L × D, V × D,
VII × IX.

Multiply
CCXXXI and
MDCCCLII

People using the Roman system made use of a calculating tool called
the abacus to perform their arithmetic operations. We will see what it
is in a later section. However, only specially trained people used this tool
for calculation.
While going through the number systems discussed above, it should
not be understood that, historically, one system developed as an
improvement over the previous system. This point should be kept in
mind when studying the upcoming number systems too. The actual story
of how each of the number systems developed is much more complex,
and many times not clearly known, and so we will not try to trace this
in the chapter.

Figure it Out
1. A group of indigenous people in a Pacific island use different
Math
sequences of number names to count different objects. Why do Talk
you think they do this?
2. Consider the extension of the Gumulgal number system beyond
6 in the same way of counting by 2s. Come up with ways of Math
performing the different arithmetic operations (+, –, ×, ÷) Talk
for numbers occurring in this system, without using Hindu
60 numerals. Use this to evaluate the following:

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(i) (ukasar-ukasar-ukasar-ukasar-urapon) + (ukasar-ukasar-

ukasar-urapon)
(ii) (ukasar-ukasar-ukasar-ukasar-urapon) – (ukasar-ukasar-
ukasar)
(iii) (ukasar-ukasar-ukasar-ukasar-urapon) × (ukasar-ukasar)
(iv) (ukasar-ukasar-ukasar-ukasar-ukasar-ukasar-ukasar-ukasar) ÷
(ukasar-ukasar)
3. Identify the features of the Hindu number system that make it Math
efficient when compared to the Roman number system. Talk

4. Using the ideas discussed in this section, try refining the number Try
system you might have made earlier. This

3.3 The Idea of a Base

I. The Egyptian Number System

We are now going to see a written number system that the Egyptians
developed around 3000 BCE. In this system, we see the use of landmark
numbers to group and represent a given number. However, what makes
this system special is its sequence of landmark numbers.
Imagine making collections of pebbles. The first landmark number
is 1. Group together 10 collections of the previous landmark number (1).
Its size is the second landmark number which is 10. Group together 10
collections of the previous landmark number (10). Its size is the third
landmark number which is 10 × 10 = 100, and so on.

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Each landmark number is 10 times the previous one. Since 1 is the

first landmark number, they are all powers of 10. The following are the
symbols given to these numbers —

As in the case of Roman numbers, a given number is counted in groups

of the landmark numbers, starting from the largest landmark number
less than the given number. This is then used to assign the numeral.
For example 324 which equals 100 + 100 + 100 + 10 + 10 + 4 is written
as .

Figure it Out
1. Represent the following numbers in the Egyptian system: 10458,
1023, 2660, 784, 1111, 70707.
2. What numbers do these numerals stand for?

(i) (ii)

II. Variations on the Egyptian System and the Notion of

Base
Instead of grouping together 10 collections of size equal to the previous
landmark number (as in the case of the Egyptian system), can we get
a number system by grouping together 5 collections of size equal to
the previous landmark number? Can this 5 be replaced by any positive
integer?
Let us examine this possibility. Let 1 be the first landmark number.
Group together 5 collections of size equal to the previous landmark
number (1). Its size is the second landmark number which is 5.
Group together 5 collections of size equal to the previous landmark
number (5). Its size is the third landmark number which is 5 × 5 = 25.
Group together 5 collections of size equal to the previous landmark
number (5). Its size is the fourth landmark number which is 5 × 25 = 125.

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Thus, we have a new number system where each landmark number

is 5 times the previous one. Since 1 is the first landmark number, they
are all powers of 5.
50 = 1      51 = 5      52 = 25     53 = 125     54 = 625     55 = 3125

Express the number 143 in this new system.

Let us start grouping, starting with the size 53 = 125, as this is the
largest landmark number smaller than 143. We get—
143 = 125 + 5 + 5 + 5 + 1 + 1 + 1.
So the number 143 in the new system is .
Number systems having landmark numbers in which the
(a) first landmark number is 1, and
(b) every next landmark number is obtained by multiplying the
current landmark number by some fixed number n is said to
be a base-n number system.
The Egyptian number system is a base-10 system, and the number
system that we created is a base-5 system. A base-10 number system is
also called a decimal number system.

Figure it Out
1. Write the following numbers in the above base-5 system using the
symbols in Table 2: 15, 50, 137, 293, 651.
2. Is there a number that cannot be represented in our base-5 system
above? Why or why not?
3. Compute the landmark numbers of a base-7 system. In general, what
are the landmark numbers of a base-n system?
The landmark numbers of a base-n number system are the powers of
n starting from n0 = 1, n, n2, n3,...

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Advantages of a Base-n System

What is the advantage of having landmark numbers that are all the
powers of a number? To understand this, let us perform some arithmetic
operations using them.

Example: Add the following Egyptian numerals:

Let us find the total number of | and and group them starting from
the largest possible landmark number. It has a total of—
15 and 15 |.
Since 10 gives the next landmark number , the sum can be regrouped
as—

Sum =

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Since 10| gives a , we have

Sum =

Figure it Out
1. Add the following Egyptian numerals:

(i)

(ii)

2. Add the following numerals that are in the base-5 system that we
created:

Remember that in this system, 5 times a landmark number gives the

next one!

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I see a similarity in the

method of adding numbers
in the Egyptian and the
Hindu system!

4 7
+5 6 + +
10 3

Contrast the addition done in a base-n number system with that

done in the Roman system. In the Roman system, the grouping and
rearranging has to be done carefully as it is not always by the same size
that each landmark number has to be grouped to get the next one.
The advantage of a number system with a base becomes more evident
when we consider multiplication.

How to multiply two numbers in Egyptian numerals?

Let us first consider the product of two landmark numbers.
1. What is any landmark number multiplied by (that is 10)? Find the
following products —

 ach landmark number is a power of 10 and so multiplying it with

E
10 increases the power by 1, which is the next landmark number.
2. What is any landmark number multiplied by (102)? Find the
following products —

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Find the following products —

Thus, the product of any two landmark numbers is another landmark

number!
Does this property hold true in the base-5 system that we created? Math
Does this hold for any number system with a base? Talk
What can we conclude about the product of a number and (10),
in the Egyptian system?

(ii) |×
| is the same as + + |. Thus,
|× =( + + |) ×
Will the distributive property hold here? For the same reason
that it holds for (a + b) × n, it also holds when one of the
numbers has more than 2 terms. For example, (a + b + c) × n =
an + bn + cn. So,
( + + |) × =( × )+( × ) + (| × )
= + +
   =

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Now find the following products —

(i) (ii)

What would be a simple rule to multiply a number with ?

As has been seen, a process of multiplying two numbers involves the
multiplication of landmark numbers. When the landmark numbers are
powers of a number, then their product is another landmark number.
This fact simplifies the process of multiplication. However, this is not the
case with the Roman numerals, which is why multiplication using them
is difficult.
Thus, a number system whose landmark numbers are powers of
a number, i.e., a number system with a base, is efficient not only in
number representation but also in its utility in carrying out arithmetic
operations.
The idea of a number system with a base was a turning point in the
history of the evolution of number systems. Our modern Hindu number
system is built on this structure.

Abacus that Makes Use of the Decimal System

In around the 11th century, even the people still using the Roman
numerals started using a calculating device — the abacus — constructed
using a decimal system. It was a board with lines, as shown in the Fig. 3.1.
Starting from the line that stood for 1, each successive line stood for a
successive power of 10.

Fig. 3.1: Abacus

Numbers were represented in it as follows: the given number was

first grouped into the landmark numbers (powers of 10), in exactly the
same way we have been grouping them so far. For each power of 10, as
many counters were placed on its line as the number of times it occurred
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in the grouping. The presence of a counter above a line contributed a

value of 5.
For example let us take the number 3426. It can be grouped as
3426 = 1000 + 1000 + 1000 + 100 + 100 + 100 + 100 + 10 + 10+ 1 + 1 +
1+1+1+1
This number was represented as shown in Fig. 3.1. Notice how the
6 ones are represented.
To get an idea of how the abacus was used for calculations, let us
consider a simple addition problem: 2907 + 43. The two numbers were
taken on either side of the vertical partition.

How would you use this to find the sum?

The counters along each line were brought together. What is to be
done if the total in a line exceeded 10?
Hint: In this problem, the 7 ones and the 3 ones together make 10 ones
which contributes a counter to the line representing 10s.

III. Shortcomings of the Egyptian System

Despite being a number system that enabled relatively efficient number
representations for numbers till a crore (107), and relatively easy
computations, the Egyptian system had a drawback.
If larger and larger numbers needed to be represented, then there
was a need for inventing an unending sequence of symbols for higher
and higher powers of 10. Here we see the original challenge of number
representation resurfacing in a different form!
The next and the final idea in the history of the evolution of number
systems not only solves this problem but also remarkably simplifies
number representation and computations!
Figure it Out
1. Can there be a number whose representation in Egyptian Math
numerals has one of the symbols occurring 10 or more times? Talk
Why not?
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2. Create your own number system of base 4, and represent Math

numbers from 1 to 16. Talk

3. Give a simple rule to multiply a given number by 5 in the base-5

system that we created.

3.4. Place Value Representation

I. The Mesopotamian Number System

In the beginning, the number system used in ancient Mesopotamia had

different symbols for different landmark numbers. In later times, it
became a base-60 system, also called the sexagesimal system, with a
very efficient number representation.
It has puzzled many why they chose base 60. Different theories exist to
explain this, ranging from the connection between 60 and the periods of
some important events (like the length of their lunar month which had
30 days, or the time taken for the Sun to complete one revolution around
the Earth when Earth is taken to be stationary), the ease of representing
fractions (we will not go into this here), their earlier sequence of
landmark numbers — 1, 10, 60, 600, 3600, 36000,… — getting reduced to
only the powers of 60, and so on.
The influence of the Mesopotamian sexagesimal system, also known
as the Babylonian number system, can be seen even now in our units
of time measurements — 1 hour = 60 minutes and 1 minute = 60 seconds.
This system used the symbol for 1 and for 10.
Let us now briefly pause on the study of their number system, and
ideate on how one can build an efficient number system using the
Mesopotamian features seen so far.

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Let us give our own symbols to their landmark numbers —

1        60       602 = 3600    603 = 216000 ...

1 2 3 ...

Note that we have actually used Indian numerals in creating these

symbols. We could have invented our own symbols but for the sake of
easy recall and use, we have chosen to take help of the familiar numerals
1, 2, 3, ...
Using and , numbers from 1 to 59 can be represented —

1      2       3       4       5       6       7        8       9

10      11      12      20      30        40      50       59

Reproduction of a Mesopotamian Tablet

Example: Let us represent the number 640 in this system.

Grouping it into landmark numbers, we see that
640 = (10) × 60 + 40.
If we use the Egyptian idea, this number would be represented using
10 1 s, and 40 would be represented using 4 s.
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Can we represent this more compactly?

We can simply represent this number as

which can be read as ten 60s and one 40, just as we have written in the
equation.

Example: Let us try another number — 7530.

7530 = (2) ×3600 + (5) × 60 + 30
So, its representation would be

Note that when a number is grouped into powers of 60 for its

representation, no power of 60 can occur 60 or more times. If this
happens, then 60 of them can be grouped to form the next power of 60.
For example, consider the expression —
(1) × 3600 + (70) × 60 + 2 = (1) × 602 + (60 + 10) × 60 + 2
= (1) × 602 + 602 + (10) × 60 + 2
= (2) × 602 + (10) × 60 + 2
Therefore, any number can be represented using the numerals from
1 – 59, along with the numerals for landmark numbers.
Now, what if we make the representation even more compact by
dropping the symbols for the different powers of 60 altogether?

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This is exactly what the Mesopotamians did! In their numeral, the

rightmost set of symbols showed the number of 1s, the set of symbols to
its left showed the number of 60s, the next showed the number of 3600s
and so on. Whenever there was no occurrence of a power of 60, a blank
space was given in that position.
It does not seem that the Mesopotamians arrived at this idea in the
same way we did. Some scholars suggest that the similarity of symbols
given to the landmark numbers 1 and 60 in their earlier number system,
and an accidental usage of them, might have made them stumble upon
this idea.

Figure it Out
1. Represent the following numbers in the Mesopotamian system —
(i) 63   (ii) 132   (iii) 200   (iv) 60   (v) 3605
Thus, we can see how the Mesopotamian system removes the need for
generating an unending sequence of symbols for the landmark numbers
by making use of the positions where the symbols are written. Such a
number system (having a base) that makes use of the position of each
symbol in determining the landmark number that it is associated with is
called a positional number system or a place value system.
This idea of place value marks the highest point in the history of
evolution of number systems, and gives a very elegant solution to the
problem of representing the unending sequence of numbers using only
a finite number of different symbols!
The Mesopotamian system however cannot be considered a fully
developed place value system. It has certain defects that lead to confusion
while reading a number.

Look at the representation of 60. What will be the representation for

3,600?
While writing the numerals, the spacing between symbols was not
given the way we are giving it here. It was also difficult to maintain a
consistent spacing for blanks across different manuscripts written by
different people. These created ambiguities. For example, consider the
representations of the following numbers —

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Because of the ambiguity in finding which symbols correspond to

which powers of 60, the same numeral can be read in different ways.
Even in our representation which uses uniform spacing between
symbols for different powers of 60, it is difficult to know the number of
blanks between two sets of symbols, as in the representation of 36002.
To address the issue arising out of blank spaces, the later
Mesopotamians used a brilliant idea of assigning a ‘placeholder’ symbol
to denote a blank space. This is like the 0 (zero) we use in our system.
Thus, zero — the symbol that shows nothingness — is indispensable as a
placeholder in a place value system in which numbers are written in an
unambiguous manner.
Even with the problem arising out of blank spaces solved, other
ambiguities still remained in the system. For example, the placeholder
symbol was primarily used in the middle of numbers and not at the
end; so they would not use it to represent a number like (what we would
write as) 3600.

II. The Mayan Number System

In Central America, there flourished a civilisation known as the Mayan

civilisation that made great intellectual and cultural progress between
the 3rd and 10th centuries CE. Among their intellectual achievements
stands their place value system designed independently of those in Asia.
They also made use of a placeholder symbol, for the modern-day ‘0’, that
looked like a seashell.

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Here we find a puzzling phenomenon. Why was their third landmark

number 360 rather than 400? Some scholars feel that this might have
something to do with their calendars.
They used a dot for 1, and a bar for 5. These were used to
denote numbers from 1 to 19.
The symbols associated with different landmark numbers were
written one below the other with the lowermost set of symbols
corresponding to the number of 1s, the set above corresponding to the
number of 20s, the set above to the number of 360s and so on.

Represent the following numbers using the Mayan system:

(i) 77   (ii) 100   (iii) 361   (iv) 721
Because the Mayan system is not an actual base-20 system, it lacks the
advantages that a system with a base has for computations. Nevertheless,
their place value notation and their use of a placeholder symbol for zero
is considered an important advance in the history of number systems.
A curious fact is that we can still find the use of base-20 in the number
names of some European languages.

III. The Chinese Number System

The Chinese used two number systems — a written system for recording
quantities, and a system making use of rods for performing computations.
The numerals in the rod-based number system are called rod numerals.
Here we discuss the rod numerals, which are more efficient in writing
and computing with numbers than the written system of the Chinese.
The rod numerals developed in China by at least by 3rd century AD
and were used till the 17th century. It was a decimal system (base-10).
The symbols for 1 to 9 were as follows:

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CHINESE NUMBER SYSTEM

Base-10 or Decimal

Note: The zongs represent units, hundreds, tens of thousands, etc., and the hengs tens,
thousands, hundreds of thousands, etc.

A numeral

2 (Heng) 6 (Zong) 3 (Heng) 4 (Zong)

How is this to be read?

Landmark number 103 102 10 1

positions

= (2) × 103 + (6) × 10² + (3) × 10 + (4) × 1

= 2634

Like the Mesopotamians, the rod numerals used a blank space to

indicate the skipping of a place value. However, because of the slightly
more uniform sizes of the symbols for one through nine, the blank
spaces were easier to locate than in the Mesopotamian system.

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Notice how similar the rod numerals are to the Hindu system.
The Chinese system, with a symbol for zero, would be a fully developed
place value system.

IV. The Hindu Number System

Where does the Hindu/Indian number system figure in the evolution of

ideas of number representation? What are its landmark numbers? And
does it use a place value system?

Hindu Number System

Base-10 or Decimal
Ten symbols 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

A numeral 375

How is this to be read? 3 7 5

Landmark number positions 102 10 1

= (3) × 10² + (7) × 10 + (5) × 1

= 375

As can be seen, the Hindu number system is a place value system.

The Hindu number system has had a symbol for 0 at least as early as
200 BCE. Because of the use of 0 as a digit, and the use of a single digit in
each position, this system does not lead to any kind of ambiguity when
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reading or writing numerals. It is for this reason that the Hindu number
system is now used throughout the world.
The use of 0 as a digit, and indeed as a number, was a breakthrough
that truly changed the world of mathematics and science. In Indian
mathematics, indeed, zero was not just used as a placeholder in the place
value system, but was also given the status of a number in its own right,
on par with other numbers. The arithmetic properties of the number 0
(e.g., that 0 plus any number is the same number, and that 0 times any
number is zero) were explicitly used by Aryabhata in his Āryabhaṭīya in
499 CE to compute with and do elaborate scientific computations using
Hindu numerals. The use of 0 as a number like any other number, on
which one can perform the basic arithmetic operations, was codified
by Brahmagupta in his work Brāhmasphuṭasiddhānta in 628 CE, as we
learned in an earlier grade.
By introducing 0 as a number, along with the negative numbers,
Brahmagupta created what in modern terms is called a ring, i.e., a set of
numbers that is closed under addition, subtraction, and multiplication
(i.e., any two numbers in the set can be added, subtracted, or multiplied
to get another number in that set). These new ideas laid the foundations
for modern mathematics, and particularly for the areas of algebra and
analysis.
Hopefully, this gives you a sense of all the ideas that went into writing
and computing with numbers in the way that we do today. The discovery
of 0 and the resulting Indian number system is truly one of the greatest,
most creative, and most influential inventions of all time — appearing
constantly in our daily lives and forming the basis of much of modern
science, technology, computing, accounting, surveying, and more. The
next time you are writing numbers, think about the incredible history
behind them and all the deep ideas that went into their discovery!

Evolution of Ideas in Number

Representation

1. Count in groups of a single number.

ukasar-ukasar-urapon
2. Group using landmark numbers.
I V X L C M
3. Choosing powers of a number as landmark
numbers — the idea of a base.
1 101 102 103 104 …
4. Using positions to denote the landmark numbers — the
idea of place value system.
1 7 2 9
5. The idea of 0 as a positional digit and as a number.

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Figure it Out
1. Why do you think the Chinese alternated between the Zong and Math
Heng symbols? If only the Zong symbols were to be used, how Talk
would 41 be represented? Could this numeral be interpreted in
any other way if there is no significant space between two successive
positions?
2. Form a base-2 place value system using ‘ukasar’ and ‘urapon’ as the
digits. Compare this system with that of the Gumulgal’s.
3. Where in your daily lives, and in which professions, do the Hindu
numerals, and 0, play an important role? How might our lives have
been different if our number system and 0 hadn’t been invented or
conceived of?
4. The ancient Indians likely used base 10 for the Hindu number Math
system because humans have 10 fingers, and so we can use our Talk
fingers to count. But what if we had only 8 fingers? How would
we be writing numbers then? What would the Hindu numerals
look like if we were using base 8 instead? Base 5? Try writing the
base-10 Hindu numeral 25 as base-8 and base-5 Hindu numerals,
respectively. Can you write it in base-2?

Map not to scale

The map shows the locations of the different civilisations. They existed in different time periods.

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SUMMARY
„ To represent numbers, we need a standard sequence of objects,
names, or written symbols that have a fixed order. This standard
sequence is called a number system.
„ The symbols representing numbers in a written number system
are called numerals.
„ In a number system, landmark numbers are numbers that
are easily recognisable and used as reference points for
understanding and working with other numbers. They serve
as anchors within the number system, helping people to orient
themselves and make sense of quantities, particularly larger
ones.
„ A number system whose landmark numbers are the powers of
a number n is referred to as a base-n number system.
„ Number systems having a base that make use of the position
of a symbol in determining the landmark number that it is
associated with are called positional number systems or
place value systems.
„ Place value representations were used in the Mesopotamian
(Babylonian), Mayan, Chinese and Indian civilisations.
„ The system of numerals that we use throughout the world today
is the Hindu number system (also sometimes called the Indian
number system, or the Hindu-Arabic number system). It is a
place value system with (usually) 10 digits, including the digit
0 which is treated on par with other digits. Due to its use of 0
as a number, the system enables the writing of all numbers
unambiguously using just finitely many symbols, and also
enables efficient computation. The system originated in India
around 2000 years ago, and then spread across the world, and
is considered one of human history’s greatest inventions.

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3 NUMBERS
Page No. 54

Figure it Out
1. Suppose you are using the number system that uses sticks to represent
numbers, as in Method 1. Without using either the number names or
the numerals of the Hindu number system, give a method for adding,
subtracting, multiplying and dividing two numbers or two collections
of sticks.
Ans. Suppose we have two groups of sticks.
Count the sticks in each of the groups.
To add, put all sticks at one place and count altogether.
To subtract, take out sticks from the given collection of sticks and
count the remaining sticks.
To multiply two numbers, groups of equal numbers of sticks may
be counted.
For division, from the given number of sticks, the sticks in required
number may be grouped. See the number of such groups formed
and the number of ungrouped sticks.
2. One way of extending the number system in Method 2 is by using
strings with more than one letter — for example, we could use ‘aa’
for 27. How can you extend this system to represent all the numbers?
There are many ways of doing it!
Ans. Total alphabets = 26
One of the ways is –
a, b, c, d, …, z and aa, bb, cc, …, zz and extend further.

Page No. 59

Figure it Out
1. Represent the following numbers in the Roman system.
(i) 1222 (ii) 2999 (iii) 302 (iv) 715
Ans.
(i) 1222 ─ MCCXXII 1
 (ii) 2999 ─ MMCMXCIX
(iii) 302 ─ CCCII
(iv) 715 ─ DCCXV

Page No. 60
How will you multiply two numbers given in Roman numerals,
without converting them to Hindu numerals? Try to find the product
of the following pairs of landmark numbers: V × L, L × D, V × D,
VII × IX.
Ans. V × L = CCL
L × D = MMM…M (25 times)
V × D = MMD
VII × IX = LXIII

Page No. 60-61

Figure it Out
2. Consider the extension of the Gumulgal number system beyond 6 in
the same way of counting by 2s. Come up with ways of performing
the different arithmetic operations (+, –, ×, ÷) for numbers occurring
in this system, without using Hindu numerals. Use this to evaluate the
following:
(i) (ukasar-ukasar-ukasar-ukasar-urapon) + (ukasar-ukasar-ukasar-
urapon)
(ii) (ukasar-ukasar-ukasar-ukasar-urapon) – (ukasar-ukasar-ukasar)
(iii) (ukasar-ukasar-ukasar-ukasar-urapon) × (ukasar-ukasar)
(iv) (ukasar-ukasar-ukasar-ukasar-ukasar-ukasar-ukasar-ukasar) ÷
(ukasar-ukasar)
Ans. We note that in Gumulgal number system urapon = 1, ukasar = 2
(i) ukasar-ukasar-ukasar-ukasar-ukasar-ukasar-ukasar-ukasar
(ii) ukasar-urapon
(iii) ukasar-…-ukasar (18 times)
(iv) ukasar-ukasar
3. Identify the features of the Hindu number system that make it efficient
when compared to the Roman number system.
Ans. The Hindu number system (0, 1, 2, … 9) is much more efficient than
Roman numerals (I, V, X, L, …)

2
Hindu Number System Roman Numerals
(i) Place value system (i) Fixed value
(ii) Zero (0) concept (ii) No symbol of zero
(iii) Ease of calculation (+, –, ×, ÷) (iii) Calculation extremely
difficult

Page No. 62

Figure it Out
1. Represent the following numbers in the Egyptian system: 10458, 1023,
2660, 784, 1111, 70707.
Ans. 10458 = 10,000 + 400 + 50 + 8

1023 = 1000 + 20 + 3

2660 = 2000 + 600 + 60

784 = 700 + 80 + 4

1111 = 1000 + 100 + 10 + 1

70707 = 70000 + 700 + 7

3
 2. What numbers do these numerals stand for?

(i) (ii)

Ans. (i) 276

(ii) 4322

Page No. 63

Figure it Out
1. Write the following numbers in the above base-5 system using the
symbols: 15, 50, 137, 293, 651.
Ans.

(i) 15 =

(ii) 50 =

(iii) 137 =

(iv) 293 =

(v) 651 =
2. Is there a number that cannot be represented in our base-5 system
above? Why or why not?
Ans. Yes, zero (0) is the number, because there is no symbol for it.

3. Compute the landmark numbers of a base-7 system. In general, what

are the landmark numbers of a base-n system?
Ans. 70 = 1, 71 = 7, 72 = 49, 73 = 343, …
Hence 1, 7, 49, 343, … are landmark numbers of base-7.
The landmark numbers of a base-n system are, the powers of the n
starting from n0, n1, n2, n3 … .

4
Page No. 65

Figure it Out
1. Add the following Egyptian numerals:

(i)

Ans.

Sum =

= =

5
 (ii)

Ans.

2. Add the following numerals that are in the base-5 system that we
created:

Ans

Page No. 66

1. What is any landmark number multiplied by (that is 10)? Find the

following products —

Ans. We get the next landmark number till 107.

102 103 104 105
(i) (ii)
(iii) (iv)

2. What is any landmark number multiplied by (102)? Find the following

products —

6
Ans.
103 104 105 106
(i)
(ii) (iii)
(iv)

Find the following products —

Ans.
106 105 106
(i)
(ii)
(iii)
(iv) 1010

Does this property hold true in the base-5 system that we created? Does
this hold for any number system with a base?
Ans. Yes, Yes.
What can we conclude about the product of a number and (10), in the
Egyptian system?
Ans. We get the next landmark number.

Page No. 68
Now find the following products —

(i) (ii)

Ans.

(i)

(ii)

7
 Page No. 69–70

Figure it Out
1. Can there be a number whose representation in Egyptian numerals
has one of the symbols occurring 10 or more times? Why not?
Ans. No, its not, because 10 times any landmark number will give the
next landmark number.
2. Create your own number system of base 4, and represent numbers
from 1 to 16.
Ans. One of the ways is –
Let 40 = 1 = ∟, 41 = 4 = ∆, 42 = 16 = □
1 = ∟, 2 = ∟ ∟, 3 = ∟ ∟ ∟, 4 = ∆
5 = ∆ ∟, 6 = ∆ ∟ ∟, 7 = ∆ ∟ ∟ ∟, 8 = ∆ ∆,
9 = ∆ ∆ ∟, 10 = ∆ ∆ ∟ ∟, 11 = ∆ ∆ ∟ ∟ ∟, 12 = ∆ ∆ ∆
13 = ∆ ∆ ∆ ∟, 14 = ∆ ∆ ∆ ∟ ∟, 15 = ∆ ∆ ∆ ∟ ∟ ∟,
16 = □

Page No. 73

Figure it Out
1. Represent the following numbers in the Mesopotamian system —
(i) 63   (ii) 132   (iii) 200   (iv) 60   (v) 3605
Ans.

(i) 63 = 1 × 60+3 1

(ii) 132 = 2 × 60 + 10 + 2 1

(iii) 200 = 3 × 60 + 20 1

(iv) 60 = 1 × 60 1

(v) 3605 = 1 × 3600 + 5 2

8
Page No. 76
Represent the following numbers using the Mayan system:
(i) 77  (ii) 100  (iii) 361  (iv) 721
Ans.

Landmark number Vertically placed Meaning of symbols

position symbol
(i) 20 3
1 17

Numeral

77 = (3) × 20 + (17) × 1

Landmark number Vertically placed Meaning of symbols

position symbol
(ii) 20 5
1 0

Numeral

100 = (5) × 20 + (0) × 1

Landmark number Vertically placed Meaning of symbols

position symbol
(iii) 360 1
20 0
1 1

Numeral

361 = (1) × 360 + (0) × 20 + (1) × 1

9
 Landmark number Vertically placed Meaning of symbols
position symbol

(iv) 360 2
20 0
1 1

Numeral

721 = (2) × 360 + (0) × 20 + (1) × 1

Page No. 80

Figure it Out
1. Why do you think the Chinese alternated between the Zong and Heng
symbols? If only the Zong symbols were to be used, how would 41 be
represented? Could this numeral be interpreted in any other way if
there is no significant space between two successive positions?
Ans. The Chinese alternated between the Zong (vertical) and Hong
(Horizontal) rod numerals to get all the powers of 10 required to
get all numbers, and to distinguish between adjacent places.

41

Yes, it might be interpreted as 23, 32 or 122. Think of more.

2. Form a base-2 place value system using ‘ukasar’ and ‘urapon’ as the
digits. Compare this system with that of the Gumulgal’s.

Ans. In Base-2, we need symbols for numbers 0 and 1. Let us assign

0-urapon and 1-ukasar.
Now compare this system with Gumulgal's.

Number Base-2 system Gumulgal System

(ur = 0, uk = 1)
1 (1) × 20 = uk ur
2 (1) × 21 + (0) × 20 = uk ur uk
3 (1) × 21 + (1) × 20 = uk uk uk-ur

10
Number Base-2 system Gumulgal System
(ur = 0, uk = 1)
4 (1) × 22 + (0) × 21 + (0) × 20 = uk ur uk-uk
ur
5 (1) × 22 + (0) × 21 + (1) × 20 = uk ur uk-uk-ur
uk
6 (1) × 22 + (1) × 21 + (0) × 20 = uk uk uk-uk-uk
ur
7 (1) × 22 + (1) × 21 + (1) × 20 = uk uk uk-uk-uk-ur
uk
8 (1) × 23 + (0) × 22 + (0) × 21 + (0) × 20 uk-uk-uk-uk
= uk ur ur ur

In Base-2 system, and the Gumulgal system there are only two
landmark numbers.
3. Where in your daily lives, and in which professions, do the Hindu
numerals, and 0, play an important role? How might our lives have
been different if our number system and 0 hadn’t been invented or
conceived of?
Ans. Hindu numerals and ‘0’ are the foundations of modern life. They
are used in commerce, calculations and communications.
In the absence of the numerals and 0, the development of technology
would have been difficult.
Think of more.
4. The ancient Indians likely used base 10 for the Hindu number system
because humans have 10 fingers, and so we can use our fingers to
count. But what if we had only 8 fingers? How would we be writing
numbers then? What would the Hindu numerals look like if we were
using base-8 instead? Base-5? Try writing the base-10 Hindu numeral
25 as base-8 and base-5 Hindu numerals, respectively. Can you write
it in base-2?
Ans. If we had 8 fingers, we would likely have a base-8 number system.
In base-8, we may write number n as –
n = (ak)8k + (ak – 1) 8k – 1 + … + (a1)81 + (a0) 8 0, where ak ≠0 and 0 ≤ ai ≤ 7
for all i = 0, 1, 2, … , k.
Then base-8 representation of n is akak – 1 … a1a0.

Similarly, we can do the base-5 representation of any number n by

replacing power of 8’s by power of 5’s.

11
 In base-8, 25 = (3) × 81 + (1) × 8 0
Base-8 representation of 25 is 31.

In base-5, 25 = (1) × 52 + (0) × 51 + (0) × 50

Base-5 representation of 25 is 100.

Try yourself for base-2.

12
 4 QUADRILATERALS

In this chapter, we will study some interesting types of four-sided

figures and solve problems based on them. Such figures are commonly
known as quadrilaterals. The word ‘quadrilateral’ is derived from Latin
words — quadri meaning four, and latus referring to sides.

Observe the following figures.

(i) (ii) (iii)

(iv) (v)

Figs. (i), (ii), and (iii) are quadrilaterals, and the others are not. Why?
The angles of a quadrilateral are the angles between its sides, as
marked in Figs. (i), (ii), and (iii).
We will start with the most familiar quadrilaterals — rectangles and
squares.

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 Quadrilaterals

4.1 Rectangles and Squares

We know what rectangles are. Let us define them.
Rectangle: A rectangle is a quadrilateral in which —
(i) The angles are all right angles (90°), and
(ii) The opposite sides are of equal length.
The definition precisely states the conditions a quadrilateral has to
satisfy to be called a rectangle.

Are there other ways to define a rectangle?

Let us consider the following problem related to the construction of
rectangles.

A Carpenter’s Problem
B C
A carpenter needs to put together
two thin strips of wood, as shown
in Fig. 1, so that when a thread is
passed through their endpoints, it
O
forms a rectangle.
She already has one 8 cm long
strip. What should be the length of
the other strip? Where should they
both be joined?
A D
Let us first model the structure Fig. 1
that the carpenter has to make. The
strips can be modelled as line segments. They are the diagonals of the
quadrilateral formed by their endpoints. For the quadrilateral to be a
rectangle, we need to answer the following questions —
1. What is the length of the other diagonal?
2. What is the point of intersection of the two diagonals?
3. What should the angle be between the diagonals?
Let us answer these questions using B C
geometric reasoning (deduction). If
that is challenging, try to construct/
measure some rectangles.
To find the answers to these AC = 8 cm
questions, let us suppose that we
have placed the diagonals such that
their endpoints form the vertices of
a rectangle, as shown in Fig. 2. A D
Fig. 2

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Deduction 1 — What is the length of the other diagonal?

This can be deduced using congruence as follows —
B C

Since ABCD is a rectangle, we have

AB = CD
∠BAD = ∠CDA = 90°
AD is common to both triangles.
So, ∆ADC ≅ ∆DAB by the SAS congruence
condition. A D
Common side

Therefore, AC = BD, since they are corresponding parts of congruent

triangles. This shows that the diagonals of a rectangle always have the
same length.
So the other diagonal must also be 8 cm long. You can verify this
property by constructing/measuring some rectangles.
Deduction 2 — What is the point of intersection of the two diagonals?
This can also be found using congruence. Since we need to know the
relation between OA and OC, and OB and OD, which two triangles of the
rectangle ABCD should we consider?
B C B C

1
O O

A D A D
The blue angles are equal since In order to show congruence,
they are vertically opposite consider ∠1 and ∠2. Are they
angles. equal?
B C B C
3 3

1
O O

A D A D
Since ∠B = 90°, In ∆BCD, since
84 ∠3 + ∠1 = 90°. ∠3 + ∠2 + 90 = 180,
we have ∠3 + ∠2 = 90°.

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 Quadrilaterals

So, ∠1 = ∠2 (= 90° – ∠3).

Thus, by the AAS condition for congruence, ∆AOB ≅ ∆COD.
Hence OA = OC and OB = OD, since they are corresponding parts of
congruent triangles. So, O is the midpoint of AC and BD.
This shows that the diagonals of a rectangle always intersect at
their midpoints.
Therefore, to get a rectangle, the diagonals must be drawn so that
they are equal and intersect at their midpoints.
When the diagonals cross at their midpoints, we say that the diagonals bisect
each other. Bisecting a quantity means dividing it into two equal parts.
Verify this property by constructing some rectangles and measuring
their diagonals and the points of intersection.
Can the following equalities be used to establish that ∆AOD ≅ ∆COB? Math
AO = CO (proved above) Talk
∠AOB = ∠COD (vertically opposite angles)
AD = CB
Deduction 3 — What are the angles between the diagonals?
Let us check what quadrilateral we get if we draw the A B
two diagonals such that their lengths are equal, they
bisect each other and have an arbitrary angle, say
60°, between them as shown in the figure to the right.
60°
Can you find all the remaining angles?

A B

D C
60°
O We can find the remaining angles between the
120° 120° diagonals using our understanding of vertically
opposite angles and linear pairs.
60°
A B
a a

D C
60°

In ∆AOB, since OA = OB, the angles opposite them 120° 120°

O
are equal, say a. 60°
Can you find the value of a?

D C 85

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 Ganita Prakash | Grade 8

In ∆AOB, we have,
a + a + 60 = 180 (interior angles of a triangle).
Therefore 2a = 120.
Thus a = 60.
Similarly, we can find the values of all the other angles.
A B
60° 60°
30° 30°

60°

120° 120°
O

60°

30° 30°
60° 60°
D C
Can we now identify what type of quadrilateral ABCD is?
Notice that its angles all add up to 90° (30° + 60°).
What can we say about its sides?
A B A B

60°
O
O 120° 120°

60°

D C D C

We can see that ∆AOB ≅ ∆COD and ∆AOD ≅ ∆COB. Hence, AB = CD, and
AD = CB, since they are corresponding parts of congruent triangles.
Therefore, ABCD is a rectangle since it satisfies the definition of a
rectangle.
A B

Will ABCD remain a rectangle if the angles between the

diagonals are changed? Can we generalise this? x

Take one of the angles between the diagonals as x.

O

D C
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 Quadrilaterals

A B

x We can compute the four angles between the

diagonals to be x, x, 180 – x, and 180 – x.
180° – x 180° – x Can you find the other angles?

D C

Since we know that ∆AOB is isosceles, we can A B

a a
b
denote the measures of both of its base angles by a.
What is the value of a (in degrees) in terms of x? x
We have,
180° – x 180° – x
a + a + x = 180 O
(sum of the interior angles of a triangle) x

2a = 180 – x
b
(180 – x) x
a= 2 = 90 – 2. D C

Similarly, in the isosceles ∆AOD, let the base angles be b.

b + b + 180 – x = 180
2b = 180 – (180 – x)
A B
2b = 180 – 180 + x 90°– x
x 2
x 90°– x
2
2 2
2b = x
x
x
b= 2 .
180° – x 180° – x
All the angles of the quadrilateral are a + b, which is O
x
x x
90 – 2 + 2 = 90. x x
2 x 2
Thus, all four angles of the quadrilateral ABCD are 90°. 90°–
2 90°– x
2
What can we say about AB and CD, and AD and BC? D C

We have ∆AOB ≅ ∆COD and ∆AOD ≅ ∆COB. Hence, AB = CD, and AD = CB,
since they are the corresponding parts of congruent triangles.

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 Ganita Prakash | Grade 8

Hence, no matter what the angles between the diagonals are, if the
diagonals are equal and they bisect each other, then the angles of the
quadrilateral formed are 90° each, and the opposite sides are equal.
Thus, the quadrilateral is a rectangle.
Now we know how the wooden strips have to be put together to form
the vertices of a rectangle! They should be equal and connected at their
midpoints.
B B

m
4c

m
4c
4 cm 4 cm 4 cm 4 cm 4 cm 4 cm
A O C A O C A O C

m
m

4c
4c
D
D
This method is actually used in practice to
make rectangles. Carpenters in Europe use
this method to get a rectangular frame. It is
also known that farmers in Mozambique,
a country in Africa, use this method while
constructing houses to get the base of the
house in a rectangular shape.

The Process of Finding Properties

As we have been seeing from lower grades,
properties of geometric objects such as parallel
lines, angles, and triangles can be deduced through geometric reasoning.
We will continue to deduce properties of special types of quadrilaterals
in this chapter.
Once you have deduced a property of a quadrilateral, it is good to verify
it with a real-world quadrilateral, either the quadrilateral constructed
on paper or simply a surface having the shape of the quadrilateral.
If you are not able to figure out the property using deduction, you
could experiment by taking real-world quadrilaterals and observing the
property through measurement. Note that these observations give
useful insights about the property, but with them, we can only form a
conjecture, that is, a statement about which we are highly confident,
but not yet sure if it always holds true. For example, constructing a
few rectangles and observing through measurement that their diagonals
bisect each other does not necessarily mean that this will always be the
case — can we be sure that the 1000th rectangle we construct will also
have this property? The only way we can be sure of this property is by
justifying or proving the statement, just as we did in Deduction 2.

Note to the Teacher: Gently encourage students to deduce or justify properties.

Whenever students face challenges in doing it, encourage them to experiment and
observe, and use their intuition to figure out the properties.
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 Quadrilaterals

The Carpenter’s Problem shows that rectangles can also be defined as

follows —
Rectangle: A rectangle is a quadrilateral whose diagonals are equal
and bisect each other.
Observe how different this definition is from the earlier one. Yet, both
capture the same class of quadrilaterals. Further, it turns out that the
first definition can be simplified.

In the earlier definition, we stated that a rectangle has (a) opposite sides
of equal length, and (b) all angles equal to 90°. Would we be wrong if we
just define a rectangle as a quadrilateral in which all the angles are 90°?

If you think that this definition is incomplete, try constructing a

quadrilateral in which the angles are all 90° but the opposite sides are
not equal.
Are you able to construct such a quadrilateral?
Let us prove why this is impossible.
Deduction 4 — What is the shape of a quadrilateral with all the
angles equal to 90°?

Consider a quadrilateral ABCD with all angles measuring 90°. What can
we say about the opposite sides of such a quadrilateral?
Join BD. ∆BAD and ∆DCB seem congruent. Can we justify this claim?
B C

1
Co Two equalities can be directly
mm
on seen in the triangles. What can we
sid
e
say about ∠1 and ∠2?
2

A D

Recall that we tackled a very similar problem in Deduction 2. We can

use the same reasoning here.
B B C
C
3 3

A D A D
Since ∠B = 90°, In ∆BCD, since
∠3 + ∠1 = 90°. ∠3 + ∠2 + 90° = 180°,
∠3 + ∠2 = 90°. 89

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 Ganita Prakash | Grade 8

So, ∠1 = ∠2.
Thus, by the AAS congruence condition, ∆BAD ≅ ∆DCB.
Therefore, AD = CB, and DC = BA, since these are corresponding sides
of congruent triangles.
Is it wrong to write ∆BAD ≅ ∆CDB? Why?
Thus, we have established that if all the angles of a quadrilateral are
right angles, then the opposite sides have equal lengths. Therefore, the
quadrilateral is a rectangle. Thus, a rectangle can simply be defined as
follows —
Rectangle: A rectangle is a quadrilateral in which the angles are all 90°.
Let us list the properties of a rectangle.
Property 1: All the angles of a rectangle are 90°.
Property 2: The opposite sides of a rectangle are equal.

Are the opposite sides of a rectangle parallel?

They definitely seem so. This fact can be justified using one of the
transversal properties.
Notice that AB acts as a transversal to AD B C
and BC, and that ∠A + ∠B = 90° + 90° = 180°.
When the sum of the internal angles on
the same side of the transversal is 180°,
the lines are parallel. We can use this fact
to conclude that the lines AD and BC are
parallel, which we represent as AD || BC.
Can you similarly show that AB is
A D
parallel to DC (AB||DC)?
Property 3: The opposite sides of a rectangle are parallel to each other.
Property 4: The diagonals of a rectangle are of equal length and they
bisect each other.
A Special Rectangle
In the quadrilaterals below, are there any non-rectangles?
3.6 cm

4 cm
6 cm

1 cm

5 cm
5 cm
6 cm
2 cm

4 cm

4 cm

5 cm
2 cm

1 cm

5 cm
4 cm
3.6 cm

(i) (ii) (iii) (iv)

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 Quadrilaterals

All these quadrilaterals are rectangles, including (iv). Quadrilateral

(iv) is a rectangle because all its angles are 90°. However, it is a special
kind of rectangle with all sides of equal length. We know that this
quadrilateral is also called a square.
Square: A square is a quadrilateral in which all the angles are equal
to 90°, and all the sides are of equal length.
Thus, every square is also a rectangle, but clearly every rectangle is
not a square.

Wait, which one of

I am an
them are you — an
Indian
Indian or a Malayali?
and I am a
Malayali. How can you be both?

This relation can be pictorially represented using a Venn diagram.

We have seen these diagrams before. In a Venn diagram, a set of objects
is represented as points inside a closed curve. Typically, these closed
curves are ovals or circles.
For example, the set of all squares is represented as

Square

Each point in the region represents a square, thereby covering all the
possible squares.
Since every square is a rectangle, the Venn diagram representation of
these two sets would be as follows —

Rectangle

Square

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Let us consider the Carpenter’s Problem again. If the wooden strips

have to be placed such that the thread passing through their endpoints
forms a square, what must be done?
B C
As in the previous case, let us try to
construct a square, one of whose diagonals is
of length 8 cm.
While solving the Carpenter’s Problem for
the case of a rectangle, we have seen that to
get a quadrilateral with all angles 90° (and
O
opposite sides of equal length), the diagonals
have to be drawn such that —
(i) they are of equal lengths, and
A D (ii) they bisect each other.
What more needs to be done to get equal sidelengths as well? Can this be
achieved by properly choosing the angle between the diagonals?
See if you can reason and/or experiment to figure this out!
Deduction 5 — What should be the angle formed by the diagonals?
The angle between the diagonals can be found using the notion of congruence!
Suppose we join the equal diagonals such that they bisect each other
and result in a square. Let us label the square ABCD.
To find the angle formed by the diagonals, what are the two triangles
we should consider for congruence?
A B
de
Si
on
m
m
Co

By the SSS condition for congruence,

O ∆BOA ≅ ∆BOC

D C
Can this be used to find the angles ∠BOA and ∠BOC formed by the
diagonals?
Since these angles are corresponding parts of congruent triangles,
they are equal. Further, these angles together form a straight angle. So
∠BOA + ∠BOC = 180°. Thus, these angles have to be 90° each.

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 Quadrilaterals

This shows that the diagonals of a square bisect each other at right
angles. This means that the diagonals have to be drawn such that they are
of equal lengths and bisect each other at right angles. Since the endpoints
of the diagonals uniquely determine the vertices of a quadrilateral, we
will get a square when the diagonals are joined this way.

Using this fact, construct a square with a diagonal of length 8 cm.

Properties of a Square
Since a square is a special type of rectangle, all the properties of a
rectangle hold true for a square.

Verify if this is true by going through geometric reasoning in Deduction

1 and Deduction 2, and see if they apply to a square as well.
Property 1: All the sides of a square are equal to each other.
Property 2: The opposite sides of a square are parallel to each other.
Property 3: The angles of a square are all 90°.
Property 4: The diagonals of a square are of equal length and they bisect
each other at 90°.
There is one more special property of a square.

What are the measures of ∠1, ∠2, ∠3, and ∠4? See if you can reason
and/or experiment to figure this out!
A B
2

1
In ∆ADC, we have,
∠1 + ∠3 + 90 = 180
Since AD = DC, we have ∠1 = ∠3.
4 Thus, ∠1 = ∠3 = 45°.

3
D C

Similarly, find ∠2 and ∠4.

Thus, we have another property of a square —
Property 5: The diagonals of a square divide the angles of the square into
equal halves. This can also be expressed as — The diagonals
of a square bisect the angles of the square.

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Figure it Out
1. Find all the other angles inside the following rectangles.
Q R
D C

110°

30°
A B
(i) P S
(ii)

2. Draw a quadrilateral whose diagonals have equal lengths of 8 cm

that bisect each other, and intersect at an angle of
(i) 30° (ii) 40° (iii) 90° (iv) 140°
3. Consider a circle with centre O. Line segments PL and AM are two
perpendicular diameters of the circle. What is the figure APML?
Reason and/or experiment to figure this out.
4. We have seen how to get 90° using paper folding. Now, suppose Math
we do not have any paper but two sticks of equal length, and a Talk
thread. How do we make an exact 90° using these?
5. We saw that one of the properties of a rectangle is that its opposite
sides are parallel. Can this be chosen as a definition of a rectangle? Try
In other words, is every quadrilateral that has opposite sides This
parallel and equal, a rectangle?

4.2 Angles in a Quadrilateral

Is it possible to construct a quadrilateral with three angles equal to 90°
and the fourth angle not equal to 90°?
You might have observed through constructions that this may not be
possible.

But why not?

This is due to a general property of quadrilaterals related to their
angles.
We have seen that the sum of the angles of a triangle is 180°. There is
a similar regularity in the sum of the angles of a quadrilateral.

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O
Consider a quadrilateral SOME.
Draw a diagonal SM. We get two S 5
triangles ∆SEM and ∆SOM. 4
In ∆SEM, we have ∠1 + ∠2 + ∠3 = 180°. 1
And in ∆SOM, ∠4 + ∠5 + ∠6 = 180°.
What do we get when we add all six
angles? 6
We will have
3
∠1+ ∠2 + ∠3 + ∠4 + ∠5 + ∠6 = 180° + 180° 2
M
= 360°.
E
Or, (∠1+ ∠4) + (∠3 + ∠6) +∠2 + ∠5 = 360°.
Since (∠1 + ∠4), (∠3 + ∠6), ∠2 and ∠5 are the angles of this quadrilateral,
we have the following result —
The sum of all angles in any quadrilateral is 360°.
This explains why it is impossible for a quadrilateral to have three
right angles, with the fourth angle not right angle.

4.3 More Quadrilaterals with Parallel Opposite

Sides
Rectangles (and therefore squares) have parallel opposite sides.

Are there quadrilaterals that have parallel opposite sides that are not
rectangles?
Let us try constructing one.
This can be easily done by drawing two pairs of parallel lines, ensuring
that they do not meet at right angles.

Construct such a figure by recalling how parallel lines can be

constructed using a ruler and a set-square,
or a compass and a ruler.
A B

Observe the quadrilateral ABCD. It has

parallel opposite sides but is not a rectangle.
D C

Thus, a larger set of quadrilaterals exists

in which the opposite sides are parallel. Such
quadrilaterals are called parallelograms.

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Is a rectangle a parallelogram?
A rectangle has opposite sides parallel. So, it satisfies the
parallelogram’s definition. Hence, it is indeed a parallelogram. More
specifically, a rectangle is a special kind of parallelogram with all its
angles equal to 90°.
Let us represent this relation using a Venn diagram.

Parallelogram

Rectangle

Square

To understand the relations between the sides and the angles of a

parallelogram, let us construct the following figure.
D C

Draw a parallelogram with adjacent 5 cm

sides of lengths 4 cm and 5 cm, and
an angle of 30° between them.
30°

A 4 cm B D

5 cm
Step 1: Draw line segments AB = 4
cm and AD = 5 cm with an angle of
30°
30° between them. A
4 cm B

Step 2: Draw a line parallel to AB D C

through the point D, and a line
parallel to AD through B. Mark the 5 cm
point at which these lines intersect
as C. 30°
A 4 cm B
ABCD is the required parallelogram.

What are the remaining angles of the parallelogram? What are the
lengths of the remaining sides? See if you can reason out and/or
experiment to figure these out.
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Deduction 6 — What can we say about the angles of a parallelogram?

In the parallelogram ABCD, AB||CD, and AD is a transversal to them.
D C
∠A + ∠D = 180° (sum of the
internal angles on the same side of
a transversal). 5 cm
Therefore,
∠D = 180 – ∠A = 180 – 30 = 150°. 30°
Similarly, AD||BC, and AB and
A B
CD are transversals to them. 4 cm

So, ∠A + ∠B = 180°.
So, ∠C + ∠D = 180°.
Using these equations, we get ∠B = 150° and ∠C = 30°.
We see that in this parallelogram, the adjacent pairs of angles add
up to 180° and opposite pairs of angles are equal.
Thus,
∠A + ∠B = 180°, ∠A + ∠D = 180°, ∠C + ∠D = 180°, and ∠B + ∠C = 180°.
And,
∠A = ∠C, and ∠B = ∠D.

Since the adjacent angles are the interior angles on the same side of
a transversal to a pair of parallel lines, they must add up to 180°.
What about the opposite angles? Will they be equal in all parallelograms?
If yes, how can we be sure? R A
Let us take one of the angles to be x.
What are the other angles?
Since ∠P + ∠R = 180°,
∠R = 180 – ∠P = 180 – x.
Similarly, since ∠A + ∠R = 180°,
x
∠A = 180 – ∠R = 180 – (180 – x) = 180 – 180 + x = x.
Thus, ∠P = ∠A = x. P E
Similarly, we can deduce that ∠ R = ∠E = 180 – x.
Therefore, this shows that the opposite angles of a parallelogram
are always equal.
Deduction 7 — What can we say about the sides of a parallelogram?
By looking at a parallelogram, it appears that the opposite sides are
equal.
Can we again use congruence to show this? Which two triangles can
be considered for this?

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In ∆ABD and ∆CDB, the angles D C

marked with a single arc are equal
as they are the opposite angles of a
Common
parallelogram. Side
Since AD||BC, and BD is a transversal
to it, the angles marked with double
arcs are equal as they are alternate
angles. A B

So, by the AAS condition, the

triangles are congruent, that is, ∆ABD ≅ ∆CDB.

Therefore, AD = CB, and AB = CD.

Thus, the opposite sides of a parallelogram are equal.

Is it wrong to write ∆ABD ≅ ∆CBD? Why?

From these deductions we can find the remaining sides and angles of
the parallelogram.
D 4 cm C

150° 30°
5 cm
5 cm

30° 150°

A 4 cm B

Let us list the properties of a parallelogram.

Property 1: The opposite sides of a parallelogram are equal.
Property 2: The opposite sides of a parallelogram are parallel.
Property 3: In a parallelogram, the adjacent angles add up to 180°, and
the opposite angles are equal.

Are the diagonals of a parallelogram always equal? Check with the

parallelogram that you have constructed.
We see that the diagonals of a parallelogram need not be equal.

Do they bisect each other (do they intersect at their midpoints)? Reason
and/or experiment to figure this out.

Deduction 8 — What is the point of intersection of the two diagonals

in a parallelogram?
As in the case of a rectangle, we can find out if the diagonals bisect
each other by examining the congruence of ∆AOE and ∆YOS in the
parallelogram EASY.

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A S
AE = YS (as they are the opposite sides
of the parallelogram)
The angles marked using a single arc O
are equal, and so are the angles marked
using a double arc, since they are alternate
angles of parallel lines.
Thus, by the ASA condition, the triangles E Y
are congruent, that is,
∆AOE ≅ ∆YOS.
Therefore, OA = OY, and OE = OS, since they are corresponding parts
of congruent triangles.
Thus, O is the midpoint of both diagonals.

Is it wrong to write ∆AOE ≅ ∆SOY? Why?

Property 4: The diagonals of a parallelogram bisect each other.

Do the diagonals of a parallelogram intersect at a particular angle?

4.4 Quadrilaterals with Equal Sidelengths

Are squares the only quadrilaterals that have
equal sidelengths? Let us explore this question D
through construction.
Draw two equal sides AD and AB, that are
not perpendicular to each other.
50°
A B

Can we complete this quadrilateral so that all its sides are of the same
length?
Mark a point C whose distance from D C
B and D is equal to AB (or AD). To do this,
measure AB using a compass. Keeping
this length as the radius, cut arcs from
B and D.
50°
Now we have a quadrilateral with A B
equal sidelengths and one of its angles
50°. Note that we could have constructed
such a quadrilateral by taking any angle less than 180° (in place of 50°).
A quadrilateral in which all the sides have the same length is a
rhombus.

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What are the other angles of the rhombus ABCD that we have
constructed? Reason and/or experiment to figure this out.

Deduction 9 — What can we say about the angles in a rhombus?

E M
Consider a rhombus GAME.
b
In ∆GAE, since GE = GA, a = d.
a
Similarly, in ∆MAE, since ME = MA,
b = c.
It can be seen that ∆GAE ≅ ∆MAE c
d
(How?)
G A
So, a = b, c = d and ∠G = ∠M (since
they are corresponding parts of congruent triangles).
Thus, we have, a = b = c = d.
These facts hold for any rhombus. Let us apply them to the rhombus
ABCD that we constructed earlier. Let the four equal angles formed by
the diagonal be a, as shown in the figure
D C
a 50°
In ∆ADB, we have a

a + a + 50 = 180°.
a
So, a = 65°. 50° a
A B

Thus, the angles of the rhombus ABCD D C

are 50°, 130°, 50°, and 130°. 65° 50°
So, in a rhombus opposite angles are 65°

equal to each other.

65°
Interestingly, there is one more way by 65°
50°
which we could have figured out the other
A B
angles of the rhombus ABCD. We have
shown that in a general rhombus GAME, the four angles formed by a
diagonal are equal to each other.
E M E M
a
a

a
a
G A G A

Consider the lines EM and GA and its Similarly consider the lines GE
transversal AE. Since the alternate and AM and its transversal AE.
angles are equal, EM||GA. Since the alternate angles are
equal, GE||AM.
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As opposite sides are parallel, GAME D C

is also a parallelogram. Thus, every
rhombus is a parallelogram, and the
properties of a parallelogram hold
true for a rhombus as well. Thus, the
adjacent angles of a rhombus add up to 50°
A B
180°, and the opposite angles are equal
(verify that the arguments in Deduction 6 can be applied to a rhombus
as well!).
Thus, in rhombus ABCD,
∠A = ∠C = 50°, and
∠D = ∠B = 180 – 50 = 130°.

So a rhombus is a parallelogram, and a rectangle is also a parallelogram.

How can this be represented using a Venn diagram?

Where will the set of squares occur in this diagram?

We know that a square is a rectangle. Since the opposite sides of a
square are parallel, a square is also a parallelogram. Further, since all
the sides of a square have the same length, a square is also a rhombus.
Thus, the Venn diagram will be as follows.
Parallelogram

Rectangle Rectangle Rhombus

Rhombus

Square
Square

Let us list the properties of a rhombus.

Property 1: All the sides of a rhombus are equal to each other.
Property 2: The opposite sides of a rhombus are parallel to each other.
Property 3: In a rhombus, the adjacent angles add up to 180°, and the
opposite angles are equal.

Are the diagonals of a rhombus equal?

Property 4: The diagonals of a rhombus bisect each other.
Property 5: The diagonals of a rhombus bisect its angles.
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Do the diagonals of a rhombus intersect at any particular angle? Reason

out and/or experiment to figure this out!

Deduction 10 — What can we say about the angles formed by the

diagonals of a rhombus at their point of intersection?
E M
In the rhombus GAME, we have
∆GEO ≅ ∆MEO (why?).
O
So, ∠GOE = ∠MOE, as they are
corresponding parts of congruent
triangles. As they add up to 180°,
they should be 90° each. G A
Property 6: Diagonals of a rhombus intersect each other at an angle of
90°.
Figure it Out
1. Find the remaining angles in the following quadrilaterals.

(i) R A (ii) S R

40°
P E
110°

P Q
(iii) X W (iv)
O I

30° 20°
V A E
U

2. Using the diagonal properties, construct a parallelogram whose

diagonals are of lengths 7 cm and 5 cm, and intersect at an angle of
140°.
3. Using the diagonal properties, construct a rhombus whose diagonals
are of lengths 4 cm and 5 cm.

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4.5 Playing with Quadrilaterals

Geoboard Activity
Take a geoboard and some rubber bands. If you do not have these, you
could just use the dot grid papers given at the end of the book for this
activity.

Place two rubber bands perpendicular to each other, forming

diagonals of equal length. Join the ends.

What is the quadrilateral that you get? Justify your answer.

Extend one of the diagonals on both sides by 2 cm.

What quadrilateral will you get now? Justify your answer.

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Joining Triangles
1. Take two cardboard cutouts of an equilateral triangle of sidelength
8 cm.

m
8c

8c
8c

8c
m

m
8 cm 8 cm

Can you join them to get a quadrilateral?

8c
m m
8c
8 cm

8c m
m 8c

What type of a quadrilateral is this? Justify your answer.

2. Take two cardboard cutouts of an isosceles triangle with sidelengths
8 cm, 8 cm, and 6 cm.
m

m
8c

8c
8c

8c
m

6 cm 6 cm

What are the different ways they can be joined to get a quadrilateral?
Joining them in this Joining them in this
way you get way you get
6 cm

m
8c 8c
m
m

8c

m
6 cm

8c

8c

8c m
m 8c
6 cm
What quadrilaterals are these? Justify your answers.
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3. Take two cardboard cutouts of a scalene triangle with sides 6 cm,

9 cm, and 12 cm.

9c 9c
cm m m

cm
6

6
12 cm 12 cm

What are the different ways they can be joined to get a quadrilateral?

Are you able to identify the different quadrilaterals that are

obtained by joining the triangles? Justify your answer whenever
you identify a quadrilateral.

4.6 Kite and Trapezium

Kite
One of the ways the two triangles of sides 6 cm, 9 cm and 12 cm can be
joined together is as follows —
6
cm
cm
6

12 cm

9 cm
9 cm

This quadrilateral looks like a kite. Observe that

the adjacent sides are of the same length.
Kite: A kite is a quadrilateral that can be labelled
ABCD such that AB = BC, and CD = DA. A C
O
Property 1: In the kite, show that the diagonal BD
(i) bisects ∠ABC and ∠ADC,
(ii) bisects the diagonal AC, that is,
AO = OC, and is perpendicular to it.
Hint: Is ∆AOB ≅ ∆COB?

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Trapezium
P Q
Parallelograms are quadrilaterals that have
parallel opposite sides. We get a new type
of quadrilateral if we relax this condition.
Trapezium: A trapezium is a quadrilateral
with at least one pair of parallel opposite
sides. S R

Construct a trapezium. Measure the base angles (marked in the figure).

Can you find the remaining angles without measuring them?

Since PQ||SR, we have

Property 1: ∠ S + ∠P = 180° and ∠R + ∠Q = 180°.

Using these facts, the remaining angles can easily be found. Verify
your answer after finding them.
When the non-parallel sides of a trapezium have the same lengths,
the trapezium is called an isosceles trapezium.

How do we construct an isosceles trapezium?

Construct an isosceles trapezium UVWX, with UV||XW. Measure ∠U.

X W X W

U V U V
Mark X and W such
that UX = VW

Can you find the remaining angles without measuring them?

Does it appear that the angles opposite to the equal sides — ∠U and
∠V — are also equal? Can we find congruent triangles here?
Consider line segments XY and WZ perpendicular to UV.
What type of quadrilateral is XWZY? X W
Since XW||UV, a b
a = 180° – ∠XYZ = 90°, and
b = 180° – ∠WZY = 90° (since the internal
angles on the same side of a transversal
add up to 180°)
Hence, XWZY is a rectangle. U Y Z V

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Now, it can be shown that ∆UXY ≅ ∆VWZ. (How?)

Thus, ∠U = ∠V.
Using this fact, the remaining angles of the isosceles trapezium can be
determined. Verify the angles by measurement.
Property 2: In an isosceles trapezium, the angles opposite to the equal
sides are equal.
Figure it Out
1. Find all the sides and the angles of the quadrilateral obtained by
joining two equilateral triangles with sides 4 cm.
2. Construct a kite whose diagonals are of lengths 6 cm and 8 cm.
3. Find the remaining angles in the following trapeziums —

100°

135° 105°

4. Draw a Venn diagram showing the set of parallelograms, kites,

rhombuses, rectangles, and squares. Then, answer the following
questions —
(i) What is the quadrilateral that is both a kite and a
parallelogram?
(ii) Can there be a quadrilateral that is both a kite and a rectangle?
(iii) Is every kite a rhombus? If not, what is the correct relationship
between these two types of quadrilaterals?
5. If PAIR and RODS are two rectangles, find ∠IOD.
P A
O

5 cm

30°
R I D

5 cm

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6. Construct a square with diagonal 6 cm without using a protractor.

7. CASE is a square. The points U, V, W and X are the midpoints of the
sides of the square. What type of quadrilateral is UVWX? Find this
by using geometric reasoning, as well as by construction and
measurement. Find other ways of constructing a square within a
square such that the vertices of the inner square lie on the sides of
the outer square, as shown in Figure (b).

C U A

V X

E W S
(a) (b)

8. If a quadrilateral has four equal sides and one angle of 90°, will it be
a square? Find the answer using geometric reasoning as well as by
construction and measurement.
9. What type of a quadrilateral is one in which the opposite sides are
equal? Justify your answer.
Hint: Draw a diagonal and check for congruent triangles.

10. Will the sum of the angles in a quadrilateral such as the following Try
one also be 360°? Find the answer using geometric reasoning as This
well as by constructing this figure and measuring.
B

A C

11. State whether the following statements are true or false. Justify your
answers.
(i) A quadrilateral whose diagonals are equal and bisect each
other must be a square.

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(ii) A quadrilateral having three right angles must be a rectangle.

(iii) A quadrilateral whose diagonals bisect each other must be a
parallelogram.
(iv) A quadrilateral whose diagonals are perpendicular to each
other must be a rhombus.
(v) A quadrilateral in which the opposite angles are equal must
be a parallelogram.
(vi) A quadrilateral in which all the angles are equal is a rectangle.
(vii) Isosceles trapeziums are parallelograms.

SUMMARY
„ A rectangle is a quadrilateral in which the angles are all 90°.
Properties of a rectangle —
y Opposite sides of a rectangle are equal.
y Opposite sides of a rectangle are parallel to each other.
y D
 iagonals of a rectangle are of equal length and they bisect
each other.
„ A square is a quadrilateral in which all the angles are 90°, and
all the sides are of equal length.
Properties of a square —
y The opposite sides of a square are parallel to each other.
y T
 he diagonals of a square are of equal lengths and they
bisect each other at 90°.
y The diagonals of a square bisect the angles of the square.
„ A parallelogram is a quadrilateral in which opposite sides are
parallel.
Properties of a parallelogram —
y The opposite sides of a parallelogram are equal.
y I n a parallelogram, the adjacent angles add up to 180°, and
the opposite angles are equal.
y The diagonals of a parallelogram bisect each other.
„ A rhombus is a quadrilateral in which all the sides have the
same length.

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Properties of a rhombus —
y The opposite sides of a rhombus are parallel to each other.
y In a rhombus, the adjacent angles add up to 180°, and the
opposite angles are equal.
y The diagonals of a rhombus bisect each other at right
angles.
y The diagonals of a rhombus bisect its angles.
„ A kite is a quadrilateral with two non-overlapping adjacent
pairs of sides having the same length.
„ A trapezium is a quadrilateral having at least one pair of
parallel opposite sides.
„ The sum of the angle measures in a quadrilateral is 360°.

Trapezium

Kite

Rectangle

Parallelogram

Square
Rhombus

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Which Quad?

Gameplay
1. Fold a sheet into half.

2. Now, fold it once more into a quarter.

3. Make a triangular crease at the corner

that is at the middle of the paper.

4. Open the sheet. What is the shape

formed by the creases?

5. How would you fold the quarter paper to get the kinds of creases
shown in the following image.

6. How would you fold the quarter paper such that a square is formed?

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(Figures shown are merely indicative.)

Page No. 94

Figure it Out
1. Find all the other angles inside the following rectangles.
Q R
D C

110°
O

30°
A B
(i) P S
(ii)

Ans.
(i) ∠ABD = 30° ∠CAD = 60° ∠ADB = 60°
∠BDC = 30° ∠ACD = 30° ∠ACB = 60°
(ii) ∠POS = 110° ∠QOP = 70° ∠ROS = 70°
∠OQR = 35° ∠ORQ = 35° ∠OQP = 55°
∠OPQ = 55° ∠ORS = 55° ∠OSR = 55°
2. Draw a quadrilateral whose diagonals have equal lengths of 8 cm
that bisect each other, and intersect at an angle of
(i)
30° (ii) 40° (iii) 90° (iv) 140°
l
Ans . (i) 30° C

Lengths of diagonals = 8 cm. m

4c
Draw a line segment AB = 8 cm. 0
O 30
Take midpoint O on AB A
4 cm 8 cm
B

Draw an angle 30° at O on OB

From O draw an arc on the line
l such that OC = OD = 4 cm D

Join AD, DB, BC & AC

ADBC is the required quadrilateral.
1
 (ii) 40°, (iii) 90°, (iv) 140°, all can be drawn with the same
process as in (i).
3. Consider a circle with centre O. Line segments PL and AM are two
perpendicular diameters of the circle. What is the figure APML?
Reason and/or experiment to figure this out.
A

O
P L

Ans. APML is a square.

4. We have seen how to get 90° using paper folding. Now, suppose we
do not have any paper but two sticks of equal length, and a thread.
How do we make an exact 90° using these?
Ans. Let AB and CD be the equal sticks. Put them together as shown in
the figure such that their midpoints C
coincide at O. Now fix one end of the
thread at A, pass it through C, and
extend it to B, as shown in the figure.
ACBD is a rectangle since their
diagonals are equal and bisect each A O B

other. Hence ∠C = 90°.

There are other ways to get 90°.
One is by using the properties of an D
isosceles triangle. Try it out!
5. We saw that one of the properties of a rectangle is that its opposite
sides are parallel. Can this be chosen as a definition of a rectangle?
In other words, is every quadrilateral that has opposite sides parallel
and equal, a rectangle?
Ans. No, this cannot be taken as a definition of a rectangle.

2
Page No. 102

Figure it Out
1. Find the remaining angles in the following quadrilaterals.
(i) R A (ii) S R

40°
P E
110°

P Q
(iii) X W (iv)
O I

30° 20°
V A E
U

Ans.
(i) ∠E = 140°, ∠R = ∠E = 140° and ∠A = ∠P = 40°
(ii) ∠Q = 70°
∠S = 70° and ∠R = 110°
(iii) ∠XVU=∠XVW=30°
∠WXU=∠UVW=60°.
So, ∠UXV=∠WXV=30°
∠U = 180° – ∠WVU = 180° – 60° = 120°, ∠W = ∠U = 120°.
(iv) ∠OEI = 20°, ∠AOE = 20°, ∠EOI = 20°, ∠A = 140°, ∠I = 140°
2. Using the diagonal properties, construct a parallelogram whose
diagonals are of lengths 7 cm and 5 cm, and intersect at an angle of
140°.
Ans. Draw a line segment l C
AB = 7 cm
2.
5
Take mid point O on cm
0
AB. Draw an angle 140
B
A 7 cm
140° at O on AB. Draw O 2.
5
an arc 2.5 cm from O cm

to line l at C & D. Join

AC, AD, BD & BC D
3
 Now, ADBC is the required parallelogram.
3. Using the diagonal properties, construct a rhombus whose diagonals
are of lengths 4 cm and 5 cm.
Ans. Draw a line segment AB = 5 cm C
Take mid point ‘O’ on AB. At ‘O’
draw a line perpendicular or
an angle 90° at ‘O’ . Take point 2 cm
C& D on perpendicular such O
that OC = OD = 2 cm. Join AD, A B
5 cm
BD, CB & AC.
2 cm
Now ADBC is the required
rhombus.
D
Page No. 107

Figure it Out
1. Find all the sides and the angles of the quadrilateral obtained by
joining two equilateral triangles with sides 4 cm.
D 4 cm C
Ans. Each angle of equilateral
o
triangle is 60°. o 60
o
60
60
Refer the diagram. 4 cm
4 cm 4 cm
o
60
o o
60 60
A 4 cm B
2. Construct a kite whose diagonals are of lengths 6 cm and 8 cm.
Ans. Diagonals of Kite is perpendicular to each S

other. Draw a line segment PQ = 6 cm. Draw

a perpendicular bisector of PQ. Suppose it
cuts PQ at T. Join PR, RQ, QS and PS such P Q
T
that RS = 8 cm. Now PRQS is the required
Kite.

4
3. Find the remaining angles in the following trapeziums —

100°

135° 105°

(i) (ii)
S R
Ans. (i) In trapezium, PQ||RS
∠R = 75°.
So, ∠S = 45°
(ii) In trapezium ABCD given AD = BC
135° 105°
Then ∠A = 80°
Since AD = BC. So trapezium P Q
ABCD is an isosceles trapezium. Thus ∠B = ∠A = 80°
C

D
100°

4. Draw a Venn diagram showing the set of parallelograms, kites,

rhombuses, rectangles, and squares. Then, answer the following
questions —
(i) What is the quadrilateral that is both a kite and a
parallelogram?
(ii) Can there be a quadrilateral that is both a kite and a rectangle?
(iii) Is every kite a rhombus? If not, what is the correct relationship
between these two types of quadrilaterals?
Ans.
Square

S
Re
K P

Rh
Parallelogram

Kite Rhombus
Rectangle 5
 (i) Rhombus and Square.
(ii) No
(iii) No.
A rhombus is a kite whereas a kite need not be a rhombus.

5. If PAIR and RODS are two rectangles, find ∠IOD.

P A
O

5 cm

30°
R I D

5 cm

S
Ans. ∠IOD = 30°
6. Construct a square with diagonal 6 cm without using a protractor.
Ans. Draw a line segment
AB = 6 cm. Now using C
a compass, draw a line
perpendicular to AB
through its mid-point.
Take points C & D on this
line from O, such that OC
= OD = 3 cm Join, AC, BC, O
A 6 cm B
BD & AD.
ACBD is the required
square.
7. CASE is a square. The
points U, V, W and X are
the midpoints of the sides D
of the square. What type
of quadrilateral is UVWX?
Find this by using geometric reasoning, as well as by construction
and measurement. Find other ways of constructing a square within

6
 a square such that the vertices of the inner square lie on the sides of
the outer square, as shown in Figure (b).
C U A

V X

E W S
(a) (b)

Ans. In (a) Given CASE is a square. Let side of square be x .

x 2
Then half of side = C U A
2
x2 x2 x2 2
In right ∆CUV, UV2 = CU2 + CV2 = + = 6
4 4 2
1
So UV = x 1
2 V 5 7 X
1 3
Similarly, UX = XW = VW = x
2
8
Now, In ∆CUV, ∠C = 90° and CU = CV 4
E W S
So, ∠1 = ∠2 = 45° or ∠3 = ∠4 = 45°
So, ∠1 + ∠3 + ∠5 = 180° (Linear Pair) (a)

∠5 = 90°
Similarly, ∠6 = ∠7 = ∠8 = 90°
In quadrilateral UXWV, all sides and angles are equal (90°) so
UXWN is square.
8. If a quadrilateral has four equal sides and one angle of 90°, will it be
a square? Find the answer using geometric reasoning as well as by
construction and measurement.
Ans. Yes it will be a square.
A quadrilateral with four equal sides is a rhombus. In a rhombus
opposite angles are equal and adjacent angles are supplementary .
One angle is 90° then adjacent angle and opposite angle will be 90°.
o
All four angles are equal to 90 . So it is a square.
9. What type of a quadrilateral is one in which the opposite sides are
equal? Justify your answer.
Hint: Draw a diagonal and check for congruent triangles.

7
 Ans. This quadrilateral is a parallelogram. In ∆ABC and ∆ACD, AB = CD,
BC = AD and AC = AC. So, by SSS congruence ∆ABC ≅ ∆CDA
Therefore ∠1 = ∠4 and ∠2 = ∠3

A D
1 2

3 4
B C

∠1 and ∠4 are the alternate angles of AB and CD.

So AB║CD
And ∠3 and ∠2 are the alternate angles of BC & AD
So BC║AD.
Thus both the pairs of opposite sides are parallel.
Hence ABCD is a parallelogram.
10. Will the sum of the angles in a quadrilateral such as the following
one also be 360°? Find the answer using geometric reasoning as
well as by constructing this figure and measuring.
B

D B

A C
1 4
Ans. Yes, the sum of angles in a quadrilateral ADCB
is 360°.
Join BD, Now Sum of angles of ∆ADB = 180° 5
3
And sum of angles of ∆BDC = 180° 2 D 6
Adding both sums of angles of quadrilateral = 360° C
A
11. State whether the following statements are true or false. Justify
your answers.
(i) A quadrilateral whose diagonals are equal and bisect each
other must be a square.
(ii) A quadrilateral having three right angles must be a rectangle.

8
 (iii) A quadrilateral whose diagonals bisect each other must be a
parallelogram.
(iv) A quadrilateral whose diagonals are perpendicular to each
other must be a rhombus.
(v) A quadrilateral in which the opposite angles are equal must
be a parallelogram.
(vi) A quadrilateral in which all the angles are equal is a rectangle.
(vii) Isosceles trapeziums are parallelograms.
Ans.
(i) False. In a square the diagonals are also perpendicular to each
other.
(ii) True. The fourth angle will also be equal to 90°, because sum
of all angles is equal to 360°.
(iii) True
(iv) False. It may be a Kite also.
(v) True.
(vi) True.
(vii) False. The other pair of opposite sides may not be parallel.

9
 5 NUMBER PLAY

5.1 Is This a Multiple Of?

Sum of Consecutive Numbers
Anshu is exploring sums of consecutive numbers. He has written the
following —

7 =3+4
10 = 1 + 2 + 3 + 4
12 = 3 + 4 + 5
15 = 7 + 8
=4+5+6
=1+2+3+4+5

Now, he is wondering —
• “Can I write every natural number as a sum of consecutive
numbers?”
• “ Which numbers can I write as the sum of consecutive numbers in
more than one way?”
• “Ohh, I know all odd numbers can be written as a sum of two
consecutive numbers. Can we write all even numbers as a sum of
consecutive numbers?”
• “ Can I write 0 as a sum of consecutive numbers? Maybe I should
use negative numbers.”

Explore these questions and any others that may occur to you. Math
Discuss them with the class. Talk
Take any 4 consecutive numbers. For example, 3, 4, 5, and 6. Place ‘+’ and
‘–’ signs in between the numbers. How many different possibilities exist?
Write all of them.
3+4–5+6
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 Number Play

Eight such expressions are possible. You can use the diagram below to
systematically list all the possibilities.
+ 6 3+4+5+6
5
+ – 6 3+4+5–6
4 +
+ 6
– 5
– 6
3
+ 6
– + 5
4 – 6

– + 6
5
– 6

Evaluate each expression and write the result next to it. Do you notice
anything interesting?
Now, take four other consecutive numbers. Place the ‘+’ and ‘–’ signs
as you have done before. Find out the results of each expression.
What do you observe?
Math
Repeat this for one more set of 4 consecutive numbers. Share your Talk
findings.

3+4–5+6=8 5 + 6 – 7 + 8 = 12 __ + __ – __ + __ = __
3 – 4 – 5 – 6 = – 12 5 – 6 – 7 – 8 = – 16 __ – __ – __ – __ = __
. . .
. . .
. . .

Some sums appear always no matter which 4 consecutive

numbers are chosen. Isn’t that interesting?
Do these patterns occur no matter which 4 consecutive numbers are
chosen? Is there a way to find out through reasoning?
Hint: Use algebra and describe the 8 expressions in a general form.
You might have noticed that the results of all expressions are even
numbers. Even numbers have a factor of 2. Negative numbers having
a factor 2 are also even numbers, for example, – 2, – 4, – 6, and so on.
Check if anyone in your class got an odd number.
When 4 consecutive numbers are chosen, no matter how the ‘+’ and
‘–’ signs are placed between them, the resulting expressions always have
even parity.
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Now take any 4 numbers, place ‘+’ and ‘–’ signs in the eight different
ways, and evaluate the resulting expression. What do you observe about
their parities?
Repeat this with other sets of 4 numbers.
Math
Is there a way to explain why this happens? Talk
Hint: Think of the rules for parity of the sum or difference of two
numbers.
Explanation 1: Let us consider any of the 8 expressions formed by four
numbers a, b, c, and d. When one of its signs is switched, its value always
increases or decreases by an even number! Let us see why.
Consider one of the expressions: a + b – c – d.
Replacing +b by – b, we get
a – b – c – d.
By how much has the number changed? It has changed by
(a + b – c – d) – (a – b – c – d)
= a + b – c – d – a + b + c + d (notice how the signs changed when we
opened the second set of brackets)
= 2b (this is an even number).
If the difference between two numbers is even, can they have different
parities? No! So either both are even or both are odd.
Now, let us see what happens when a negative sign is switched to a
positive sign.
Replace any negative sign in the expression a + b – c – d with a positive
sign and find the difference between the two numbers.

What do you conclude from this observation?

Starting from any expression, we can get 7 expressions by switching one
or more ‘+’ and ‘–’ signs. Thus, all the expressions have the same parity!
Explanation 2: We know that
odd ± odd = even
even ± even = even
odd ± even = odd.
We have seen that the parity of a + b and a – b is the same, regardless
of the parities of a and b.
In short, a ± b have the same parity. By the same argument, a ± b + c
and a ± b – c have the same parity. Extending this further, we can say that
all the expressions a ± b ± c ± d have the same parity.

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 Number Play

+ d
Explanation 3: This can also be explained c
using the positive and negative token + – d
model you studied in the chapter on b
Integers. Try to think how. + d
+ – c
The number of ways to choose 4 – d
numbers a, b, c, d and combine them using a
‘+’ and ‘–’ signs is infinite. Mathematical + d
– + c
reasoning allows us to prove that all the b – d
combinations a ± b ± c ± d always have the
same parity, without having to go through – + d
them one by one. c
– d

Several problems in mathematics can be thought about and

solved in different ways. While the method you came up with
may be dear to you, it can be amusing and enriching to know
how others thought about it. Two tidbits: ‘share’ and ‘listen’.

Is the phenomenon of all the expressions having the same parity limited
to taking 4 numbers? What do you think?

‘What if …?’, ‘Will it always happen?’— Wondering and posing

questions and conjectures is as much a part of mathematics as
problem solving.

Breaking Even
We know how to identify even numbers. Without computing them, find
out which of the following arithmetic expressions are even.

43 + 37 672 – 348 4 × 347 × 3 708 – 477

809 + 214 119 × 303 543 – 479 513 3

Using our understanding of how parity behaves under different

operations, identify which of the following algebraic expressions give
an even number for any integer values for the letter-numbers.

2a + 2b 3g + 5h 4m + 2n 2u – 4v

13k – 5k 6m – 3n x2 + 2 b2 + 1 4k × 3j

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The expression 4m + 2q will always evaluate to an even number for

any integer values of m and q. We can justify this in two different ways —
• We know 4m is even and 2q is even for any integers m and q.
Therefore, their sum will also be even.
• The expression 4m + 2q is equal to the expression 2(2m + q). Here,
the expression 2(2m + q) means 2 times 2m + q. In other words, 2 is
a factor of this expression. Therefore, this expression will always
give an even number for any integers m and q.
For example, if m = 4 and q = – 9, the expression 4m + 2q becomes
4 × 4 + 2 × (–9) = – 2, which is an even number.
In the expression x 2 + 2, x 2 is even if x is even, and x 2 is odd if x is odd.
Therefore, the expression x 2 + 2 will not always give an even number.
An example and a non-example for when the expression evaluates to an
even number — (i) if x = 6, then x 2 + 2 = 38, and (ii) if x = 3, then x 2 + 2 = 11.
Similarly, determine and explain which of the other expressions always
give even numbers. Write a couple of examples and non-examples, as
appropriate, for each expression.

Write a few algebraic expressions which always give an even number.

Pairs to Make Fours

Take a pair of even numbers. Add them. Is the sum divisible by 4?

Try this with different pairs of even numbers.
When is the sum a multiple of 4, and when is it not?
Is there a general rule or a pattern?
Even numbers can be of two types based on the remainders they leave
when divided by 4.

. .
. .
. .
.

Even numbers that are multiples Even numbers that are not
of 4 leave a remainder of 0 when multiples of 4 leave a remainder 2
divided by 4. when divided by 4.

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 Number Play

When will two even numbers add up to give a multiple of 4?

This problem is similar to the question of identifying when adding
two numbers will result in an even number. Can you see this?
There are three cases to examine:

Explanation with Algebra and Visualisation Examples

Adding 4p and 4q. . .

4, 12, 16, 24,

q rows
p rows
two (even)
+ 36.
. .
. .
numbers that 4p + 4q . .

are multiples = 4 (p + q). 12 + 16

of 4 will always = 4 (3 + 4)
give a multiple .
.
= 28.
of 4. .

(p+q) rows
.
16 + 28
= .
= 4 (4 + 7)
.
.
= 44.
.

Adding two (4p + 2) and (4q + 2). . 2, 6, 10, 18,

p rows

q rows
.
even numbers
+ 22, 42.
. .
. .
that are not (4p + 2) + (4q + 2)
multiples = 4p + 4q + 4 2 + 6 = 8.
of 4 will = 4 (p + q + 1). 6 + 10 = 16.
always give a 22 + 6 = 28.
p rows

.
.
multiple of 4
(p + q + 1) rows
.
because their
remainders of = 1 row
q rows

2 add up to 4. .
.
.

What happens when we add a multiple of 4 to an even number that is

not a multiple of 4? Is it similar to the case of the parity of the sum of an
even and an odd number?

Look at the following expressions and the visualisation. Write the

corresponding explanation and examples.

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Explanation with Algebra and Visualisation Examples

4p and (4q + 2)

q rows
. .

p rows
= 4p + (4q + 2)
+
. .
. .
= 4p + 4q + 2 .

= 4 (p + q) + 2.

.
.

(p + q) rows with
.

a remainder 2
.

= .
.
.

Notice how we are able to generalise and prove properties of

arithmetic using algebra and also using visualisation.

Always, Sometimes, or Never

We examine different statements about factors and multiples and
determine whether a statement is ‘Always True’, ‘Sometimes True’, or
‘Never True’.
We know that the sum of any two multiples of 2 is also a multiple of 2.
1. If 8 exactly divides two numbers separately, it must exactly divide
their sum.

Explanation with Algebra and Visualisation Examples

The two numbers 8a and 8b. 8 and 16.

have 8 as a factor; 16 and 56.
in other words, the 80 and 120.
two numbers are
multiples of 8.
As multiples of 8 8a + 8b .
8 + 16 = 8(1 + 2)
are obtained by = 8 (a + b). = 24.
a rows

.
.
repeatedly adding . 16 + 56 = 72.
(a+b) rows

8, the sum of two 80 + 120 = 200.

multiples of 8 will .
b rows

also be a multiple .
.
of 8. .

Statement 1 is always true. Determine if it is true with subtraction.

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 Number Play

In general, if a divides M and a divides N, then a divides M + N and

a divides M – N. In other words, if M and N are multiples of a, then
M + N and M – N will also be multiples of a.
2. If a number is divisible by 8, then 8 also divides any two numbers
(separately) that add up to the number.

Explanation with Algebra and Visualisation Examples

A number 8m 8, 16, 56, 72.

divisible by 8 is
a multiple of 8.

a rows
A number 8m = 8a + 8b 72 = 48 + 24

m = (a+b) rows
. .

divisible 8m = p + q .
.
.
p
.
(8×9
by 8 can be (p, q not = .
.
= 8×6 + 8×3).
expressed as multiples of

b rows
. .
.
.
.
.
q
a sum of two 8) .
72 = 50 + 22
multiples of 8 or
sum of two non-
multiples of 8.
So, statement 2 is sometimes true.
3. If a number is divisible by 7, then all multiples of that number will
be divisible by 7.

Explanation with Algebra and Visualisation Examples

Numbers divisible by 7 7j 14 = 7 × 2 (j = 2).

will have 7 as a factor. 42 = 7 × 6 (j = 6).
98 = 7 × 14 (j = 14).
This contains a total of (7j) × m Some multiples of
j rows

.
.

mj rows. So this is also a 14:

.
.
.

multiple of 7. 28 = (7 × 2) × 2.
70 = (7 × 2) × 5.
j rows

.
.
m times

.
.
. 154 = (7 × 2) × 11
.
.
.
.
j rows

.
.
.
.
.

The number 7jm or (7 × j × m) has a factor of 7. We can see that

Statement 3 is always true.

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In general, if A is divisible by k, then all multiples of A are divisible by k.

4. If a number is divisible by 12, then the number is also divisible by all
the factors of 12.

Explanation with Algebra and Visualisation Examples

A number divisible by 12m 12, 24, 36, 48,

12 is a multiple of 12. 108, 132.

Factors of multiples of 12m 12 Factors of 24: 1,

12 will include factors =2×6×m . . . . 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 12,
of 12. =3×4×m . 24.

m rows
.
.
.
.
. . . .

A factor of 12 covers a row fully.

Hence, it covers all multiples of 12
fully.

In general, if A is divisible by k, then A is divisible by all the factors

of k. Hence, Statement 4 is always true.
5. If a number is divisible by 7, then it is also divisible by any multiple
of 7.

Explanation with Algebra and Visualisation Examples

Numbers divisible by 7k
k rows

.
.
7 are multiples of 7. .
.
.

Multiples of 7. 7m 42 (7 × 6) is divisible
m rows

.
.
.
.
.
by 7 but it is not
7k will be divisible by If k = ym divisible by 28 (7 × 4).
7m if and only if m is a then 42 (7 × 6) is divisible
m rows

factor of k. 7k ÷ 7m = by 7 and it is divisible

.
k rows

.
.

7ym ÷ 7m .
by 14 (7 × 2).
=y .
.
.
.
m rows

.
.
.
.
.

We can see that this statement is only sometimes true.

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 Number Play

Examine each of the following statements, and determine whether Math

it is ‛Always true’, ‛Sometimes true’, ‛Never true’. Talk

6. If a number is divisible by both 9 and 4, it must be divisible by 36.

7. If a number is divisible by both 6 and 4, it must be divisible by 24.
In general, if A is divisible by k and A is also divisible by m, then
A is divisible by the LCM of k and m. This is because A is a multiple of
k and also a multiple of m, so A’s prime factorisation should contain the
prime factorisation of LCM (k, m).
8. When you add an odd number to an even number we get a multiple
of 6.
We know that multiples of 6 are all even Can I write an even and
an odd number as 2n and
numbers. The sum of an odd number and an 2n+1 instead?
even number will be an odd number. Therefore,
this statement is never true. We can also explain
this algebraically. Suppose,
(2n) + (2m + 1) = 6j,
where 2n is an even number, 2m + 1 is an odd
number, and 6j is a multiple of 6. Then
2n + 2m = 6j – 1
2 (n + m) = 6j – 1
which means 2(n + m), which is an even number, should be equal to
6j – 1, which is an odd number. This is never true.

What Remains?
Find a number that has a remainder of 3 when divided by 5. Write more
such numbers.
Which algebraic expression(s) capture all such numbers?
(i) 3k + 5   (ii) 3k – 5   (iii) 3k
5
   (iv) 5k + 3   (v) 5k – 2   (vi) 5k – 3
The numbers that leave a remainder of 0 when divided by 5 are the
multiples of 5. But we want numbers that leave a remainder of 3 when
divided by 5. These numbers are 3 more than multiples of 5. Multiples of
5 are of the form 5k. So, numbers that leave a remainder of 3 when
divided by 5 are those of the form 5k + 3

5
k rows

.
.
.
k= 0 1 2 3 4

5k + 3 = 3 8 13 18 23

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Let us consider another expression, 5k – 2, and see the values it takes for
different values of k.
Numbers that leave a remainder of 3 when k= 1 2 3 4 5
divided by 5 can also be seen as 2 less than
multiples of 5; 5k – 2, where k ≥ 1. 5k – 2 = 3 8 13 18 23

Are there other expressions that generate

numbers that are 3 more than a multiple of 5?

Figure it Out
1. The sum of four consecutive numbers is 34. What are these numbers?
2. Suppose p is the greatest of five consecutive numbers. Describe the
other four numbers in terms of p.
3. For each statement below, determine whether it is always true,
sometimes true, or never true. Explain your answer. Mention
examples and non-examples as appropriate. Justify your claim using
algebra.
(i) The sum of two even numbers is a multiple of 3.
(ii) If a number is not divisible by 18, then it is also not divisible
by 9.
(iii) If two numbers are not divisible by 6, then their sum is not
divisible by 6.
(iv) The sum of a multiple of 6 and a multiple of 9 is a multiple of 3.
(v) The sum of a multiple of 6 and a multiple of 3 is a multiple of 9.
4. Find a few numbers that leave a remainder of 2 when divided by 3
and a remainder of 2 when divided by 4. Write an algebraic
expression to describe all such numbers.

5. “I hold some pebbles, not too many,

When I group them in 3’s, one stays with me.
Try pairing them up — it simply won’t do,
A stubborn odd pebble remains in my view.
Group them by 5, yet one’s still around,
But grouping by seven, perfection is found.
More than one hundred would be far too bold,
Can you tell me the number of pebbles I hold?”
6. Tathagat has written several numbers that leave a remainder of 2
when divided by 6. He claims, “If you add any three such numbers,
the sum will always be a multiple of 6.” Is Tathagat’s claim true?
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 Number Play

7. When divided by 7, the number 661 leaves a remainder of 3, and

4779 leaves a remainder of 5. Without calculating, can you say what
remainders the following expressions will leave when divided by 7?
Show the solution both algebraically and visually.
(i) 4779 + 661 (ii) 4779 – 661
8. Find a number that leaves a remainder of 2 when divided by 3,
a remainder of 3 when divided by 4, and a remainder of 4 when
divided by 5. What is the smallest such number? Can you give a
simple explanation of why it is the smallest?

5.2 Checking Divisibility Quickly

Earlier, you have learnt shortcuts to check whether a given number,
written in the Indian number system is divisible by 2, 4, 5, 8, and 10. Let
us revisit them.
Divisibility by 10, 5, and 2: If the units digit of a number is ‘0’, then
it is divisible by 10. Let us understand why this works through algebra.
We can write the general form of a number in the Indian system
using a set of letter-numbers. For example, a 5-digit number can be
expressed as, edcba denoting e × 10000 + d × 1000 + c × 100 + b × 10 + a. The
letter-numbers e, d, c, b, and a denote each digit of a 5-digit number.
Any number can be written in general as … dcba, where the letter-
numbers a, b, c and d represent the units, tens, hundreds and thousands
digit, respectively, and so on. As a sum of place values, this number is —
… +1000d + 100c + 10b + a.
(For example, in the number 4075, d = 4, c = 0, b = 7, and a = 5.)
We know that each place value, with the exception of the units place,
is a multiple of 10. So, 10b, 100c, … all will be multiples of 10. Hence, the
number will be divisible by 10 if and only if the units digit a is 0.

Similarly, explain using algebra why the divisibility shortcuts for 5, 2, 4,

and 8 work.
Let us now examine shortcuts to check divisibility by some other
numbers and explain why they work!

A Shortcut for Divisibility by 9

Can you say, without actually calculating, which of these numbers are
divisible by 9: 999, 909, 900, 90, 990?
All of them.

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Can we say that any number made up of only the digits ‘0’ and ‘9’, in any
order, will always be divisible by 9?
Yes, if each digit is either 0 or 9, then each term in its expanded form
will be 9 × or 0 × (the ‘ ’ denotes a place value). This means each
term will be a multiple of 9, for example,
99009 = 9 × 10000 + 9 × 1000 + 0 × 100 + 0 × 10 + 9 × 1.
But this shortcut alone cannot identify all the multiples 1
99
of 9. Unlike the numbers 2, 5, and 10, we cannot identify 99 1
the multiples of 9 by just looking at the unit’s digit. 99 and
109 are two numbers with 9 as the units digit; but 99 is 9 1 9 1
divisible by 9, while 109 is not. 9 1
Is 10 divisible by 9? If not, what is the remainder?
Check the divisibility of other multiples of 10 (10, 20, 30, ...) by 9.
You will notice that for any multiple of 10, the remainder is the same
as the number of tens.
Similarly, look at the remainder when the multiples of 100 (100, 200,
300, … ) are divided by 9. What do you notice?
The remainder is the same as the number of hundreds for any multiple
of 100.
Using this observation, find the remainder when 427 is divided by 9.
400 20 7
1
99 1
1 1
99 1 9 1
1
1 9 1 1
99
1
1 1
99

We see that 427 has 4 hundreds; thus, its corresponding remainder

(upon division by 9) would be 4. 427 has 2 tens, and its corresponding
remainder would be 2. We have 7 units also remaining. Adding all the
remainders, we get 4 + 2 + 7 = 13. We can make one more group of 9 with
13, leaving a remainder of 4. Therefore, 427 ÷ 9 gives a remainder of 4.

1
99 1
1 1 9
99 1 9 1
1
1 9 1 1
99
1
1 1
99

4
(Remainder)
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 Number Play

Will this work with bigger numbers?

9999 1
You can see that this is true for any place value:
1=0+1 999
1
10 = 9 + 1
100 = 99 + 1 1
99 9 1
1000 = 999 + 1
10000 = 9999 + 1, and so on. Each digit thus denotes the remainder when
the corresponding place value is divided by 9.
For example, to find the remainder of 7309 when divided by 9, we can
just add all the digits — 7 + 3 + 0 + 9 — to get 19. This can be seen as
follows:
7 × 1000 3 × 100 9×1 7 × 999 3 × 99 7 3 9

999 1 1 1 999 99 1 1
1 99 1 1
999 1 1 1 999 1
1 99 99 1 1 1
999 1 1 999 99 1 1 1
1 99 1 1
999 1 999 1
1 1 1 1 1
1
999 999 1
1
999 999 1
1
999 999 1
1

So, we need to just

This is a
consider this part
multiple of 9
(i.e., 7 + 3 + 9 = 19)
7 × 1000 + 3 × 100 + 0 × 10 + 9 × 1
= 7 × (999 + 1) + 3 × (99 + 1) + 0 × (9 + 1) + 9 × (0+1)
= (7 × 999 + 3 × 99 + 0 × 9 + 9 × 0) + (7 × 1 + 3 × 1 + 0 × 1 + 9 × 1)
= (7 × 999 + 3 × 99 + 0 × 9 + 9 × 0) + (7 + 3 + 0 + 9).
This is a multiple of 9 So, we need to just consider this part

This means that the number 7309 is 19 more than some multiple of 9.
The digits 1 and 9 can further be added to get 1 + 9 = 10. Now, we can say
that 7309 is 10 more than a multiple of 9. And repeating this step for the
number 10, we get the remainder to be 1 + 0 = 1, meaning 7309 is 1 more
than a multiple of 9. Therefore, 7309 ÷ 9 gives a remainder of 1.
A number is divisible by 9 if and only if the sum of its digits is divisible
by 9. Also, we can add the digits of a number repeatedly till a single
digit is obtained. This single digit is the remainder when the number is
divided by 9.

Look at each of the following statements. Which are correct and why?
(i) If a number is divisible by 9, then the sum of its digits is
divisible by 9.
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(ii) If the sum of the digits of a number is divisible by 9, then the

number is divisible by 9.
(iii) If a number is not divisible by 9, then the sum of its digits is
not divisible by 9.
(iv) If the sum of the digits of a number is not divisible by 9, then
the number is not divisible by 9.

Learning maths is not just about knowing some shortcuts and

following procedures but about understanding ‘why’ something
works.

Figure it Out
1. Find, without dividing, whether the following numbers are divisible
by 9.
(i) 123   (ii) 405   (iii) 8888   (iv) 93547   (v) 358095
2. Find the smallest multiple of 9 with no odd digits.
3. Find the multiple of 9 that is closest to the number 6000.
4. How many multiples of 9 are there between the numbers 4300 and
4400?

A Shortcut for Divisibility by 3

We know that all the multiples of 9 are also multiples of 3. That is, if a
number is divisible by 9, it will also be divisible by 3. However, there are
other multiples of 3 that are not multiples of 9 for example — 15, 33,
and 87.

The shortcut to find the divisibility by 3 is similar to the method for 9.

A number is divisible by 3 if the sum of its digits is divisible by 3. Explore
the remainders when powers of 10 are divided by 3. Explain why this
method works.

A Shortcut for Divisibility by 11

Interestingly, the shortcut for 11 is also based on checking the
remainders with place value. Let us see how.

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 Number Play

Units place 11 × 0 = 0 1 is one more

(1) 1 = 11 × 0 + 1 than a multiple
of 11.

Tens place 11 × 1 = 11 10 is one less

(10) 10 = 11×1 – 1 than a multiple
of 11. 11

Hundreds 11 × 9 = 99 100 is one more .

place (100) 100 = 11×9 + 1 than a multiple . 9
.
of 11.

11

Thousands 11 × 91 = 1001 1000 is one less .

place 1000 = 11×91 than a multiple .
.
(1000) –1 of 11. . 91
.
.

11

. . . .
. . . .
. . . .
. . . .
This alternating pattern of one more than 11 and one less than 11
continues for higher place values.
Since 400 contains 4 hundreds, 400 is 4 more than a multiple of
11 (396 + 4). Since 60 contains 6 tens, 60 is 6 less than a multiple of
11 (66 – 6). Since 2 contains 2 units, 2 is 2 more than a multiple of 11,
i.e., 2 = (0 + 2).

Using these observations, can you tell whether the number 462 is Math
Talk
divisible by 11?
What could be a general method or shortcut to check divisibility by
Math
11? Talk

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We saw that the place values alternate as 1 more and 1 less than a
multiple of 11. Using this observation,

Steps Purpose Example for the Number 320185

1. Add the digits of place To know 320185

values which are 1 how much in
2 × 10,000
more (than a multiple excess we are
of 11), i.e., place values with respect
.
.
.
.
. 909 1 × 100 5×1
corresponding to 1, 100, to a multiple .

10000, and so on. of 11 for 11

.
.
.
9
these place .
.
.
. 909 11
values.
.
.

11
Total excess, 2 + 1 + 5 = 8.
2. Add the digits of place To know how 320185
values which are 1 short we are
less (than a multiple of with respect 3 × 10,000
11), i.e., place values to a multiple .
.
0 × 100 8 × 10
corresponding to 10, of 11 for
.
.
.
.
9091
.

1000, 100000, and so on. these place

.

11 11
11
values. .
.
. 11 11
.
.
.
9091
.
.
11 11
11
.
.
.
11 11
.
.
.
9091
.
.

11
Total short, 3 + 0 + 8 = 11.
3. Compute the difference To know the
between these two remainder
sums, i.e., (number obtained 8 – 11 = – 3.
in excess) – (number when divided (3 short of a multiple of 11)
short). by 11.

The difference between these two sums 8 – 11 = – 3, indicating that the

number 3,28,105 is 3 short of or 8 more than a multiple of 11.
If this difference is 11 or a multiple of 11, what does that say about the
remainder obtained when the number is divisible by 11?

Using this shortcut, find out whether the following numbers are divisible
by 11. Further, find the remainder if the number is not divisible by 11.
(i) 158  (ii) 841  (iii) 481  (iv) 5529  (v) 90904  (vi) 857076
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 Number Play

Look at the following procedure —

Steps to follow Example for the number 328105

1. Place alternating ‘+’ and

‘–’ signs before every digit –3 + 2 – 8 + 1 – 0 + 5
starting from the unit’s digit.
2. Evaluate the expression. –3 + 2 – 8 + 1 – 0 + 5 = – 3
3. The result denotes the
328105 is 3 less than or 8 more
remainder obtained when the
than a multiple of 11
number is divided by 11.
Is this method similar to or different from the method we saw just
before?
Math
Fill in the following table. Find a quick way to do this? Talk

Divisible by
Number
2 3 4 5 6 8 9 10 11
128 Yes No No No No Yes No No No
990
1586
275
6686
639210
429714
2856
3060
406839

More on Divisibility Shortcuts

Divisibility Shortcuts for Other Numbers

How can we find out if a number is divisible by 6?

Will checking its divisibility by its factors 2 and 3 work? Use the shortcuts
for 2 and 3 on these numbers and divide each number by 6 to verify —
38, 225, 186, 64.
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How about checking divisibility by 24? Will checking the divisibility by

its factors, 4 and 6, work? Why or why not?
Determining divisibility by 24 by checking divisibility by 4 and by 6
does not work. For example, the number 12 is divisible by both 4 and 6,
but not by 24.
To check for the divisibility by 24, we can instead check for the
divisibility by 3 and divisibility by 8.
Explain using prime factorisation why checking divisibility by 3 and
8 works for checking divisibility by 24, but checking divisibility by 4 and
6 is not sufficient for checking divisibility by 24.
There are such shortcuts to check divisibility by every number until
100, and for some numbers beyond 100. You may try to understand how
these work after learning certain concepts in higher grades.

Digital Roots
Take a number. Add its digits repeatedly till you get a single-digit
number. This single-digit number is called the digital root of the number.
For example, the digital root of the number 489710 will be
2 (4 + 8 + 9 + 7 + 1 + 0 = 29, 2 + 9 = 11, 1 + 1 = 2).

What property do you think this digital root will have? Recall that we
did this while finding the divisibility shortcut for 9.
Between the numbers 600 and 700, which numbers have the digital
root: (i) 5, (ii) 7, (iii) 3?
Math
Write the digital roots of any 12 consecutive numbers. What do you Talk
observe?
We saw that the digital root of multiples of 9 is always 9.
Now, find the digital roots of some consecutive multiples of (i) 3, (ii) 4,
and (iii) 6.
What are the digital roots of numbers that are 1 more than a multiple of
6? What do you notice?
Try to explain the patterns noticed.
I’m made of digits, each tiniest and odd,
No shared ground with root #1 — how odd!
My digits count, their sum, my root —
All point to one bold number’s pursuit —
The largest odd single-digit I proudly claim.
What’s my number? What’s my name?

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 Number Play

Aryabhata II’s (c. 950 CE) work Mahāsiddhānta, mentions the method
of computing the digital root of a number by repeatedly adding the digits
till a single-digit number is obtained. This method is known to have been
used to perform checks on calculations of arithmetic operations.
Figure it Out
1. The digital root of an 8-digit number is 5. What will be the digital
root of 10 more than that number?
2. Write any number. Generate a sequence of numbers by repeatedly
adding 11. What would be the digital roots of this sequence of
numbers? Share your observations.
3. What will be the digital root of the number 9a + 36b + 13?
4. Make conjectures by examining if there are any patterns or
relations between
(i) the parity of a number and its digital root. Math
Talk
(ii) the digital root of a number and the remainder obtained
when the number is divided by 3 or 9.

5.3 Digits in Disguise

Last year, we saw cryptarithms — puzzles where each letter stands for a
digit, each digit is represented by at most one letter, and the first digit of
a number is never 0.

Solve the cryptarithms given below.

ON QR
A1 AB ON QR
(i) + 1B    (ii) + 37    (iii) + ON    (iv) + QR   
B0 6A PO PRR
Let us now try solving some cryptarithms involving multiplication.

(v) PQ × 8 = RS.
Guna says, “Oh, this means a 2-digit number
multiplied by 8 should give another 2-digit number.
I know that 10 × 8 = 80. But the units digits of 10 and
80 are the same, which we don’t want. For the same
reason PQ cannot be 11 as P and Q correspond to
different digits. 12 × 8 = 96 fits all the conditions”. Can
PQ be 13? Think.
It is not possible because 13 × 8 = 104. For all 2-digit
numbers greater than 12, the product with 8 is a 3-digit number.

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(vi) Try this now: GH × H = 9K.

This means a 2-digit number multiplied by a 1-digit number gives
another 2-digit number in the 90s. Observe the letters corresponding to
the units digits in this cryptarithm. Pick the solution to this question
from the options given below:
11 × 9 = 99, 12 × 8 = 96, 46 × 2 = 92, 24 × 4 = 96, 47 × 2 = 94, 31 × 3 = 93,
16 × 6 = 96.

(vii) Here is one more: BYE × 6 = RAY.

Anshu says, “Since the product is a 3-digit number, B can’t
be 2 or more. If B = 2, i.e., 2 hundreds, the product will be
more than 1200. So, B = 1.”

What can you say about ‘Y’? What digits are possible/not
possible?
“Y cannot be 7 or more because, if Y = 7, then 170 × 6 = 1020; but we
want a 3-digit product. Also, Y will be even”, Anshu explains.
We can solve cryptarithms using patterns, properties, and reasoning
related to numbers and operations.

Solve the following:

(i) UT × 3 = PUT (ii) AB × 5 = BC (iii) L2N × 2 = 2NP
(iv) XY × 4 = ZX (v) PP × QQ = PRP (vi) JK × 6 = KKK

Figure it Out
1. If 31z5 is a multiple of 9, where z is a digit, what is the value of z?
Explain why there are two answers to this problem.
2. “I take a number that leaves a remainder of 8 when divided by 12. I
take another number which is 4 short of a multiple of 12. Their sum
will always be a multiple of 8”, claims Snehal. Examine his claim
and justify your conclusion.
3. When is the sum of two multiples of 3, a multiple of 6 and when
is it not? Explain the different possible cases, and generalise the
pattern.
4. Sreelatha says, “I have a number that is divisible by 9. If I reverse
its digits, it will still be divisible by 9”.
  (i) Examine if her conjecture is true for any multiple of 9.
(ii) Are any other digit shuffles possible such that the number
formed is still a multiple of 9?
5. If 48a23b is a multiple of 18, list all possible pairs of values for a
and b.

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 Number Play

6. If 3p7q8 is divisible by 44, list all possible pairs of values for p

and q.
7. Find three consecutive numbers such that the first number is a Try
multiple of 2, the second number is a multiple of 3, and the third This
number is a multiple of 4.
Are there more such numbers? How often do they occur?
8. Write five multiples of 36 between 45,000 and 47,000. Math
Share your approach with the class. Talk

9. The middle number in the sequence of 5 consecutive even numbers

is 5p. Express the other four numbers in sequence in terms of p.
10. Write a 6-digit number that it is divisible by 15, such that when the
digits are reversed, it is divisible by 6.
11. Deepak claims, “There are some multiples of 11 which, when
doubled, are still multiples of 11. But other multiples of 11 don’t
remain multiples of 11 when doubled”. Examine if his conjecture is
true; explain your conclusion.
12. Determine whether the statements below are ‘Always True’,
‘Sometimes True’, or ‘Never True’. Explain your reasoning.
(i) The product of a multiple of 6 and a multiple of 3 is a multiple
of 9.
(ii) The sum of three consecutive even numbers will be divisible
by 6.
(iii) If abcdef is a multiple of 6, then badcef will be a multiple of 6.
(iv) 8 (7b – 3) – 4 (11b + 1) is a multiple of 12.
13. Choose any 3 numbers. When is their sum divisible by 3? Explore
all possible cases and generalise.
14. Is the product of two consecutive integers always multiple of 2?
Why? What about the product of these consecutive integers? Is it
always a multiple of 6? Why or why not? What can you say about
the product of 4 consecutive integers? What about the product of
five consecutive integers?
15. Solve the cryptarithms —
(i) EF × E = GGG (ii) WOW × 5 = MEOW
16. Which of the following Venn diagrams captures the relationship
between the multiples of 4, 8, and 32?

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 Ganita Prakash | Grade 8

(i) (ii)

Multiples Multiples Multiples Multiples Multiples Multiples

of 4 of 8 of 32 of 4 of 8 of 32

(iii) (iv)

Multiples Multiples Multiples Multiples

of 32 Multiples of 4 of 4 Multiples of 32
of 8 of 8

SUMMARY

„ We explored and learnt various properties of divisibility—

• If a is divisible by b, then all multiples of a are divisible by b.
• If a is divisible by b, then a is divisible by all the factors of b.
• If a divides m and a divides n, then a divides m + n and m – n.
• If a is divisible by b and is also divisible by c, then a is divisible by
the LCM of b and c.
„ We learnt shortcuts to check divisibility by 3, 9 and 11, and why they
work.
„ Through all this we were exposed to the power of mathematical
thinking and reasoning, using algebra, visualisation, examples and
counterexamples.

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 Navakankari

Navakankari, also known as Sālu Mane Āṭa, Chār-Pār, or Navkakri, is a

traditional Indian board game that is the same as ‛Nine Men’s Morris’ or
‛Mills in the West’. It is a strategy game for two players where the goal is
to form lines of three pawns to eliminate the opponent’s pawns or block
their movement.

Gameplay
1. Each player starts with 9 pawns. The players take turns in placing
their pawns on the marked intersections. An intersection can have
at most one pawn.
2. Once all the pawns are placed, the players take turns to move one of
their pawns to adjacent empty intersections to form lines of three.
The line can be horizontal or vertical.
3. Once a player makes a line with their pawns they can remove any
one of the opponent’s pawns as long as it is not a part of one of their
lines.
A player wins if the opponent has less than 3 pawns or is unable to make
a move.

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 5 NUMBER PLAY
Page No. 122

Figure it Out
1. The sum of four consecutive numbers is 34. What are these
numbers?
Ans. The required consecutive numbers are 7, 8, 9 and 10.
2. Suppose p is the greatest of five consecutive numbers. Describe the
other four numbers in terms of p.
Ans. Given p is the greatest of five consecutive number, so other four
are (p − 1), (p − 2), (p − 3) and (p − 4).

3. For each statement below, determine whether it is always true,

sometimes true, or never true. Explain your answer. Mention
examples and non-examples as appropriate. Justify your claim
using algebra.
(i) The sum of two even numbers is a multiple of 3.
(ii) If a number is not divisible by 18, then it is also not divisible
by 9.
(iii) If two numbers are not divisible by 6, then their sum is not
divisible by 6.
(iv) The sum of a multiple of 6 and a multiple of 9 is a multiple of
3.
(v) The sum of a multiple of 6 and a multiple of 3 is a multiple of 9.

Ans.
(i) Sometimes true.
2 + 4 = 6, 4 + 8 = 12 are multiples of 3
but 2 + 6 = 8, 6 + 8 = 14 are not multiples of 3.
(ii) Sometimes true.
30 is not divisible by both 18 and 9.
27 is not divisible by 18, but divisible by 9.

1
 (iii) Sometimes true.
9 and 11 are not divisible by 6, 20 is also not divisible by 6.
8 and 10 are not divisible by 6 but 18 is divisible by 6.
(iv) Always true.
Multiple of 6 = 6x
Multiple of 9 = 9y
Sum = 6x + 9y = 3(2x + 3y). Hence multiple of 3.
(v) Sometimes true.
Multiple of 6 is 18 and multiple of 3 is 9
Sum is 18 + 9 = 27 is a multiple of 9.
But multiple of 6 is 12 and multiple of 3 is 9
Sum 12 + 9 = 21 is not multiple of 9
Try for more such examples and non-examples in each of
the above cases.
4. Find a few numbers that leave a remainder of 2 when divided
by 3 and a remainder of 2 when divided by 4. Write an algebraic
expression to describe all such numbers.
Ans. Let 3a + 2 = x and 4b + 2 = x
So, 3a = x – 2 and 4b = x – 2
x – 2 is multiple of 3 and 4.
Take LCM of 3 and 4, which is 12
The, first number is x – 2 = 12 or x = 14 = 12 × 1 + 2
Other such numbers are 12 × 2 + 2 =26, 12 × 3 + 2 = 38, … or in
general 12n + 2.

5. “I hold some pebbles, not too many,

When I group them in 3’s, one stays with me.
Try pairing them up — it simply won’t do,
A stubborn odd pebble remains in my view.
Group them by 5, yet one’s still around,
But grouping by seven, perfection is found.
More than one hundred would be far too bold,
Can you tell me the number of pebbles I hold?”
Ans. When group pebbles in 3’s, remainder = 1.
Group them by 5, again remainder 1
But grouping by 7, remainder '0'
Pebbles are less than 100.
LCM of 3, 2, 5 = 30

2
 Remainder is 1 so p = 30k + 1
Possible values are 31, 61, 91
91 is divisible by 7.
The number of pebbles is 91.
6. Tathagat has written several numbers that leave a remainder of 2
when divided by 6. He claims, “If you add any three such numbers,
the sum will always be a multiple of 6.” Is Tathagat’s claim true?
Ans. Let three numbers be 6a + 2, 6b + 2, 6c + 2.
Add them and check for yourself.
Yes Tathagat’s claim is true.
7. When divided by 7, the number 661 leaves a remainder of 3, and
4779 leaves a remainder of 5. Without calculating, can you say what
remainders the following expressions will leave when divided by
7? Show the solution both algebraically and visually.
(i) 4779 + 661 (ii) 4779 – 661
Ans. Algebraically
(i) 4779 = 7p + 5
661 = 7q + 3
4779 + 661 = 7p + 7q + 8
= 7(p + q + 1) + 1
So remainder is 1
(ii) 4779 − 661 = 7p + 5 − 7q − 3
= 7(p − q) + 2
So remainder is 2.
For visual method refer P. 120 of the textbook.
8. Find a number that leaves a remainder of 2 when divided by 3,
a remainder of 3 when divided by 4, and a remainder of 4 when
divided by 5. What is the smallest such number? Can you give a
simple explanation of why it is the smallest?
Ans. Given each remainder is 1 less than its divisor.
So the number must be one less from LCM of 3, 4, 5.
LCM of 3, 4, 5 = 3 × 4 × 5 = 60
So smallest number is 60 − 1 = 59, since 60 is the smallest value of
multiples of 3, 4 and 5.

3
 Page No. 126

Figure it Out
1. Find, without dividing, whether the following numbers are
divisible by 9.
(i) 123   (ii) 405   (iii) 8888   (iv) 93547   (v) 358095
Ans. Only the number in (ii) is divisible by 9.
2. Find the smallest multiple of 9 with no odd digits.
Ans. Even digits are 2, 4, 6, 8.
Since sum is 9 which is odd and cannot be formed by adding even
numbers. We have smallest possible sum of digits is 18.
Try forming numbers with digits 2, 4, 6, 8 to get the sum 18.
The combination of even digits that sum is 18 is (2, 8, 8).
Arranging these digits 288 is the smallest number that is divisible
by 9, with no odd digits.
3. Find the multiple of 9 that is closest to the number 6000.
Ans. 6003.
4. How many multiples of 9 are there between the numbers 4300 and
4400?
Ans. 11
Page No. 128
If this difference is 11 or a multiple of 11, what does that say about the
remainder obtained when the number is divisible by 11?

Ans. Zero

Using this shortcut, find out whether the following numbers are divisible
by 11. Further, find the remainder if the number is not divisible by 11.
(i) 158   (ii) 841   (iii) 481   (iv) 5529   (v) 90904   (vi) 857076

Ans. (i) 4 (ii) 5 (iii) 8 (iv) 7 (v) Divisible by 11 (vi) Divisible by 11

Page No. 129

Fill in the following table. Find a quick way to do this?

4
 Divisible by
Number
2 3 4 5 6 8 9 10 11
128 Yes No Yes No No Yes No No No
990 Yes Yes No Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes
1586 Yes No No No No No No No No
275 No No No Yes No No No No Yes
6686 Yes No No No No No No No No
639210 Yes Yes No Yes Yes No No Yes Yes
429714 Yes Yes No No Yes No Yes No No
2856 Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes No No No
3060 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes No
406839 No Yes No No No No No No No

Page No. 130

What property do you think this digital root will have? Recall that we
did this while finding the divisibility shortcut for 9.

Ans. If a number is divided by 9 then the digital root of the dividend

is the remainder. If the number is exactly divisible by 9 then its
digital root will be 9.
Between the numbers 600 and 700, which numbers have the digital root:
(i) 5, (ii) 7, (iii) 3?
Ans.
(i) Digital root 5, from 600 to 700 are (Sum of digits are 5(1 + 4
or 2 + 3)) 608, 617, 626, 635, 644, 653, 662, 671, 680, 689, 698.
(ii) Digital root 7, Sum of digits are 7, 16 (0 + 7, 1 + 6) 601, 610, 619,
628, 637, 646, 655, 664, 673, 682, 691
(iii) Digital root 3, sum of digits (3 means 12, 21) 606, 615, 624, 633,
642, 651, 660, 669, 678, 687, 696
Now, find the digital roots of some consecutive multiples of (i) 3, (ii) 4,
and (iii) 6.
Ans.
(i) Digital roots → 3, 6, 9; 3, 6, 9; ......

5
 (ii) Digital roots → 4, 8, 3, 7, 2, 6, 1, 5, 9; 4, 8, 3; ......
(iii) Digital roots → 6, 3, 9; 6, 3, 9; ......
I’m made of digits, each tiniest and odd,
No shared ground with root #1 — how odd!
My digits count, their sum, my root —
All point to one bold number’s pursuit —
The largest odd single-digit I proudly claim.
What’s my number? What’s my name?

Ans. 11,11,11,111
Eleven crore eleven lakh eleven thousand one
hudred eleven.
Page No. 131

Figure it Out
1. The digital root of an 8-digit number is 5. What will be the digital
root of 10 more than that number?
Ans. Digital root is 5 + 1 = 6
One such number is 40000001
Try for more numbers.
2. Write any number. Generate a sequence of numbers by repeatedly
adding 11. What would be the digital roots of this sequence of
numbers? Share your observations.
Ans. Let the number be 10.
The sequence of numbers obtained by repeatedly adding 11 are
10, 21, 32, 43, 54, … .
The digital roots of this sequence are
10 → 1 + 0 = 1 65 → 2
21 → 2 + 1 = 3 76 → 4
32 → 3 + 2 = 5 87 → 6
43 → 4 + 3 = 7 98 → 8
54 → 5 + 4 = 9 109 → 1
120 → 3
.
.
.

6
 3. What will be the digital root of the number 9a + 36b + 13?
Ans. 9a + 36b + 13 = 9a + 36b + 9 + 4
= 9(a + 4b + 1) + 4
9 (a + 4b + 1) is a multiple of 9.
The digital root of any multiple of 9 is always 9.
So, Digital root of 9 (a + 4b + 1) + 4 will be 9 + 4 = 13 → 4
4. Make conjectures by examining if there are any patterns or
relations between
(i) the parity of a number and its digital root.
(ii) the digital root of a number and the remainder obtained
when the number is divided by 3 or 9.
Ans.
(i) There is no consistent pattern between the parity of a number
and its digital root.
(ii) (a) If the digital root of a number is 1, 4, 7, then the remainder
obtained after dividing the number by 3 will be 1.
If the digital root of a number is 2, 5, 8, then the remainder
obtained after dividing the number by 3 will be 2.
If the digital root of a number is 3, 6, 9, then the remainder
obtained after dividing the number by 3 will be 0.
(b) W hen the digital root of a number is 9, then the remainder
obtained after division by 9 is 0 and if the digital root is
less than 9, then the remainder obtained after division
by 9 is same as the digital root of that number.
Page No. 131

Solve the cryptarithms given below.

ON QR
A1 AB ON QR
(i) + 1B    (ii) + 37    (iii) + ON    (iv) + QR   
B0 6A PO PRR
Ans.
(i) A = 7, B = 9
(ii) A = 2, B = 5
(iii) N = 1, O = 3, P = 9
(iv) Q = 8, R = 5. P = 2

7
 Page No. 132

Solve the following:

(i) UT × 3 = PUT (ii) AB × 5 = BC (iii) L2N × 2 = 2NP
(iv) XY × 4 = ZX (v) PP × QQ = PRP (vi) JK × 6 = KKK

Ans.
(i) U = 5, T = 0, P = 1
(ii) A = 1 , B = 9, C = 5
(iii) L =1, N = 5, P = 0
(iv) X = 2, Y = 3, Z = 9
(v) P = 2, Q = 1, R = 4
(vi) J = 7, K = 4

Figure it Out
1. If 31z5 is a multiple of 9, where z is a digit, what is the value of z?
Explain why there are two answers to this problem.
Ans. 3 + 1 + z + 5 = 9 + z
So, z = 0 or 9.
2. “I take a number that leaves a remainder of 8 when divided by 12.
I take another number which is 4 short of a multiple of 12. Their
sum will always be a multiple of 8”, claims Snehal. Examine his
claim and justify your conclusion.
Ans. Let the number be a = 12n + 8 and b = 12m – 4
So, a + b = 12 (n + m) + 4
= 12 k + 4
a + b will not be a multiple of 8 always.
For example, take k = 2 and check.
3. When is the sum of two multiples of 3, a multiple of 6 and when
is it not? Explain the different possible cases, and generalise the
pattern.
Ans. Let the two multiples of 3 be 3m and 3n.
So, 3m + 3n = 3 (m + n). This will be a multiple of 6 only when m + n
is a multiple of 2.
4. Sreelatha says, “I have a number that is divisible by 9. If I reverse
its digits, it will still be divisible by 9”.
(i) Examine if her conjecture is true for any multiple of 9.

8
 (ii) Are any other digit shuffles possible such that the number
formed is still a multiple of 9?
Ans.
(i) Yes, the conjecture is true for any multiple of 9. When digits
are reversed, sum of digits remain the same.
(ii) Yes, any shuffle of the digits is still a multiple of 9, because
any rearrangement of the digits does not change the sum of
the digits.
5. If 48a23b is a multiple of 18, list all possible pairs of values for a
and b.
Ans. 48a23b is a multiple of 18 if it is multiple of both 2 and 9.
For any number multiple of 2, ones place must be an even number
So b = 0, 2, 4, 6, 8
For any number to be multiple of 9, sum of digits must be a multiple
of 9.
So, 4 + 8 + a + 2 + 3 + b = 17 + a + b must be multiple of 9.
For b = 0
a + b + 17 = a + 17 is a multiple of 9
a + 17 ≠ 9 as a will be negative.
a + 17 = 18,
So, a = 1
For b = 2
a + b + 17 = a + 19 is a multiple of 9.
a + 19 ≠ 9, 18; as a will be negative.
So, a + 19 = 27, a = 8
If a + 19 = 36, then a = 17. But a is a digit so a ≠ 17
The possible pairs are (1, 0) (8, 2) (6, 4) (4, 6) and (2, 8)
6. If 3p7q8 is divisible by 44, list all possible pairs of values for p
and q.
Ans. 3p7q8 is divisible by 44, means divisible by 11 and 4.
For divisiblility by 4, last two digits must be divisible by 4
So possible q8 are 08, 28, 48, 68, 88.
For divisibility by 11, difference between sum of the odd place
digits and even place digits must be 0 or multiple of 11
Sum of odd place digits = 8 + 7 + 3 = 18
Sum of even place digits = p + q
Difference is 18 − (p + q)
Let k = 18 − (p + q) = 0 or a multiple of 11.

9
 (i) if p + q = 18 Not possible for q (0, 2, 4, 6, 8),
since p is a digit.
(ii) if 18 – (p + q) = 11 (p = 7, q = 0) or (q = 2, p = 5) or
then p + q = 7 (q = 4, p = 3) (q = 6, p = 1)
(iii) 18 – (p + q) cannot
be multiples of 11
further.
Hence the possible pairs for p and q are (p = 7, q = 0), (p = 5, q = 2),
(p = 3, q = 4) and (p = 1, q = 6).
7. Find three consecutive numbers such that the first number is a
multiple of 2, the second number is a multiple of 3, and the third
number is a multiple of 4.
Are there more such numbers? How often do they occur?
Ans. Let three consecutive numbers be n, n + 1, n + 2. n is a multiple of
2. (n + 1) is a multiple of 3 and (n + 2) is a multiple of 4.
One set of three consecutive numbers are 2, 3, 4. There are
more such numbers. LCM of 2, 3 and 4 is 12 but the numbers are
consecutive. The pattern repeats after every 12. So, next set of 3
consecutive numbers is 14, 15 and 16.
8. Write five multiples of 36 between 45,000 and 47,000.
Share your approach with the class.
Ans. We know that if a number is multiple of 9 and 4, it will be a multiple
of 36.
For multiple of 4, last two digits must be multiples of 4. Such
numbers are with (00, 04, 08, 12, …).
For multiples of 9, sum of digits must be multiple of 9.
So numbers are 45036, 45072, 45108, … .
Find the remaining numbers.
9. The middle number in the sequence of 5 consecutive even numbers
is 5p. Express the other four numbers in sequence in terms of p.
Ans. The middle number in the sequence of 5 consecutive even numbers
is 5p.
The other four numbers are 5p – 4, 5p - 2, 5p + 2 and 5p + 4.
10. Write a 6-digit number that is divisible by 15, such that when the
digits are reversed, it is divisible by 6.
Ans. We know that a number is divisible by 15 if it is divisible by 3
and 5.

10
 Also it is divisible by 6 if it is divisible by 2 and 3.
If the 6-digit number is divisible by 15 then it ends with 0 and 5.
Suppose the 6-digit number is abcdef.
Since it is divisible by 15, so, f = 0 or 5.
If f = 0, then original number will be abcde0.
After reversing the digits it becomes 0edcba which is not a six digit
number.
Thus, f = 5
Also, the new number after reversing the digits is divisible by 2.
So, a = 2, 4, 6, 8, (a ≠ 0)
Now, possible numbers are —
For a = 2, f = 5, and sum of th digits is divisible by 3.
200025, 200055, 200085, 202005, … .
Find more such numbers.
11. Deepak claims, “There are some multiples of 11 which, when
doubled, are still multiples of 11. But other multiples of 11 don’t
remain multiples of 11 when doubled”. Examine if his conjecture
is true; explain your conclusion.
Ans. Deepak’s conjecture is false.
Let n be a multiple of 11 so n = 11k
When doubled the result 2n = 22k = 11 × (2k)
12. Determine whether the statements below are ‘Always True’,
‘Sometimes True’, or ‘Never True’. Explain your reasoning.
(i) The product of a multiple of 6 and a multiple of 3 is a multiple
of 9.
(ii) The sum of three consecutive even numbers will be divisible
by 6.
(iii) If abcdef is a multiple of 6, then badcef will be a multiple of 6.
(iv) 8 (7b – 3) – 4 (11b + 1) is a multiple of 12.
Ans.
(i) Always true.
(ii) Always true.
(iii) Always true.
(iv) Never true.
13. Choose any 3 numbers. When is their sum divisible by 3? Explore
all possible cases and generalise.

11
 Ans. Let n1, n2 and n3 be three numbers.
S = n1 + n 2 + n 3
By dividing a number by 3, the only possible remainders are 0, 1
and 2.
Case I : Suppose the remainders are R1, R 2 and R3. If R1 = 0 and
R 2 ≠ R3, then,
R1+ R 2 + R3 = 0 + 1 + 2 = 3 or 0 + 2 + 1 = 3
So, the Sum(S) will be divisible by 3.
Case II: Suppose R1 = R 2 = R3
Then R1 + R 2 + R3 = 3R1 or 3R 2 or 3R3
So, the Sum(S) will be divisible by 3 if the sum of the remainders
is 0, 3 or 6.
14. Is the product of two consecutive integers always multiple of 2?
Why? What about the product of three consecutive integers? Is it
always a multiple of 6? Why or why not? What can you say about
the product of 4 consecutive integers? What about the product of
five consecutive integers?
Ans.
(i) Product of two consecutive integers—
Yes, product of two consecutive integers is always a multiple
of 2, because if one is odd then the other will be even and
multiple of even is even.

Product of three consecutive integers—

Yes, the product of three consecutive integers is always
a multiple of 6. There is at least one multiple of 2 and one
multiple of 3 in the product of three consecutive integers.

Product of 4 consecutive integers —

The product will be multiple of 24 because at least one of
them is a multiple of 2, one is a multiple of 3, and one is a
multiple of 4.

12
 (2 × 3 × 4 = 24).
Product of 5 consecutive integers.
The product must be a multiple of 120 (2 × 3 × 4 × 5)
15. Solve the cryptarithms —
(i) EF × E = GGG (ii) WOW × 5 = MEOW
Ans.
(i) E = 3, F = 7, G = 1
(ii) W = 5, O = 7, M = 2, E = 8
16. Which of the following Venn diagrams captures the relationship
between the multiples of 4, 8, and 32?

(i) (ii)

Multiples Multiples Multiples Multiples Multiples Multiples

of 4 of 8 of 32 of 4 of 8 of 32

(iii) (iv)

Multiples Multiples Multiples Multiples

of 32 Multiples of 4 of 4 Multiples of 32
of 8 of 8

Ans. (iv)

13
 WE DISTRIBUTE,
6 YET THINGS
MULTIPLY

We have seen how algebra makes use of letter symbols to write general
statements about patterns and relations in a compact manner. Algebra
can also be used to justify or prove claims and conjectures (like the many
properties you saw in the previous chapter) and to solve problems of
various kinds.
Distributivity is a property relating multiplication and addition that
is captured concisely using algebra. In this chapter, we explore different
types of multiplication patterns and show how they can be described in
the language of algebra by making use of distributivity.

6.1 Some Properties of Multiplication

Increments in Products
Consider the multiplication of two numbers, say, 23 × 27.

1. By how much does the product increase if the first number (23) is
increased by 1?

2. What if the second number (27) is increased by 1?

3. How about when both numbers are increased by 1?

Do you see a pattern that could help generalise our observations to the
product of any two numbers?
Let us first consider a simpler problem — find the increase in the
product when 27 is increased by 1. From the definition of multiplication
(and the commutative property), it is clear that the product increases by
23. This can be seen from the distributive property of multiplication as
well. If a, b and c are three numbers, then —

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 We Distribute, Yet Things Multiply

a (b + c) = ab + ac

This property can be visualised nicely using a diagram:

b columns c columns

..... ......
..... ......
..... ......
. . . . . . . .
a rows . . . . . . . .
. . . ab
. . . . ac .
. . . . . . . .
..... ......
..... ......

a (b + c)

This is called the distributive property of multiplication over

addition. Using the identity a (b + c) = ab + ac with a = 23, b = 27, and
c = 1, we have

23 ( 27 + 1) = 23 × 27 + 23
Increase

Remember that here, a (b + c) and 23 (27 + 1) mean a × (b + c), and

23 × (27 + 1), respectively. We usually skip writing the ‘×’ symbol before
or after brackets, just as in the case of expressions like 5a, xy, etc.
We can also similarly expand (a + b) c using the distributive property
as follows —
(a + b) c = c (a + b) (commutativity of multiplication)
   = ca + cb (distributivity)
   = ac + bc (commutativity of multiplication)
We can use the distributive property to find, in general, how much a
product increases if one or both the numbers in the product are increased
by 1. Suppose the initial two numbers are a and b. If one of the numbers,
say b, is increased by 1, then we have —

a ( b + 1) = ab × a
Increase

Now let us see what happens if both numbers in a product are

increased by 1. If in a product ab, both a and b are increased by 1, then
we obtain (a + 1) (b + 1).
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 Ganita Prakash | Grade 8

How do we expand this?

Let us consider (a + 1) as a single term. Then, by the distributive
property, we have

(a + 1) (b + 1) = (a + 1) b + (a + 1) 1
If a = 23, and, b = 27, we get
Again applying the distributive
property, we obtain

(a + 1) (b + 1) = (a + 1) b + (a + 1) 1 (23 + 1) (27 + 1) = (23 + 1) 27 + (23 + 1) 1

= ab + (b + a + 1) = 23 × 27 + (27 + 23 + 1)
Increase Increase

Thus, the product ab increases by a + b + 1 when each of a and b are

increased by 1.

What would we get if we had expanded (a + 1) (b + 1) by first taking (b + 1)

as a single term? Try it?

What happens when one of the numbers in a product is increased by 1

and the other is decreased by 1? Will there be any change in the product?
Let us again take the product ab of two numbers a and b. If a is
increased by 1 and b is decreased by 1, then their product will be (a + 1)
(b – 1). Expanding this, we get
If a = 23, and b = 27, we get
(a + 1) (b – 1) = (a + 1) b – (a + 1) 1 (23 + 1) (27 – 1) = (23 + 1) 27 – (23 + 1) 1
= ab + b – (a + 1) = 23 × 27 + 27 – (23 + 1)
= ab + b – a – 1 = 23 × 27 + 27 – 23 – 1
Increase Increase

Will the product always increase? Find 3 examples where the product
decreases.

What happens when a and b are negative integers?

Check by substituting different values for a and b in each of the above
cases. For example, a = –5, b = 8; a = –4, b = –5; etc.
We have seen that integers also satisfy the distributive property, that
is, if x, y and z are any three integers, then x (y + z) = xy + xz.
Thus, the expressions we have for increase of products hold when the
letter-numbers take on negative integer values as well.
Recall that two algebraic expressions are equal if they take on the
same values when their letter-numbers are replaced by numbers. These

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 We Distribute, Yet Things Multiply

numbers could be any integers. Mathematical statements that express

the equality of two algebraic expressions, such as
a (b + 8) = ab + 8a,
(a + 1) (b – 1) = ab + b – a – 1, etc.,
are called identities.

By how much will the product of two numbers change if one of the
numbers is increased by m and the other by n?
If a and b are the initial numbers being multiplied, they become
a + m and b + n.
(a + m) (b + n) = (a + m)b + (a + m)n
= ab + mb + an + mn
The increase is an + bm + mn.
Notice that the product is the sum of the product of each term of
(a + m) with each term of (b + n).

Identity 1 (a + m) (b + n) = ab + mb + an + mn

This identity can be visualised as follows —

b columns n columns

..... ......
..... ......
..... ......
a rows . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . .
. . . ab
. . . . an .
. . . . . . . .
..... ......
..... ......

....... .......
....... .......
. . . . . . .
m rows . . mb . . . . mn .
. . . . . . .
...... .......

(a + m) (b + n)

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 Ganita Prakash | Grade 8

This identity can be used to find how products change when the numbers
being multiplied are increased or decreased by any amount. Can you see
how this identity can be used when one or both numbers are decreased?
For example, let us reconsider the case when one number is increased
by 1 and the other decreased by 1. Let us write the product (a + 1) (b – 1)
as (a + 1) (b + (–1). Taking m = 1 and n = –1 in Identity 1, we have
ab + (1) × b + a × (–1) + (1) × (–1) = ab + b – a – 1,
which is the same expression that we obtain earlier.
Use Identity 1 to find how the product changes when
(i) one number is decreased by 2 and the other increased by 3;
(ii) both numbers are decreased, one by 3 and the other by 4.

Verify the answers by finding the products without converting the

subtractions to additions.
Generalising this, we can find the product (a + u) (b – v) as follows.
(a + u) (b – v) = (a + u) b – (a + u) v
= ab + ub – (av + uv)
= ab + ub – av – uv.
Check that this is the same as taking m = u and n = –v in Identity 1.
As in Identity 1, the product (a + u) (b – v) is the sum of the product of
each term of a + u (a and u) with each term of b – v (b and (–v)). Notice
that the signs of the terms in the products can be determined using the
usual rules of integer multiplication.

See how the rules of integer multiplication allows us to handle

multiple cases using a single identity!

Expand (i) (a – u) (b + v), (ii) (a – u) (b – v).

We get
(a – u) (b + v) = ab – ub + av – uv, and
(a – u) (b – v) = ab – ub – av + uv.
The distributive property is not restricted to two terms within a bracket.

Example 1: Expand 3a 1
2 (a – b + 5).
3a
2 (a – b + 15) = (3a 3a 3a 1
2 × a) – ( 2 × b) + ( 2 × 5 ).
The terms can be simplified as follows —
3a
2 × a = 32 × (a × a).

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 We Distribute, Yet Things Multiply

Using exponent notation, we can write 32 × (a × a) = 32 a2.

3a
2 × b = 32 × (a × b) = 32 ab.
3a
2 × 15 = (32 × 15) a = 10
3
a
So we get
3a
2 (a – b + 15) = 32 a2 – 32 ab + 10
3
a.

Can any two terms be added to get a single term?

For example, can 32 a2 and 10

3
a be added to get a single term?
We see that no two terms have exactly the same letter-numbers,
which would have allowed them to be simplified into a single term. So,
a further simplification of the expression is not possible.
Recall that we call terms having the same letter-numbers like terms.

Example 2: Expand (a + b) (a + b).

We have (a + b) (a + b) = (a+b) a + (a + b)b = a × a + b × a + ab + b × b

= a2 + ba + ab + b2
Since ba = ab, we have two terms having the same letter-numbers ab
(or, that are like terms), and so can be added —
ba + ab = ab + ab = 2ab
So we get
(a + b) (a + b) = a2 + 2ab + b2.

Example 3: Expand (a + b) (a2 + 2ab + b2).

(a + b) (a2 + 2ab + b2) = (a + b)a2 + (a + b) × 2ab + (a + b)b2
= (a × a2) + ba2 + (a × 2ab) + (b × 2ab) + ab2 + (b × b2)
The terms can be simplified as follows —
a × a2 = a3 (why?)
ba2 = a2b
a × 2ab = 2 × a × a × b = 2a2b
b × 2ab = 2 × a × b × b = 2ab2
b × b2 = b3
So, (a + b)(a2 + 2ab + b2) = a3 + a2b + 2a2b + 2ab2 + ab2 + b3.
We see that a2b and 2a2b have the same letter-numbers (or, are like
terms) and so can be added —

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a2b + 2a2b = (1 + 2) a2 b = 3a2 b.

Similarly, ab2 and 2ab2 are like terms and so can be added —
ab2 + 2ab2 = (1 + 2)ab2 = 3ab2.
Thus, we have
(a + b) × (a2 + 2ab +b2 ) = a3 + 3a2b + 3ab2 + b3.

A Pinch of History
The distributive property of multiplication over addition was implicit
in the calculations of mathematicians in many ancient civilisations,
particularly in ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, Greece, China, and India. For
example, the mathematicians Euclid (in geometric form) and Āryabhaṭa
(in algebraic form) used the distributive law in an implicit manner
extensively in their mathematical and scientific works. The first explicit
statement of the distributive property was given by Brahmagupta in his
work Brahmasphuṭasiddhānta (Verse 12.55), who referred to the use of
the property for multiplication as khaṇḍa-guṇanam (multiplication by
parts). His verse states, “The multiplier is broken up into two or more
parts whose sum is equal to it; the multiplicand is then multiplied by
each of these and the results added”. That is, if there are two parts, then
using letter symbols this is equivalent to the identity (a + b) c = ac + bc. In
the next verse (Verse 12.56), Brahmagupta further describes a method
for doing fast multiplication using this distributive property, which we
explore further in the next section.

Figure it Out
1. Observe the multiplication grid below. Each number inside the grid
is formed by multiplying two numbers. If the middle number of a
3 × 3 frame is given by the expression pq, as shown in the figure,
write the expressions for the other numbers in the grid.

x 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
3×5 3×6 3×7
1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
2 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 4×5 4×6 4×7
3 3 6 9 12 15 18 21 24 27 30
4 4 8 12 16 20 24 28 32 36 40
5×5 5×6 5×7
5 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
6 6 12 18 24 30 36 42 48 54 60
7 7 14 21 28 35 42 49 56 63 70 pq
8 8 16 24 32 40 48 56 64 72 80
9 9 18 27 36 45 54 63 72 81 90
10 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
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2. Expand the following products.

2
(i) (3 + u) (v – 3) (ii) 3 (15 + 6a)
(iii) (10a + b) (10c + d) (iv) (3 – x) (x – 6)
(v) (–5a + b) (c + d) (vi) (5 + z) (y + 9)
3. Find 3 examples where the product of two numbers remains Math
unchanged when one of them is increased by 2 and the other is Talk
decreased by 4.
4. Expand (i) (a + ab – 3b2) (4 + b), and (ii) (4y + 7) (y + 11z – 3).
5. Expand (i) (a – b) (a + b), (ii) (a – b) (a2 + ab + b2) and
(iii) (a – b)(a3 + a2b + ab2 + b3), Do you see a pattern? What would be
the next identity in the pattern that you see? Can you check it by
expanding?

Fast Multiplications Using the Distributive Property

The distributive property can be used to come up with quick methods of
multiplication when certain types of numbers are multiplied.

When one of the numbers is 11, 101, 1001, ...

Use the following multiplications to find the product of a number with
11 in a single step.
(a) 3874 × 11 (b) 5678 × 11
Let us take the first multiplication.
3874 × 11 = 3874 (10 + 1) = 38740 + 3874

38740
+ 3874

Notice how the digits are getting added.

Let us take a 4-digit number dcba, that is, the number that has d in the
thousands place, c in the hundreds place, b in the tens place and a in the
units place.
dcba × (10 + 1) = dcba × 10 + dcba.
This becomes
d c b a o
+ d   c    b   a
d (c + d) (b + c) (a + b) a

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This can be used to obtain the product in one line.

Step 1 Step 2 Step 3
1 11
+ +
3874 × 11 3874 × 11 3874 × 11
4 14 614
Step 4 Step 5
111 111
+
3874 × 11 3874 × 11
2614 42614

Describe a general rule to multiply a number (of any number of digits)

by 11 and write the product in one line.
Evaluate (i) 94 × 11, (ii) 495 × 11, (iii) 3279 × 11, (iv) 4791256 × 11. Math
Talk
Can we come up with a similar rule for multiplying a number by
101?

Multiply 3874 by 101.

Let us take a 4-digit number dcba.
dcba × 101 = dcba × (100 + 1) = dcba × 100 + dcba.
This becomes
d c b a o o
+    d    c   b   a
d c    (b + d) (a + c) b   a

Use this to multiply 3874 × 101 in one line.

What could be a general rule to multiply a number by 101 and write the
product in one line? Extend this rule for multiplication by 1001, 10001, …

Use this to find (i) 89 × 101, (ii) 949 × 101, (iii) 265831 × 1001, Math
Talk
(iv) 1111 × 1001, (v) 9734 × 99 and (vi) 23478 × 999.
Such methods of applying the distributive property to easily multiply
two numbers were discussed extensively in the ancient
mathematical works of Brahmagupta (628 CE), Sridharacharya
(750 CE) and Bhaskaracharya (Lilavati, 1150 CE). In his work
Brahmasphuṭasiddhānta (Verse 12.56), Brahmagupta refers to such
methods for fast multiplication using the distributive property as
ista-gunana.

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6.2 Special Cases of the Distributive Property

Square of the Sum/Difference of Two Numbers

The area of a square of sidelength 60 units is 3600 sq. units (602) and that
of a square of sidelength 5 units is 25 sq. units (52). Can we use this to
find the area of a square of sidelength 65 units?
A square of sidelength 65 can be split into 4 regions as shown in the
figure — a square of sidelength 60, a square of sidelength 5, and two
rectangles of sidelengths 60 and 5. The area of the square of sidelength 65
is the sum of the areas of all its constituent parts. Can you find the areas
of the four parts in the figure above? 60 5
We get
652 = (60 + 5)2 = 602 + 52 + 2 × (60 × 5).
= 3600 + 25 + 600 = 4225 sq. units.
Let us multiply (60 + 5) × (60 + 5) using the

60 × 5
distributive property. 60 602

(60 + 5) × (60 + 5) = 60 × 60 + 5 × 60 + 60 × 5 + 5 × 5
    = 602 + 2 × (60 × 5) + 52.

5 5 × 60 52
What if we write 652 as (30 + 35)2 or (52 + 13)2?
Draw the figures and check the area that you get.
Let us look at the general expression for the
square of sum of two numbers, (a + b)2.
a b
Using the distributive property,
(a+b)2 can be expanded as

(a+b) × (a+b) = a×a + a×b + b×a + b×b

a×b

a a2

= a2 + 2ab + b2,
as we had already seen in Example 2.

b b×a b2 Identity 1A (a+b)2 = a2 + 2ab + b2

If a and b are any two integers, is (a + b)2 always greater than Math
Talk
a + b ? If not, when is it greater?
2 2

Use Identity 1A to find the values of 1042, 372. (Hint: Decompose 104 and 37
into sums or differences of numbers whose squares are easy to compute.)

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Use Identity 1A to write the expressions for the following.

(i) (m + 3)2 (ii) (6 + p)2

Expand (6x + 5)2.

Using the Distributive Property Using the Identity

(6x + 5)2 = (6x + 5) (6x + 5) (6x + 5)2 = (6x)2 + 52 + 2 × (6x × 5)

= (6x × 6x) + (5 × 6x) +(6x × 5) + 5 × 5 = 36x2 + 25 + 60x.
= (6x)2 + 2 (6x × 5) + 52
= 36x2 + 60x + 25.

If you have difficulty remembering or using the general rule, you

can just apply the distributive property to multiply and get the
desired result.

Expand (3j + 2k)2 using both the identity and by applying the distributive
property.

Can we use 602 (=3600) and 52 (=25) to find the value of (60 – 5)2 or 552?
Let us approach this through geometry by drawing a square of side
length 55 sitting inside a square of sidelength 60.
Area of a square of sidelength 55 is (60 – 5)2 = 552.
We can get the area of
the square of sidelength
55 5
55 by taking the area of
the square of sidelength
60 and removing the areas
of the two rectangles of
55
60 sidelengths 60 and 5, i.e.,
– 60 × 5 602 – (60 × 5) – (5 × 60).
By doing this, we remove the
area of the small square of
sidelength 5 twice. What can
we do with this expression to
get the actual area?
60 × 60 – 5 × 60 +5 × 5
We can add back the area
of the square of sidelength 5
to this expression. That way,
we are only subtracting this
area once.
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So,
(60 – 5)2 = 602 – (60 × 5) – (5 × 60) + 52
= 3600 – 300 – 300 + 25
= 3025.
The area of the square of sidelength 55 is 3025 sq. units.
We have seen what (a + b)2 gives when expanded. What is the
expansion of (a – b)2?
Using the distributive property,
(a – b)2 = (a – b) × (a – b)
= (a)2 – ba – ab + (b)2
= a2 – 2ab + b2.
We can also use the expansion of (a + b)2 to find the expansion of
(a – b)2. Think how.
Hint: (a – b)2 = (a + (–b))2.
We can now directly use the expansion of (a + b)2.
(a + (–b)2 = (a)2 + (–b)2 + 2 × (a) × (–b)

Identity 1B (a – b)2 = a2 + b2 – 2ab

Find the general expansion of (a – b)2 using geometry, as we did for 552.

Use the identity (a – b)2 to find the values of (a) 992 and (b) 582.

Expand the following using both Identity 1B and by applying the

distributive property
3 2
(i) (b – 6)2 (ii) (–2a + 3)2 (iii) (7y – 4z )

Investigating Patterns
Pattern 1
Look at the following pattern.
2 (22 + 12) = 32 + 12
2 (32 + 12) = 42 + 22
2 (62 + 52) = 112 + 12
2 (52 + 32) = 82 + 22.

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Take a pair of natural numbers. Calculate the sum of their squares.

Can you write twice this sum as a sum of two squares?
Try this with other pairs of numbers. Have you figured out a pattern?
Notice that 2 (52 + 62) = (6 + 5)2 + (6 – 5)2.
Do the identities below help in explaining the observed pattern?
(a + b)2 = a2 + 2ab + b2
(a – b)2 = a2 – 2ab + b2
(a + b)2 + (a – b)2 = (a2 + 2ab + b2) + (a2 – 2ab + b2)
Adding the like terms a2 + a2 = 2a2 , b2 + b2 = 2b2 and 2ab – 2ab = 0,
we get
2 (a2 + b2) = (a + b)2 + (a – b)2.

Pattern 2

Here is a related pattern. Try to describe the pattern using algebra to

determine if the pattern always holds.
9 × 9 – 1 × 1= 10 × 8
8 × 8 – 6 × 6 = 14 × 2
7×7–2×2=9×5
10 × 10 – 4 × 4 = 14 × 6
The pattern here appears to be a2 – b2 = (a + b) × (a – b).
Is this a true identity? Using the distributive property, we get
(a + b) × (a – b) = a2 – ab + ba – a2.
Adding the like terms, ab + (–ab) = 0, we see that indeed

Identity 1C (a + b) × (a – b) = a2 – b2.

You had seen this identity earlier in Figure it Out 5 (i).

Use Identity 1C to calculate 98 × 102, and 45 × 55.

Show that (a + b) × (a – b) = a2 – b2 geometrically. Try

This

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Hint:
a b

What do we get
b when this piece
is moved?

Sridharacharya (750 CE) gave an interesting method to quickly

compute the squares of numbers using Identity 1C! Consider the
following modified form of this identity —
a2 = (a + b) (a – b) + b2

Why is this identity true?

Now, for example, 312 can be found by taking a = 31 and b = 1.
312 = (31 + 1) (31 – 1) + 12
= 32 × 30 + 1
= 961.
1972 can be found by taking a = 197, and b = 3.
1972 = (197 + 3) (197 – 3) + 32
= 200 × 194 + 9
= 38809.

Figure it Out
1. Which is greater: (a – b)2 or (b – a)2? Justify your answer.
2. Express 100 as the difference of two squares.
3. Find 4062, 722, 1452, 10972, and 1242 using the identities you have Math
learnt so far. Talk

4. Do Patterns 1 and 2 hold only for counting numbers? Do they

hold for negative integers as well? What about fractions? Justify
your answer.

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6.3 Mind the Mistake, Mend the Mistake

We have expanded and simplified some algebraic expressions below to
their simplest forms.
(i) Check each of the simplifications and see if there is a mistake.
(ii) If there is a mistake, try to explain what could have gone
wrong.
(iii) Then write the correct expression.
1 2 3
–3p (–5p + 2q) 2(x – 1) + 3 (x + 4) y + 2 (y + 2)
= –3p + 5p – 2q = 2x – 1 + 3x + 4 = (y + 2)2
= p – 2q = 5x + 3 = y2 + 4y + 4

4 5 6
3a (2b × 3c)
(5m + 6n)2 (– q + 2)2
= 6ab × 9ac
= 25m2 + 36n2 = q2 – 4q + 4
= 54a2bc

7 8 9
1 2a3 + 3a3 + 6a2b
(10s – 6) + 3 5w2 + 6w
2
= 5s – 3 + 3 + 6ab2
= 11w2
= 5s = 5a3 + 12a2b2

10 11 12
(x + 2)(x + 5)
= (x + 2)x + (x + 2)5 (a + 2) (b + 4) ab2 + a2b + a2b2
= x2 + 2x + 5x +10 = ab + 8 = ab (a + b + ab)
= x2 + 7x + 10

6.4 This Way or That Way, All Ways Lead to the Bay
Observe the pattern in the figure below. Draw the next figure in the
Math
sequence. How many circles does it have? How many total circles Talk
are there in Step 10? Write an expression for the number of circles
in Step k.
1 2 3

......

There are many ways of interpreting this pattern. Here are some
possibilities:
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Method 1

Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4 ... Step k

...

22 – 1 32 – 1 42 – 1 52 – 1
= (1 + 1)2 – 1 = (2 + 1)2 – 1 = (3 + 1)2 – 1 = (4 + 1)2 – 1 ... (k + 1)2 – 1

Method 2

Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4 ... Step k

...

1+2×1 22 + 2 × 2 32 + 2 × 3 42 + 2 × 4
= 12 + 2 × 1 = 22 + 2 × 2 = 32 + 2 × 3 = 42 + 2 × 4 ... k2 + 2 × k

Method 3

Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4 ... Step k

...

1×2+1 2×3+2 3×4+3 4×5+4 ... k × (k + 1) + k

= 1 × (1 + 1) + 1 = 2 × (2 + 1) + 2 = 3 × (3 + 1) + 3 = 4 × (4 + 1) + 4

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Method 4

Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4 ... Step k

...

1×3 2×4 3×5 4×6

= 1 × (1 + 2) = 2 × (2 + 2) = 3 × (3 + 2) = 4 × (4 + 2) ... k × (k+2)

Does your method match any of these, or is it different? Each

expression that we have identified appears different, but are they really
different? Since they describe the same pattern, they should all be the
same. Let us simplify each expression and find out.

(k + 1)2 – 1 k2 + 2 × k k × (k + 1) + k k × (k + 2)
= k2 + 1 + 2k – 1 = k2 + 2k = k2 + k + k = k2 + 2k
= k2 + 2k = k2 + 2k

When carried out correctly, all methods lead to the same answer;
k + 2k. The expression k2 + 2k gives the number of circles at Step k of this
2

pattern.

In Mathematics, there are often multiple ways of looking at

a pattern, and different ways of approaching and solving the
same problem. Finding such ways often requires a great deal
of creativity and imagination! While one or two of the ways
might be your favourite(s), it can be amusing and enriching to
explore other ways as well.

Use this formula to find the number of circles in Step 15.

Consider the pattern made of square tiles in the picture below.

1 2 3

......

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How many square tiles are there in each figure?

How many are there in Step 4 of the sequence? What about Step 10?

Write an algebraic expression for the number of tiles in Step n. Math

Share your methods with the class. Can you find more than one Talk
method to arrive at the answer?

Find the area of the (interior) shaded region in the figure below. All four
rectangles have the same dimensions. m

Tadang’s method:
The total region is a square of side (m + n) with an area
(m + n)2.
Subtracting the area of four rectangles from the total n
area will give the area of the interior shaded region.
That is, (m + n)2 – 4mn .
Yusuf’s method:
The shaded region is a square with sidelength (n – m). So,
its area is (n – m)2. x
y
By expanding both expressions,
check that (m + n)2– 4mn = (n – m)2.

Find out the area of the region with slanting lines in the
figure. All three rectangles have the same dimensions
(Fig. 1).
Fig. 1

Anusha’s method:
Required area = Area (ABCD) – Area (EFGH)
Area of ABCD = x2.
Area of EFGH = xy.
Required area = x2 – xy.

Vaishnavi’s method:
QS = y + x + y
= x + 2y.
Area of PQSR = x (x + 2y)
Required area = Area of PQSR – (area of the three
rectangles)
= x (x + 2y) – 3xy.
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Aditya’s method:
The required area is 2 times the area of JKLM.
x–y
JK = 2 , KM = x

Area (JKML) = x ( x –2 y )
Required area = 2 × Area of JKML
= 2x x – y ( 2 )
= x (x – y).

By expanding the expressions, verify that all three expressions are

equivalent. If x = 8 and y = 3, find the area of the shaded region.

Write an expression for the area of the dashed region in the figure Math
below. Use more than one method to arrive at the answer. Substitute Talk
p = 6, r = 3.5, and s = 9, and calculate the area.

Figure it Out
1. Compute these products using the suggested identity.
(i) 462 using Identity 1A for (a + b)2
(ii) 397 × 403 using Identity 1C for (a + b) (a – b)
(iii) 912 using Identity 1B for (a – b)2
(iv) 43 × 45 using Identity 1C for (a + b) (a – b)
2. Use either a suitable identity or the distributive property to find each
of the following products.
(i) (p – 1) (p + 11)
(ii) (3a – 9b) (3a + 9b)
(iii) –(2y + 5) (3y + 4)
(iv) (6x + 5y)2
(v) (2x – 1 )2
2
(vi) (7p) × (3r) × (p + 2)
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3. For each statement identify the appropriate algebraic expression(s).

(i) Two more than a square number.
2 + s   (s + 2)2   s2 + 2   s2 + 4   2s2   22s
(ii) The sum of the squares of two consecutive numbers
m2 + n2  (m + n)2 m2 + 1 m2 + (m + 1)2
m2 + (m – 1)2  (m + (m + 1))2 (2m)2 + (2m + 1)2
4. Consider any 2 by 2 square of numbers in a calendar, as shown in the
figure.

February

Su M Tu W Th F Sa
1
2 3 4 5 6 7 8
9 10 11 12 13 14 15
16 17 18 19 20 21 22
23 24 25 26 27 28

 ind products of numbers lying along each diagonal — 4 × 12 = 48,

F
5 × 11 = 55. Do this for the other 2 by 2 squares. What do you
Math
observe about the diagonal products? Explain why this happens. Talk
Hint: Label the numbers in each 2 by 2 square as

a (a + 1)
a+7 (a + 8)
5. Verify which of the following statements are true.
(i) (k + 1) (k + 2) – (k + 3) is always 2.
(ii) (2q + 1) (2q – 3) is a multiple of 4.
(iii) Squares of even numbers are multiples of 4, and squares of
odd numbers are 1 more than multiples of 8.
(iv) (6n + 2)2 – (4n + 3)2 is 5 less than a square number.
6. A number leaves a remainder of 3 when divided by 7, and another
number leaves a remainder of 5 when divided by 7. What is the
remainder when their sum, difference, and product are divided by 7?
7. Choose three consecutive numbers, square the middle one, and
subtract the product of the other two. Repeat the same with other

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sets of numbers. What pattern do you notice? How do we write this

as an algebraic equation? Expand both sides of the equation to
check that it is a true identity.
8. What is the algebraic expression describing the following
steps — add any two numbers. Multiply this by half of the sum of
the two numbers? Prove that this result will be half of the square of
the sum of the two numbers.
9. Which is larger? Find out without fully computing the product.
(i) 14 × 26 or 16 × 24
(ii) 25 × 75 or 26 × 74
10. A tiny park is coming up in Dhauli. w ft.
The plan is shown in the figure. The
two square plots, each of area g2 sq.
g2 sq. ft. g2 sq. ft.
ft., will have a green cover. All the
remaining area is a walking path w
w ft.
ft. wide that needs to be tiled. Write
an expression for the area that needs to be tiled.
11. For each pattern shown below,
(i) Draw the next figure in the sequence.
(ii) How many basic units are there in Step 10?
(iii) Write an expression to describe the number of basic units in
Step y.

Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 1 Step 2 Step 3

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SUMMARY
� We extended the distributive property to find the product of
two expressions each of which has two terms. The general form
for the same is (a + b) × (c + d) = ac + ad + bc + bd.
� We saw some special cases of this identity.
y (a + b)2 = a2 + 2ab + b2
y (a – b)2 = a2 – 2ab + b2
y (a + b) (a – b) = a2 – b2.
� We considered different patterns, and explored how to
understand them using algebra. We saw that, often, there are
multiple ways to solve a problem and arrive at the same correct
answer. Finding different methods to approach and solve the
same problem is a creative process.

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 Coin Conjoin

Arrange 10 coins in a triangle as shown in the figure below on the left.

The task is to turn the triangle upside down by moving one coin at a
time. How many moves are needed? What is the minimum number of
moves?
A triangle of 3 coins can be inverted (turned upside down) with a
single move, and a triangle of 6 coins can be inverted by moving 2 coins.

The 10-coin triangle can be flipped with just 3 moves; did you figure
out how? Find out the minimum possible moves needed to flip the
next bigger triangle having 15 coins. Try the same for bigger triangular
numbers.
Is there a simple way to calculate the minimum number of coin moves
needed for any such triangular arrangement?

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 WE DISTRIUTE, YET
6 THINGS MULTIPLY
Page No. 138

Will the product always increase? Find 3 examples where the product
decreases.

Ans. The product will not always increase.

For a = 10, b = 3; ab = 30
a – 1 = 9, b – 1 = 2; (a – 1)(b – 1) = 18
Thus, (a – 1) (b – 1) < ab
Try for more examples.
Page No. 140
Use Identity 1 to find how the product changes when
(i) one number is decreased by 2 and the other increased by 3;
(ii) both numbers are decreased, one by 3 and the other by 4.
Ans.
(i) (a – 2) (b + 3) = ab + 3a – 2b – 6
(ii) (a – 3) (b – 4) = ab – 4a – 3b + 12
Page No. 142

Figure it Out
1. Observe the multiplication grid below. Each number inside the grid
is formed by multiplying two numbers. If the middle number of a
3 × 3 frame is given by the expression pq, as shown in the figure,
write the expressions for the other numbers in the grid.

1
 x 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
3×5 3×6 3×7
1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
2 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 4×5 4×6 4×7
3 3 6 9 12 15 18 21 24 27 30
4 4 8 12 16 20 24 28 32 36 40
5×5 5×6 5×7
5 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
6 6 12 18 24 30 36 42 48 54 60
7 7 14 21 28 35 42 49 56 63 70 pq
8 8 16 24 32 40 48 56 64 72 80
9 9 18 27 36 45 54 63 72 81 90
10 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Ans. Observe grid.

(p – 1)(q – 1) (p – 1)q (p – 1)(q + 1)

p(q – 1) pq p(q + 1)
(p + 1)(q – 1) (p + 1)q (p + 1)(q + 1)

2. Expand the following products.

2
(i) (3 + u) (v – 3) (ii) 3 (15 + 6a)
(iii) (10a + b) (10c + d) (iv) (3 – x) (x – 6)
(v) (– 5a + b) (c + d) (vi) (5 + z) (y + 9)
Ans.
(i) 3v – 3u + uv – 9
(ii) 10 + 4a
(iii) 100ac + 10ad + 10bc + bd
(iv) – x2 + 9x – 18
(v) – 5ac –5ad + bc + bd
(vi) 5y + yz + 9z + 45
3. Find 3 examples where the product of two numbers remains
unchanged when one of them is increased by 2 and the other is
decreased by 4.
Ans. Let numbers be a and b.
Then (a + 2) (b – 4) = ab
So, b = 2a + 4
Hence 3 examples are (a = 1, b = 6), (a = 2, b = 8), (a = 3, b = 10)
2
4. Expand (i) (a + ab – 3b2) (4 + b), and (ii) (4y + 7) (y + 11z – 3).
Ans. (i) (a + ab – 3b2) (4 + b) = 4(a + ab – 3b2) + b(a + ab – 3b2)
= 4a + 4ab – 12b2 + ab + ab2 – 3b3
= 4a + 5ab + ab2 – 12b2 – 3b3
(ii) (4y + 7) (y + 11z – 3) = 4y (y + 11z – 3) + 7 (y + 11z – 3)
= 4y2 + 44yz – 12y + 7y + 77z – 21
= 4y2 + 44yz + 77z – 5y – 21
5. Expand (i) (a – b) (a + b), (ii) (a – b) (a2 + ab + b2) and
(iii) (a – b)(a3 + a2b + ab2 + b3), Do you see a pattern? What would be
the next identity in the pattern that you see? Can you check it by
expanding?
Ans.
(i) a2 – b2
(ii) a3 – b3
(iii) a4 – b4
Yes, a pattern is seen.
Next identity in the pattern is
(a – b) (a4 + a3b + a2b2 + ab3 + b4) = a5 – b5
Page No. 144
Evaluate (i) 94 × 11, (ii) 495 × 11, (iii) 3279 × 11, (iv) 4791256 × 11.
Ans. (ii)
1 1 +

4 9 5 5+9=14
× 1 1 9 + 4 = 13 + 1 = 14
(4 + 1) 4 4 5
= 5445

Try other parts.

What could be a general rule to multiply a number by 101 and write the
product in one line? Extend this rule for multiplication by 1001, 10001, …

Ans. dcba × 101 = dcba (100 + 1) = dcba00 + dcba

d  c   b   a   0   0
+        d    c   b   a
d  c    (b + d) (a + c) b   a

3
 dcba × 1001 = dcba (1000 + 1) = dcba000 + dcba

d  c   b   a    0   0   0
+           d    c   b   a
d c   b   (a + d) c    b   a

dcba × 10001 = dcba (10000 + 1) = dcba0000 + dcba

d   c   b   a   0   0   0   0
+               d   c   b   a
d   c   b   a   d   c   b   a

Try for other such numbers.

Use this to find (i) 89 × 101, (ii) 949 × 101, (iii) 265831 × 1001,
(iv) 1111 × 1001, (v) 9734 × 99 and (vi) 23478 × 999.

Ans. (iii) 265831 × 1001

= 265831000 + 265831
= 266096831
(v) 9734 × 99
= 9734 ( 100 – 1)
= 973400 – 9734 = 963666
Page No. 147

Expand the following using both Identity 1B and by applying the

distributive property
( )
2
3
(i) (b – 6)2 (ii) (–2a + 3)2 (iii) 7y – 4z
Ans.
9
(i) b2 – 12b+36 (ii) 4a2 – 12a+9 (iii) 49y2 – 21y
2z
+ 16z 2

Page No. 148

Use Identity 1C to calculate 98 × 102, and 45 × 55.

Ans. 45 × 55
= (50 – 5) (50 + 5)
= 502 – 52
= 2475
Try the other part for yourself.

4
Page No. 149

Figure it Out
1. Which is greater: (a – b)2 or (b – a)2? Justify your answer.
Ans. Both are equal.
2. Express 100 as the difference of two squares.
Ans. Try to find square numbers with a difference of 100.

a b Difference
25 125 Not a square
36 136 Not a square
49 149 Not a square
.
.
.
676 576 Square

676 – 576 = 100 or

262 – 242 = 100
Check for more such numbers.
3. Find 4062, 722, 1452, 10972, and 1242 using the identities you have
learnt so far.
Ans.
(i) 164836
(ii) 5184
(iii) 21025
(iv) 1203409
(v) 15376
4. Do Patterns 1 and 2 hold only for counting numbers? Do they hold
for negative integers as well? What about fractions? Justify your
answer.
Ans. Pattern 1 and Pattern 2 hold for all numbers. Verify it by taking
different values for a and b.

5
 Page No. 153

How many square tiles are there in each figure?

Ans.

Fig. No. Number Pattern

of square
1 8 32 – 12
2 12 42 – 22
3 16 52 – 32
. . .
. . .
. . .
.

How many are there in Step 4 of the sequence? What about Step 10?

Ans. Step 4 → Number of squares →62 – 42

Step 10 → Number of squares → 122 – 102

Write an algebraic expression for the number of tiles in Step n. Share

your methods with the class. Can you find more than one method to
arrive at the answer?

Ans. (n + 2)2 – n2

Page No. 154

Write an expression for the area of the dashed region in the figure below.
Use more than one method to arrive at the answer. Substitute p = 6,
r = 3.5, and s = 9, and calculate the area.

Ans.

6
 (i) ps – pr – sr + r2
(ii) 13.75 sq. units
Figure it Out
1. Compute these products using the suggested identity.
(i) 462 using Identity 1A for (a + b)2
(ii) 397 × 403 using Identity 1C for (a + b) (a – b)
(iii) 912 using Identity 1B for (a – b)2
(iv) 43 × 45 using Identity 1C for (a + b) (a – b)
Ans. (i) 462 = (40 + 6)2
= 2116
(ii) 397 × 403 = (400 – 3)(400 + 3)
= 159991
(iii) 912 = (100 – 9)2
= 8281
(iv) 43 × 45 = (44 – 1) (44 + 1)
= 1935
2. Use either a suitable identity or the distributive property to find
each of the following products.
(i) (p – 1) (p + 11)
(ii) (3a – 9b) (3a + 9b)
(iii) – (2y + 5) (3y + 4)
(iv) (6x + 5y)2

(v) (2x – 12 ) 2

(vi) (7p) × (3r) × (p + 2)

Ans.
(i) p2 + 10p – 11
(ii) 9a2 – 81b2
(iii) – 6y2 – 23y – 20
(iv) 36x2 + 60xy + 25y2
1
(v) 4 x2 – 2x + 4
(vi) 21p2r + 42pr

7
 3. For each statement identify the appropriate algebraic expression(s).
(i) Two more than a square number.
2 + s   (s + 2)2   s2 + 2   s2 + 4   2s2   22s
(ii) The sum of the squares of two consecutive numbers
m2 + n2 (m + n)2 m2 + 1 m2 + (m + 1)2
m2 + (m – 1)2 (m + (m + 1))2 (2m)2 + (2m + 1)2
Ans.
(i) Two more than a square numbers is s2 + 2.
(ii) The sum of the squares of two consecutive numbers is
m2 + (m + 1)2 .
4. Consider any 2 by 2 square of numbers in a calendar, as shown in
the figure.

February
Su M Tu W Th F Sa
1
2 3 4 5 6 7 8
9 10 11 12 13 14 15
16 17 18 19 20 21 22
23 24 25 26 27 28
 ind products of numbers lying along each diagonal — 4 × 12 = 48,
F
5 × 11 = 55. Do this for the other 2 by 2 squares. What do you observe
about the diagonal products? Explain why this happens.
Hint: Label the numbers in each 2 by 2 square as

3 4
Ans. Take,
10 11

Here, 3 × 11 = 33
4 × 10 = 40
We observe that difference of diagonal products = 7
Reason:
a (a + 1)
a+7 (a + 8)
We have diagonal difference = (a + 7) (a + 1) – (a + 8) = 7

8
5. Verify which of the following statements are true.
(i) (k + 1) (k + 2) – (k + 3) is always 2.
(ii) (2q + 1) (2q – 3) is a multiple of 4.
(iii) Squares of even numbers are multiples of 4, and squares of
odd numbers are 1 more than multiples of 8.
(iv) (6n + 2)2 – (4n + 3)2 is 5 less than a square number.
Ans.
(i) False
(ii) False
(iii) True
(iv) False
6. A number leaves a remainder of 3 when divided by 7, and another
number leaves a remainder of 5 when divided by 7. What is the
remainder when their sum, difference, and product are divided by
7?
Ans. Let n1 = 7a + 3 and n2 = 7b + 5
(i) When adding both, the remainder is 1.
(ii) When taking difference, the remainder is 2.
(iii) When taking product, the remainder is 1.
7. Choose three consecutive numbers, square the middle one, and
subtract the product of the other two. Repeat the same with other
sets of numbers. What pattern do you notice? How do we write
this as an algebraic equation? Expand both sides of the equation to
check that it is a true identity.
Ans. Let (n – 1), n and (n + 1) be the consecutive numbers,
Then n2 – (n – 1) (n + 1) = n2 – (n2 – 1) = 1
Hence, the result is always ‘1’.
Check for different sets of consecutive numbers.
8. What is the algebraic expression describing the following
steps — add any two numbers. Multiply this by half of the sum of
the two numbers? Prove that this result will be half of the square of
the sum of the two numbers.
Ans. Let a and b be two numbers.
Adding both = a + b
Now multiplying this by half of the sum of two numbers.
1 1
Then we get, (a + b) × 2 (a + b) = 2 (a + b)2

9
 9. Which is larger? Find out without fully computing the product.
(i) 14 × 26 or 16 × 24
(ii) 25 × 75 or 26 × 74
Ans.
(i) Let a = 14 × 26 and b = 16 × 24
Now a = (16 – 2) (24 + 2)
= 16 × 24 + 16 × 2 – 2 × 24 – 2 × 2
= b + (32 – 48 – 4)
= b – 20
Hence, b > a or 16 × 24 > 14 × 26
(ii) Let a = 25 × 75 and b = 26 × 74
Now a = (26 – 1) (74 + 1) = 26 × 74 + 26 – 74 – 1
= b – 49
Hence b > a or 26 × 74 > 25 × 75
10. A tiny park is coming up in Dhauli. The
w ft.
plan is shown in the figure. The two
square plots, each of area g2 sq. ft., will
g2 sq. ft. g2 sq. ft.
have a green cover. All the remaining
area is a walking path w ft. wide that
needs to be tiled. Write an expression w ft.
for the area that needs to be tiled.
Ans. Length of rectangular park = w + g + 2w + g + w = (2g + 4w) ft.
Breadth of rectangular park = w + w + g = (g + 2w) ft.
Area of park = (2g + 4w) (g + 2w) sq. ft.
= 2g2 + 8w2 + 8wg sq. ft.
Area of the two squares = 2g2 sq. ft.
So, Area to be tiled = (2g + 4w) (g + 2w) – 2g2
= 8w (w + g) sq. ft.
11. For each pattern shown below,
(i) Draw the next figure in the sequence.
(ii) How many basic units are there in Step 10?
(iii) Write an expression to describe the number of basic units in

10
 Step y.

Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 1 Step 2 Step 3

(a) (b)

Ans.
(i) (a) Draw yourself
Here Step 1, Total units = (2 + 1)2 = (3)2 = 9
Step 2, Total units = (2 + 2)2 = (4)2 = 16
Step 3, Total units = (2 + 3)2 = (5)2 = 25
Then next figure

Step 4
Total = (2 + 4) = (6) = 36
2 2

(b) Step 1, we have 22 + 1 = 5

Step 2, we have 32 + 2 = 11
Step 3, we have 42 + 3 = 19
Then next Step, we have 52 + 4 = 29.

Step 4

11
 (ii) In figure (a)
Basic units in Step 10 = (2 +10)2 = (12)2 = 144
In figure (b)
Basic units in Step 10 = (11)2 + 10 = 121 + 10 = 131
(iii) In figure (a)
Number of basic units in Step y = (y + 2)2
In figure (b)
Number of basic units in Step y = (y + 1)2 + y

12
 PROPORTIONAL
7 REASONING-1

7.1 Observing Similarity in Change

We are all familiar with digital images. We often change the size and
orientation of these images to suit our needs. Observe the set of images
below —

Image A Image B Image C

Image D Image E

We can see that all the images are of different sizes.

Which images look similar and which ones look different?

Images (A, C, and D) look similar, even though they have different sizes.

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Do images B and E look like the other three images?

No, they are slightly distorted. The tiger appears elongated in B, and
compressed and fatter in E!
Why?
You may notice that images A, C, and D are rectangular, but E is
square. Maybe that is why E looks different. But B is also a rectangle! Math
Why does it look different from the other rectangular images? Talk
Can we observe any pattern to answer this question? Perhaps by
measuring the rectangles?

Image Width (in mm) Height (in mm)

Image A 60 40
Image B 40 20
Image C 30 20
Image D 90 60
Image E 60 60

What makes images A, C, and D appear similar, and B and E different?

When we compare image A with C, we notice that the width of C is
half that of A. The height is also half of A. Both the width and height
have changed by the same factor (through multiplication), 12 in this
case. Since the widths and heights have changed by the same factor, the
images look similar.
When we compare image A with image B, we notice that the width of
B is 20 millimetre (mm) less than that of A. The height too is 20 mm less
than the height of A. Even though the difference (through subtraction) is
the same, the images look different. Have the width and height changed
by the same factor? The height of B is half the height of A. But the width of
B is not half the width of A. Since the width and height have not changed
by the same factor, the images look different.
Can you check by what factors the width and height of image D change
as compared to image A? Are the factors the same?
Images A, C, and D look similar because their widths and heights have
changed by the same factor. We say that the changes to their widths and
heights are proportional.

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 Proportional Reasoning-1

7.2 Ratios
We use the notion of a ratio to represent such proportional relationships
in mathematics.
We can say that the ratio of width to height of image A is
60 : 40.
The numbers 60 and 40 are called the terms of the ratio.
The ratio of width to height of image C is 30 : 20, and that of image D
is 90 : 60.

In a ratio of the form a : b, we can say that for every ‘a’ units of the
first quantity, there are ‘b’ units of the second quantity.

So, in image A, we can say that for every 60 mm of width, there are 40
mm of height.
We can say that the ratios of width to height of images A, C, and D
are proportional because the terms of these ratios change by the same
factor. Let us see how.
Image A — 60 : 40
Multiplying both the terms by 12, we get
60 × 12 : 40 × 12
which is 30 : 20, the ratio of width to height in image C.

By what factor should we multiply the ratio 60 : 40 (image A) to get 90 : 60

(image D)?
A more systematic way to compare whether the ratios are proportional
is to reduce them to their simplest form and see if these simplest forms
are the same.

7.3 Ratios in their Simplest Form

We can reduce ratios to their simplest form by dividing the terms by
their HCF.
In image A, the terms are 60 and 40. What is the HCF of 60 and 40? It
is 20. Dividing the terms by 20, we get the ratio of image A to be 3 : 2 in
its simplest form.
The ratio of image D is 90 : 60. Dividing both terms by 30 (HCF
of 90 and 60), we get the simplest form to be 3 : 2. So the ratios of
images A and D are proportional as well.
What is the simplest form of the ratios of images B and E?
The ratio of image B is 40 : 20; in its simplest form, it is 2 : 1.
The ratio of image E is 60 : 60; in its simplest form, it is 1 : 1.

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These ratios are not the same as 3 : 2. So, we can say that the ratios of
width to height of images B and E are not proportional to the ratios of
images A, C, and D.

When two ratios are the same in their simplest forms, we say that the
ratios are in proportion, or that the ratios are proportional. We use
the ‘::’ symbol to indicate that they are proportional.
So a : b :: c : d indicates that the ratios a : b and c : d are proportional.

Thus,
60 : 40 :: 30 : 20 and 60 : 40 :: 90 : 60.

7.4 Problem Solving with Proportional Reasoning

Example 1: Are the ratios 3 : 4 and 72 : 96 proportional?

3 : 4 is already in its simplest form.
To find the simplest form of 72 : 96, we need to divide both terms by
their HCF.
What is the HCF of 72 and 96?
The HCF of 72 and 96 is 24. Dividing both terms by 24, we get 3 : 4.
Since both ratios in their simplest form are the same, they are proportional.

Example 2: Kesang wanted to make lemonade for a celebration. She

made 6 glasses of lemonade in a vessel and added 10 spoons of sugar to
the drink. Her father expected more people to join the celebration. So he
asked her to make 18 more glasses of lemonade.
To make the lemonade with the same sweetness, how many spoons of
sugar should she add?
To maintain the same sweetness, the ratio of
the number of glasses of lemonade to the number
of spoons of sugar should be proportional. For 6
glasses of lemonade, she added 10 spoons of sugar.
The ratio of glasses of lemonade to spoons of
sugar is 6 : 10. If she needs to make 18 more glasses
of lemonade, how many spoons of sugar should
she use? We can model this problem as —
6 : 10 :: 18 : ?
We know that each term in the ratio must change
by the same factor, for the ratios to be proportional.
How can we find the factor of change in the ratio?
The first term has increased from 6 to 18. To find the factor of change,
we can divide 18 by 6 to get 3.
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 Proportional Reasoning-1

The second term should also change by the same factor. When 10
increases by a factor of 3, it becomes 30. Thus,
6 : 10 :: 18 : 30.
So, she should use 30 spoons of sugar to make 18 glasses of lemonade
with the same sweetness as earlier.

Example 3: Nitin and Hari were constructing a compound wall around

their house. Nitin was building the longer side, 60 ft in length, and Hari was
building the shorter side, 40 ft in length. Nitin used 3 bags of cement but
Hari used only 2 bags of cement. Nitin was worried that the wall Hari built
would not be as strong as the wall he built because she used less cement.

Is Nitin correct in his thinking?

In Nitin and Hari’s case, we should compare the ratio of the length
of the wall to the bags of cement used by each of them and see whether
they are proportional.
The ratio in Nitin’s case is 60 : 3, i.e., 20 : 1 (in its simplest form).
The ratio in Hari’s case is 40 : 2, i.e., 20 : 1 (in its simplest form).
Since both ratios are proportional, the walls are equally strong. Nitin
should not worry!

Example 4: In my school, there are 5 teachers and 170 students. The

ratio of teachers to students in my school is 5 : 170. Count the number
of teachers and students in your school. What is the ratio of teachers to
students in your school? Write it below.
______ : ______
Is the teacher-to-student ratio in your school proportional to the one in
my school?

Example 5: Measure the width and height (to the nearest cm) of the
blackboard in your classroom. What is the ratio of width to height of the
blackboard?
______ : ______
Can you draw a rectangle in your notebook whose width and height are
proportional to the ratio of the blackboard?
Compare the rectangle you have drawn to those drawn by your Math
classmates. Do they all look the same? Talk

Note to the Teacher: Give more such examples that students can relate to and ask
them to give reasons why they think they are correct. Engaging with these problems
and finding solutions through a process of proportional reasoning should go along
with learning procedures and methods to solve the problems.

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 Ganita Prakash | Grade 8

Example 6: When Neelima was 3 years old, her mother’s age was 10
times her age. What is the ratio of Neelima’s age to her mother’s age?
What would be the ratio of their ages when Neelima is 12 years old?
Would it remain the same?
The ratio of Neelima’s age to her mother’s age when Neelima is 3 years
old is 3 : 30 (her mother’s age is 10 times Neelima’s age). In the simplest
form, it is 1 : 10.
When Neelima is 12 years old (i.e., 9 years later), the ratio of their ages
will be 12 : 39 (9 years later, her mother would be 39 years old). In the
simplest form, it is 4 : 13.
When we add (or subtract) the same number from the terms of a ratio,
the ratio changes and is not necessarily proportional to the original ratio.

Example 7: Fill in the missing numbers for the following ratios that are
proportional to 14 : 21.
______ : 42    6 : ______     2 : ______
14:21
In the first ratio, we don’t know the first term. But the
second term is 42. It is 2 times the second term of the
ratio 14 : 21. So, the first term should also be 2 times 14
×2
(the first term). Hence the proportional ratio is 28 : 42. × 2=?
For the second ratio, the first term is 6.
What factor should we multiply 14 by to get 6? Can it
______ :42
be an integer? Or should it be a fraction?
We can model this as 14y = 6. So, y = 6 = 3 .
14 7
So, we need to multiply 21 (the second term of 14 : 21) also by the
same factor 3.
7
21 × 3 is 9. So, the ratio is 6 : 9.
7
In the third ratio, the first term is 2.
We can see that when we divide 14 (the first term of 14 : 21) by 7
(HCF of 14 and 21) we get 2.
If we divide 21 also by 7, we get 3. So, the ratio is 2 : 3.

Filter Coffee!
Filter coffee is a beverage made by mixing coffee
decoction with milk. Manjunath usually mixes 15
mL of coffee decoction with 35 mL of milk to make
one cup of filter coffee in his coffee shop.
In this case, we can say that the ratio of coffee
decoction to milk is 15 : 35.
If customers want ‘stronger’ filter coffee,
Manjunath mixes 20 mL of decoction with 30 mL of
milk. The ratio here is 20 : 30.
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 Proportional Reasoning-1

Why is this coffee stronger? Math

And when they want ‘lighter’ filter coffee, he mixes 10 mL of Talk
coffee and 40 mL of milk, making the ratio 10 : 40.
Why is this coffee lighter? Math
Talk

The following table shows the different ratios in which Manjunath

mixes coffee decoction with milk. Write in the last column if the coffee
is stronger or lighter than the regular coffee.

Coffee Decoction Milk (in mL) Regular/Strong/

(in mL) Light
300 600
150 500
200 400
24 56
100 300

Figure it Out

1. Circle the following statements of proportion that are true.

(i) 4 : 7 :: 12 : 21 (ii) 8 : 3 :: 24 : 6
(iii) 7 : 12 :: 12 : 7 (iv) 21 : 6 :: 35 : 10
(v) 12 : 18 :: 28 : 12 (vi) 24 : 8 :: 9 : 3
2. Give 3 ratios that are proportional to 4 : 9.
______ : ______    ______ : ______    ______ : ______
3. Fill in the missing numbers for these ratios that are proportional to
18 : 24.
3 : ______   12 : ______   20 : ______   27 : ______

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 Ganita Prakash | Grade 8

4. Look at the following rectangles. Which rectangles are similar to

each other? You can verify this by measuring the width and height
using a scale and comparing their ratios.

B D

A E

5. Look at the following rectangle. Can you draw a smaller rectangle

and a bigger rectangle with the same width to height ratio in your
notebooks? Compare your rectangles with your classmates’ drawings.
 Are all of them the same? If they are different from yours, Math
can you think why? Are they wrong? Talk

6. The following figure shows a small portion of a long brick wall with
patterns made using coloured bricks. Each wall continues this
pattern throughout the wall. What is the ratio of grey bricks to
coloured bricks? Try to give the ratios in their simplest form.

(a)

(b)

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7. Let us draw some human figures. Measure your friend’s body — the
lengths of their head, torso, arms, and legs. Write the ratios as
mentioned below—
head : torso
______ : ______
torso : arms
______ : ______
torso : legs
______ : ______ 

Now, draw a figure with head, torso, arms, and legs with equivalent
ratios as above.

Does the drawing look more realistic if the ratios are proportional? Math
Why? Why not? Talk

Note to the Teacher: In all these activities, encourage students to reason why their
drawings are proportional.

Trairasika — The Rule of Three

Example 8: For the mid-day meal in a school with 120 students, the cook
usually makes 15 kg of rice. On a rainy day, only 80 students came to
school. How many kilograms of rice should the cook make so that the
food is not wasted?
The ratio of the number of students to the amount of rice needs to be
proportional.
So, 120 : 15 :: 80 : ?
What is the factor of change in the first term?
80
We can find that by dividing the terms 120 = 23.
The number of students is reduced by a factor of 23 .
On multiplying the weight of rice by the same factor, we get,
15 × 23 = 10.
So, the cook should make 10 kg of rice on that day.
The situation above is a typical example of a problem where we need
to use proportional reasoning to find a solution. Four quantities are

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linked proportionally, out of which three are known and we must find
the fourth, unknown, quantity.
To solve such problems, we can model two proportional ratios using
algebraic notation as —
a : b :: c : d.
For these two ratios to be proportional, we know that term c should
be a multiple of term a by a factor, say f, and term d should be a multiple
of term b by the same factor f. So,
c = fa ...(1)
d = fb ...(2)
From (1) and (2), we can say that,
c d
f = a and f = .
b
c d
Therefore, a = .
b
Multiplying both sides by ab, we get,
c d
ab × a = ab ×
b
c d
ab × a = ab ×
b
bc = ad or ad = bc
Thus, when a : b :: c : d, then ad = bc. This is known as cross multiplication
of terms.
Since ad = bc, we can show that
bc
d= a .

Two ratios are proportional if their terms are equal when cross
multiplied. The fourth unknown quantity can be found through such
cross multiplication.

In ancient India, Āryabhaṭa (199 CE) and others called such problems
of proportionality Rule of Three problems. There were 3 numbers
given — the pramāṇa (measure — ‘a’ in our case), the phala (fruit — ‘b’
in our case), and the ichchhā (requisition — ‘c’ in our case). To find the
ichchhāphala (yield — ‘d’ in our case), Āryabhaṭa says,
“Multiply the phala by the ichchhā and divide the resulting product
by the pramāṇa.”
In other words, Āryabhaṭa says,
“pramāṇa : phala :: ichchhā : ichchhāphala,” therefore,
pramāṇa × ichchhāphala = phala × ichchhā.

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Thus,
phala × ichchhā
ichchhāphala = .
pramāṇa
Using the cross multiplication method proposed by Āryabhaṭa, ancient
Indians solved complex problems that involved proportionality.

Example 9: A car travels 90 km in 150 minutes. If it continues at the

same speed, what distance will it cover in 4 hours?
If it continues at the same speed, the ratio of the time taken should be
proportional to the ratio of the distance covered.
150 : 90 :: 4 : ?
Is this the right way to formulate the question?
No, because 150 is in minutes, but 4 is in hours. The second ratio
should use the same units for time as the first ratio. Since 4 hours is 240
minutes, the right form is
150 : 90 :: 240 : ?
How can you find the distance covered in 240 minutes?
Discuss with your classmates and find the answer using different
strategies.

Note to the Teacher: Instead of giving one ‘method’ to solve the problem of the
distance, encourage students to reason out the answer through different strategies.
They can use their understanding of equivalent fractions and equivalent ratios to
find the answer.

We can model this proportion as

150 : 90 :: 240 : x.
By cross multiplication, we get
150 × x = 240 × 90
Therefore, x = 240 × 90 .
150
48 3
240 × 90
= = 144.
150
5
1
The distance covered by the car in 4 hours is 144 km.

Example 10: A small farmer in Himachal Pradesh sells each 200 g packet
of tea for ₹200. A large estate in Meghalaya sells each 1 kg packet of
tea for ₹800. Are the weight-to-price ratios in both places proportional?
Which tea is more expensive?
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The ratio of weight to price of the Himachal tea is 200 : 200.

What is the weight to price ratio of the Meghalaya tea? Is it 1 : 800?
This would not be appropriate, because we considered the weight in
grams in the case of Himachal. So, the weight to price ratio is 1000 : 800
in Meghalaya after we convert the weight to grams.
To check if the ratios are proportional, we need to see if both ratios
are the same in their simplest forms.
The Himachal tea ratio in its simplest form is 1 : 1.
The Meghalaya tea ratio in its simplest form is 5 : 4.
So, the ratios are not proportional.
Which tea is more expensive? Why?
Note to the Teacher: Encourage a discussion on the more expensive tea, how they
came to their conclusions and what the reasons for that tea being more expensive
could be.

To answer the question as to which tea is more expensive, we should

compare the price of tea for the same weight in both places.
What is the price of 1 kg of tea from Meghalaya? It is ₹800.
In Himachal, if 200 g of tea costs rupees 200, what is the cost of 1 kg
of tea?
Let us say that the price of 1 kg of tea is x rupees. 200 g is 15 of 1 kg.
1
So, 5 × x = 200.
Multiplying both sides by 5, we get
1
5 × x × 5 = 200 × 5
1
5
× x × 5 = 1000
x = 1000.
So, the cost of 1 kg of tea is ₹800 in Meghalaya and ₹1,000 in Himachal
Pradesh.
Therefore, the tea from Himachal Pradesh is more expensive.

Activity 1: Take your favourite dish. Find out all the ingredients and
their respective quantities needed to make the dish for your family.
Suppose you are celebrating a festival and you want to invite 15 guests.
Find out the quantities of the ingredients required to cook the same dish
for them.

Figure it Out

1. The Earth travels approximately 940 million kilometres around the

Sun in a year. How many kilometres will it travel in a week?
2. A mason is building a house in the shape shown in the diagram. He
needs to construct both the outer walls and the inner wall that
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 Proportional Reasoning-1

separates two rooms. To build a wall of 10-feet, he requires

approximately 1450 bricks. How many bricks would he need to build
the house? Assume all walls are of the same height and thickness.

15 ft

12 ft

9 ft

9 ft

6 ft

Puneeth’s father went from Lucknow to Kanpur in 2 hours by riding

Math
his motorcycle at a speed of 50 km/h. If he drives at 75 km/h, how Talk
long will it take him to reach Kanpur? Can we form this problem as
a proportion —
50 : 2 :: 75 : __
Would it take Puneeth’s father more time or less time to reach
Kanpur? Think about it.
Even though this problem looks similar to the previous
problems, it cannot be solved using the Rule of Three!
The time of travel would actually decrease when the speed
increases. So this problem cannot be modelled as 50 : 2 :: 75 : __.

Activity 2: Go to the market and collect the prices of different

sizes of shampoo containers of the same shampoo and create a table like
the one given below. See if the volume of shampoo is proportional to the
price.

Container Volume Price

Sachet 6 mL ₹2

Small Bottle 180 mL ₹154

Medium Bottle 340 mL ₹276

Large Bottle 1000 mL ₹540

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Let us compare the ratios for the sample table above.

The ratio of the volume of a sachet to a small bottle is 6 : 180. The ratio
of their prices is 2 : 154. Are these ratios proportional?
Why do you think that the ratio of the prices is not proportional to
the ratio of the volumes?
Discuss the pros and cons of different size bottles for the company
Math
and for customers. For reducing ecological footprint, what would Talk
you recommend to the company and to the customer?
Does the same occur for other products?
Make similar tables for other products in the market, capturing
different prices for different measures of the same product, e.g.,
rice or atta (flour).
Observe the products for which the prices are proportional to
the different measures.
Discuss in class the proportionality of prices to measures of the
same product.

Note to the Teacher: Give a project to students. Start by dividing the class into
groups. Each group should go to one shop and collect prices for different measures
of the same product. For example, they should note down the prices of 500 g of
rice, 1 kg of rice, and 10 kg of rice. They should make tables with measure sizes and
prices, and present them to the rest of the class. They should discuss if the prices are
proportional or not, and why.

7.5 Sharing, but Not Equally!

Activity 3: Form a pair. Collect 12

countable objects or counters (it can
be coins, seeds, or pebbles). Now,
share them between the two of you
in different ways.
I f you divide them equally, what is
the ratio of the number of counters
with each of you?
Each of you will get 6 counters.
So, the ratio is 6 : 6, or 1 : 1 in its
simplest form.
Now let us not share equally.
If your partner gets 5 counters, how
many objects will you get? What is
the ratio of the counters?

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The ratio of the counters of your partner to yours is 5 : 7.

Now, if you want to share the counters between the two of you in the
ratio of 3 : 1, how many counters would each of you get?
Share the counters in different ways and see which combination is in
the ratio 3 : 1.
One way to share the counters in the ratio of 3 : 1 is as follows —
1. Your partner takes 3 counters and you take 1 counter. There are now
8 counters left.
2. Your partner takes 3 more counters and you take 1 more counter.
There are now 4 counters left.
3. Your partner takes 3 more counters and you take 1 more counter.
There are no more counters left.
So, your partner gets 9 counters in total and you get 3 counters.
When we divide 12 counters in the ratio of 3 : 1 between two people,
one gets 9 counters and the other gets 3 counters.

12 The ‛whole’ is 12

Sharing 12 The ‛whole’ is 4 (= 3 + 1)

3 : 1
in the ratio 3 : 1 and 12 is 3 times 4

×3 ×3

9 : 3 The ‛parts’ are

3 times the ratio 3 : 1

Now, if you want to share 42 counters between the two of you in the
ratio of 4 : 3, how will you do it?
Using the same procedure would take a long time! There is a simpler
way to share the whole with parts in a specified ratio.
You need to divide 42 into groups such that your partner gets 4 groups
and you get 3 groups.
What is the size of each group?
If your partner gets 4 groups and you get 3 groups, the total number
of groups is 7. So, the size of each group is 42 ÷ 7 = 6.
Multiplying the number of groups by the size of each group, your
partner gets 24 counters and you get 18 counters, when you share 42
counters in the ratio of 4 : 3.

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42 The ‛whole’ is 42

Sharing 42 4 : 3 The ‛whole’ is 7 (= 4 + 3)

in the ratio 4 : 3 and 42 is 6 times 7
×6 ×6

24 : 18 The ‛parts’ are

6 times the ratio 4 : 3
In general, when we want to divide a quantity, say x, in the ratio m : n,
we do the following:
1. We need to split x into groups such that it can be divided into two
parts where the first part has m groups and the second part has
n groups.
2. But what is the size of each group? This can be found out by dividing
x by the number of groups. The number of groups are m + n. So, the
size of each group is m x+ n .

3. So, the first part has m × m x+ n objects and the second part has n × x
m+n
objects.
Thus, if we want to divide a quantity x in the ratio of m: n, then the
parts will be m × m x+ n and n × x . We see that
m+n
x x
m × m + n : n × m + n :: m : n.

Example 11: Prashanti and Bhuvan started a food cart business near
their school. Prashanti invested ₹75,000 and Bhuvan invested ₹25,000.
At the end of the first month, they gained a profit of ₹4,000. They
decided that they would share the profit in the same ratio as that of their
investment. What is each person’s share of the profit?
The ratio of their investment is 75000 : 25000.
Reducing this ratio to its simplest form, we get 3 : 1.
3 + 1 is 4 and dividing the profit of 4000 by 4, we get 1000.
So, Prashanti’s share is 3 × 1000 and Bhuvan’s share is 1 × 1000.
So, Prashanti would get ₹3,000 and Bhuvan would get ₹1,000 of the profit.

Example 12: A mixture of 40 kg contains sand and cement in the ratio

of 3 : 1. How much cement should be added to the mixture to make the
ratio of sand to cement 5 : 2?
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Let us find the quantity of sand and cement in the original mixture.
The ratio is 3 : 1 and the total weight is 40 kg.
So, the weight of sand is 3 40 = 30 kg.
(3 + 1) ×
The weight of cement is 1 40 = 10 kg.
(3 + 1) ×
The weight of sand is the same in the new mixture. It remains 30. But
the new ratio of sand to cement is 5 : 2. So the question is,
5 : 2 :: 30 : ?
If the ratio is 5 : 2, then the second term is 25 times the first term. Since
the new ratio is equivalent to 5 : 2, the second term in the new ratio
should also be 25 times of 30.
2
× 30 = 12.
5
The new mixture should have 12 kg of cement if the ratio of sand to
cement is to be 5 : 2.
There is 10 kg of cement already. So, we need to add 2 kg of cement to
the original mixture.

Figure it Out

1. Divide ₹4,500 into two parts in the ratio 2 : 3.

2. In a science lab, acid and water are mixed in the ratio of 1 : 5 to make
a solution. In a bottle that has 240 mL of the solution, how much acid
and water does the solution contain?
3. Blue and yellow paints are mixed in the ratio of 3 : 5 to produce
green paint. To produce 40 mL of green paint, how much of these
two colours are needed? To make the paint a lighter shade of green,
I added 20 mL of yellow to the mixture. What is the new ratio of blue
and yellow in the paint?
4. To make soft idlis, you need to mix rice and urad dal in the ratio
of 2 : 1. If you need 6 cups of this mixture to make idlis tomorrow
morning, how many cups of rice and urad dal will you need?
5. I have one bucket of orange paint that I made by mixing red and
yellow paints in the ratio of 3 : 5. I added another bucket of yellow
paint to this mixture. What is the ratio of red paint to yellow paint in
the new mixture?

7.6 Unit Conversions

We have noticed earlier that solving problems with proportionality
often requires us to convert units from one system to another. Here are
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 Ganita Prakash | Grade 8

a few important unit conversions for your reference.

Length
1 metre = 3.281 feet
Area
1 square metre = 10.764 square feet
1 acre = 43,560 square feet
1 hectare = 10,000 square metres
1 hectare = 2.471 acres
Volume
1 millilitre (mL) = 1 cubic centimetre (cc)
1 litre = 1,000 mL or 1,000 cc
Temperature
Temperature conversion between Fahrenheit and Celsius is a bit more
complicated. 0oC = 32 oF, and

Fahrenheit = 95 × Celsius + 32
and

Celsius = 59 × (Fahrenheit–32)
For example, 25 oC is 77 oF.

Figure it Out

1. Anagh mixes 600 mL of orange juice with 900 mL of apple juice to

make a fruit drink. Write the ratio of orange juice to apple juice in
its simplest form.
2. Last year, we hired 3 buses for the school trip. We had a total of
162 students and teachers who went on that trip and all the buses
were full. This year we have 204 students. How many buses will
we need? Will all the buses be full?
3. The area of Delhi is 1,484 sq. km and the area of Mumbai
is 550 sq. km. The population of Delhi is approximately
30 million and that of Mumbai is 20 million people.
Which city is more crowded? Why do you say so?
4. A crane of height 155 cm has its neck and the rest of
its body in the ratio 4 : 6. For your height, if your neck
and the rest of the body also had this ratio, how tall
would your neck be?
5. Let us try an ancient problem from Lilavati. At that
time weights were measured in a unit named palas
176 and niskas was a unit of money. “If 2 12 palas of saffron

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 Proportional Reasoning-1

costs 37 niskas, O expert businessman! tell me quickly what quantity

of saffron can be bought for 9 niskas?”
6. Harmain is a 1-year-old girl. Her elder brother is 5 years old. What
will be Harmain’s age when the ratio of her age to her brother’s age
is 1 : 2?
7. The mass of equal volumes of gold and water are in the ratio 37 : 2.
If 1 litre of water is 1 kg in mass, what is the mass of 1 litre of gold?
8. It is good farming practice to apply 10 tonnes of cow manure for 1
acre of land. A farmer is planning to grow tomatoes in a plot of size
200 ft by 500 ft. How much manure should he buy? (Please refer to
the section on Unit Conversions earlier in this chapter).
9. A tap takes 15 seconds to fill a mug of water. The volume of the mug
is 500 mL. How much time does the same tap take to fill a bucket of
water if the bucket has a 10-litre capacity?
10. One acre of land costs ₹15,00,000. What is the cost of 2,400 square
feet of the same land?
11. A tractor can plough the same area of a field 4 times faster than a
pair of oxen. A farmer wants to plough his 20-acre field. A pair of
oxen takes 6 hours to plough an acre of land. How much time would
it take if the farmer used a pair of oxen to plough the field? How
much time would it take him if he decides to use a tractor instead?
12. The ₹10 coin is an alloy of copper and nickel called ‘cupro-nickel’.
Copper and nickel are mixed in a 3 : 1 ratio to get this alloy. The Try
mass of the coin is 7.74 grams. If the cost of copper is ₹906 per This
kg and the cost of nickel is ₹1,341 per kg, what is the cost of
these metals in a ₹10 coin?

SUMMARY
„ Ratios in the form of a : b indicate that for every ‘a’ unit of the first
quantity, there are ‘b’ units of the second quantity. ‘a’ and ‘b’ are the
terms in the ratio.
„ Two ratios — a : b and c : d — are proportional (written a : b :: c : d) if
their terms change by the same factor, i.e., if ad = bc.
„ If x is divided into two parts in the ratio m : n, then the quantity of the
first part is m × x and the quantity of the second part is n × x .
m+n m+n

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 Binairo

Binairo, also known as Takuzu, is a logic puzzle with simple rules. Binairo
is generally played on a square grid with no particular size. Some cells
start out filled with two symbols: here horizontal and vertical lines. The
rest of the cells are empty. The task is to fill cells in such a way that:
1. Each row and each column must contain an equal number of
horizontal and vertical lines.
2. More than two horizontal or vertical lines can’t be adjacent.
3. Each row is unique. Each column is unique.

Puzzle Solution

Solve the following Binairo puzzles:

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 Dot Grid

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 Dot Grid

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 PROPORTIONAL
7 REASONING-1
Page No. 165

Figure it Out
1. Circle the following statements of proportion that are true.
(i) 4 : 7 :: 12 : 21 (ii) 8 : 3 :: 24 : 6
(iii) 7 : 12 :: 12 : 7 (iv) 21 : 6 :: 35 : 10
(v) 12 : 18 :: 28 : 12 (vi) 24 : 8 :: 9 : 3
Ans. (i), (iv) and (vi) are true.

2. Give 3 ratios that are proportional to 4 : 9.

______ : ______    ______ : ______    ______ : ______
Ans. Given ratio is 4 : 9
3 ratios that are proportional of 4 : 9 are
4 × 2 , 4 × 3 and 4 × 4
9 2 9 3 9 4
Or, 8 : 18, 12 : 27 and 16 : 36
Try for more.
3. Fill in the missing numbers for these ratios that are proportional
to 18 : 24.
3 : ______   12 : ______   20 : ______   27 : ______
Ans.
(i) 3:4
(ii) 12 : 16
(iii) 20 : 80
3
(iv) 27 : 36
4. Look at the following rectangles. Which rectangles are similar to
each other? You can verify this by measuring the width and height
using a scale and comparing their ratios.

1
 B D

C
A E

Ans. Rectangles are similar if the ratio of their corresponding sides is

same. First measure length and width of each rectangle (A, B, C,
D, E) using scale. Calculate the ratio of length and width of each
rectangle. Compare the ratios. If ratios are same then the rectangles
are similar.

5. Look at the following rectangle. Can you draw a smaller rectangle

and a bigger rectangle with the same width to height ratio in
your notebooks? Compare your rectangles with your classmates’
drawings.
Are all of them the same? If they are different from yours, can you
think why? Are they wrong?

Ans. Yes, we shall draw smaller and bigger rectangles with the same
width to height ratio. We know that rectangles are similar, if they
have same shape but can be different in sizes. May be all of them
are different in shape. They are different in shape but have same
ratio means they satisfy the condition of the proportion. So they
are not wrong.

6. The following figure shows a small portion of a long brick wall

with patterns made using coloured bricks. Each wall continues
this pattern throughout the wall. What is the ratio of grey bricks to
coloured bricks? Try to give the ratios in their simplest form.

2
(a)

(b)

Ans.
(a) No. of grey bricks in a block of the pattern = 2 + 3 + 4 = 9
No. of coloured bricks in a block of the pattern = 3 + 2 + 1 = 6
Ratio of grey bricks to coloured bricks in a block of the pattern
=9:6=3:2

(b) No. of grey bricks in one block of pattern = 16

No. of coloured bricks in one block of pattern = 12
Ratio is 16 : 12 = 4 : 3
7. Let us draw some human figures. Measure your friend’s body — the
lengths of their head, torso, arms, and legs. Write the ratios as
mentioned below —

head : torso
______ : ______
torso : arms
______ : ______
torso : legs
______ : ______

Now, draw a figure with head, torso, arms, and legs with equivalent
ratios as above.
Ans. Try yourself.

3
 Page No. 170

Figure it Out
1. The Earth travels approximately 940 million kilometres around the
Sun in a year. How many kilometres will it travel in a week?
Ans. We have 52 weeks in a year.
We know that 1 million = 10 lakh
So 940 million km = 940,000,000 km
So, 940000000 : 52
Let x be the number of kilometers it travels in a week then
940000000 x
=
52 1
or x = 18076923
Hence the Earth travels 18076923 km in a week.
2. A mason is building a house in the shape 15 ft
shown in the diagram. He needs to construct
12 ft
both the outer walls and the inner wall
that separates two rooms. To build a wall
of 10-feet, he requires approximately 1450 9 ft
bricks. How many bricks would he need to 9 ft
build the house? Assume all walls are of 6 ft
the same height and thickness.
Ans. Bricks required for 10 ft wall = 1450
Than ratio is 10:1450
Now total length of walls = 12 + 12 + 12 + 15 + 9 + 15 + 9 + 9 + 9 + 6
= 108 ft.
Let no. of bricks required be x,
Now 10 : 1450 :: 108 : x
1450 × 108
Or, x = 10
= 15660
Number of bricks required are 15660.
Page No. 175

Figure it Out
1. Divide ₹4,500 into two parts in the ratio 2 : 3.
Ans. Two parts are ₹ 1800 and ₹ 2700
2. In a science lab, acid and water are mixed in the ratio of 1 : 5 to
make a solution. In a bottle that has 240 mL of the solution, how
much acid and water does the solution contain?
Ans. In solution, acid is 40 mL and water is 200 mL.
4
3. Blue and yellow paints are mixed in the ratio of 3 : 5 to produce
green paint. To produce 40 mL of green paint, how much of these
two colours are needed? To make the paint a lighter shade of green,
I added 20 mL of yellow to the mixture. What is the new ratio of
blue and yellow in the paint?
Ans. Blue paint used = 15 mL
Yellow paint used = 25 mL
Ratio of blue to yellow is 1 : 3.
4. To make soft idlis, you need to mix rice and urad dal in the ratio
of 2 : 1. If you need 6 cups of this mixture to make idlis tomorrow
morning, how many cups of rice and urad dal will you need?
Ans. Rice needed = 4 cups
And urad dal needed = 2 cups
5. I have one bucket of orange paint that I made by mixing red and
yellow paints in the ratio of 3 : 5. I added another bucket of yellow
paint to this mixture. What is the ratio of red paint to yellow paint
in the new mixture?
Ans. Ratio of red paint to yellow paint = 3 : 5
3
Part of red paint in the bucket is =
8
5
Part of yellow paint in the bucket is =
8
Since, one bucket of yellow paint is added.
5 13
So, quantity of yellow paint = + 1 =
8 8
3 13
Thus ratio of red paint to yellow paint = : = 3 : 13.
8 8
Page No. 176

Figure it Out
1. Anagh mixes 600 mL of orange juice with 900 mL of apple juice to
make a fruit drink. Write the ratio of orange juice to apple juice in
its simplest form.
Ans. Ratio of orange juice to apple juice is 600 : 900
Simplest form is 2 : 3
2. Last year, we hired 3 buses for the school trip. We had a total of 162
students and teachers who went on that trip and all the buses were
full. This year we have 204 students and teachers. How many buses
will we need? Will all the buses be full?

5
 Ans. 3 buses carried 162 students and teacher.
All the buses are full so capacity of one bus = 162 = 54
3
Let there be x number of buses for 204 student.
Now, 3 : 162 :: x : 204
34
So, x = 9
We need 4 buses.
Number of seats in 4 buses = 4 × 54 = 216
Total number of students and teachers = 204
So, 216 – 204 = 12 seats will remain vacant.
3. The area of Delhi is 1,484 sq. km and the area of Mumbai is 550 sq.
km. The population of Delhi is approximately 30 million and that
of Mumbai is 20 million people. Which city is more crowded? Why
do you say so?
Ans. Calculate the number of persons in 1sq. km of both Delhi and
Mumbai
30000000
Number of persons per sq. km in Delhi = 1484
≈ 20216
20000000
Number of persons per sq. km in Mumbai = 550
≈ 36,364
Since, Number of persons per sq. km in Mumbai is more than in
Delhi so, Mumbai is more crowded.
4. A crane of height 155 cm has its neck and the rest of its body in the
ratio 4 : 6. For your height, if your neck and the rest of the body also
had this ratio, how tall would your neck be?
Ans. The ratio of the neck and rest body of crane is 4:6.
Measure your height.
4
Neck height = × your height
10
5. Let us try an ancient problem from Līlāvatī. At that time weights
were measured in a unit named palas and niskas was a unit of
1 3
money. “If 2 2 palas of saffron costs 7 niskas, O expert businessman!
tell me quickly what quantity of saffron can be bought for 9 niskas?”
Ans. 52.5 palas

Hence 52.5 palas of saffron can be bought for 9 niskas

6. Harmain is a 1-year-old girl. Her elder brother is 5 years old. What
will be Harmain’s age when the ratio of her age to her brother’s age
is 1 : 2?
Ans. Given the age of Harmain is 1 and her brother is 5.
6
 Let after x years, ratio of Harmain’s age to the brother be 1 : 2
x+1:x+5=1:2
x+1 1
=
x+5 2
2x + 2 = x + 5
x=3
Hence after 3 years Harmain’s age will be 4 years.
7. The mass of equal volumes of gold and water are in the ratio 37 : 2.
If 1 litre of water is 1 kg in mass, what is the mass of 1 litre of gold?
Ans. Given 1lt of water = 1 kg of its mass
Let 1 lt of gold = x kg of its mass
Given the ratio of mass of equal volume of gold to water is 37 : 2
So 37 : 2 :: x : 1
37 ×1
Or x = = 18.5 kg
2
Hence mass of 1 litre of gold is 18.5 kg.
8. It is good farming practice to apply 10 tonnes of cow manure for 1
acre of land. A farmer is planning to grow tomatoes in a plot of size
200 ft by 500 ft. How much manure should he buy? (Please refer to
the section on Unit Conversions earlier in this chapter).
Ans. We know that 1 ton = 1000 kg, then 10 tonnes = 10,000 kg
And 1 acre = 43560 [Link]
Ratio of cow manure to area of land is 10,000 : 43560
Size of plot = 200 × 500 = 100,000 sq ft.
Let cow manure required be x kg
Then x : 100,000 :: 10,000 : 43560
So x = 100,000 × 10,000 ≈ 22956.8 kg
43560
Hence the farmer should buy 22956.8 kg or 22.9568 tonnes of cow
manure.
9. A tap takes 15 seconds to fill a mug of water. The volume of the mug
is 500 mL. How much time does the same tap take to fill a bucket of
water if the bucket has a 10-litre capacity?
Ans. 1 L = 1,000 mL.
Hence time taken to fill a 10 L bucket is 300 seconds or 5 minutes.
10. One acre of land costs ₹15,00,000. What is the cost of 2,400 square
feet of the same land?
Ans. 1 acre = 43560 sq. ft.
Cost is ₹82645 approx.

7
 11. A tractor can plough the same area of a field 4 times faster than a
pair of oxen. A farmer wants to plough his 20-acre field. A pair of
oxen takes 6 hours to plough an acre of land. How much time would
it take if the farmer used a pair of oxen to plough the field? How
much time would it take him if he decides to use a tractor instead?
Ans. Ratio of the time taken to plough by tractor and oxen = 1 : 4
Time taken by a pair of oxen to plough 1 acre = 6 hours
Time taken by a tractor to plough 1 acre = 64 = 1.5 hours
Time taken by a pair of oxen to plough 20-acre of land = 20 × 6
= 120 hours
Time taken by tractor to plough 20-acre of land = 20 × 1.5 = 30
hours
12. The ₹10 coin is an alloy of copper and nickel called ‘cupro-nickel’.
Copper and nickel are mixed in a 3 : 1 ratio to get this alloy. The
mass of the coin is 7.74 grams. If the cost of copper is ₹906 per kg
and the cost of nickel is ₹1,341 per kg, what is the cost of these
metals in a ₹10 coin?
Ans. Cost of 5.805 gm copper is ₹5.26
Cost of 1000 gm nickel = ₹1341
Cost of 1.935 gm nickel = ₹2.59