Direct and Inverse Proportion

Chapter -13

Direct and Inverse Proportion

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Look at the following examples –

a
(a) A pump can draw 100 litres of water in 10 minutes. Same pump can draw 200 litres

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of water in 20 minutes.

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(b) Price of a book is Rs.150. Price of 7 similar books is Rs.1050.
(c) A labour can earn Rs.300 daily. He can earn Rs.900 in 3 days.
(d) Weight of one bag of rice is 10 kg. Weight of 4 similar bags of rice is 40 kg.

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(e) Price of 40 oranges is Rs. 400. Price of 20 oranges is Rs. 200.
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From the above examples, you have seen that, in examples (a), (b), (c) and (d) if
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quantity of one increases than the others also increase at same proportion. On the
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other hand, in example (e), when the number of oranges decreases, the amount of
money required also decreases at the same proportion.
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Activity
Fill in the blanks of the following table based on example (a).
to h

Time (in minute) 1 2 3 10 20

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Quantity of
10 20 50 180
water (in litre)
no y

Fill in the blanks of the following table based on example (b).

op

Number of books 1 2 7 9 12 20
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Price (in Rupees) 150 750 1050 2100

Work out other examples also by putting numbers of your own choice and show it
to your teacher. Such types of proportional increase or decrease is known as Direct Varia-
tion or proportion.

224
 Direct and Inverse Proportion
13.1 Direct Proportion

Consider one example. Suppose, the price of two lemons is Rs.10, price of three
lemons is Rs.15, price of 7 lemons is Rs.35, price of 15 lemons is Rs.75 etc.
Let us prepare a table –

Number of 2 (x1) 3 (x2) 7 (x3) 15 (x4)

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lemons x
Price (y) 10 (y1) 15 (y2) 35 (y3) 75 (y4)

a
(In Rupees)

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x 2 1 3 1 7 1 15 1
   
y 10 5 15 5 35 5 75 5

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In the above table, we denote number of lemons by x and its price by y. Note that
if the number of lemons increases, the cost also increases proportionaly. On the other

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hand, cost of lemon decreases when the number of lemons decreases proportionally.
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x x1 x2 x3 x4 1
Again,     
y y1 y2 y3 y4 5 a constant
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1
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If we denote by k, then
5
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x
 k or x =ky
y
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Such type of variation for which the increase (or decrease) of one variable x
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corressponds the increase (or decrease) of other variable y proportionally, is known as

direct variation and we say that x is directly proportional to y and denote it by x  y
no y

x
and in such cases, y is always a constant.
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1
In the above example, k  a constant (a fixed number). For other examples, value
5
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of k may be different.
From the above table, we can determine the price of lemon as the number of lemons
changes.

225
Direct and Inverse Proportion

Activity
A table showing the ages of Hima and Sima is as follows :

Age 5 years ago Present age Age 5 years later

Age of Hima x 9 14 19

Age of Sima y 10 15 20

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x 9 14 19

a
y 10 15 20

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x
Note that in the above table, when x increases y also increases, but y is not a

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constant i.e. two variables may increase (or decrease) simultaneously but they
may not be proportional.

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Example 1 : A car consumes 20 litres petrol to cover a distance of 240 km. Find the
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respective distance covered by the car when it consumes 5 litres, 8 litres, 12 litres and
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25 litres of petrol.
Solution : Let, the amount of petrol consumed be x litre and the distance covered is y
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km. Now let us prepare the following table :

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Petrol (x litre) 20(x1) 5(x2) 8(x3) 12(x4) 25(x5)

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Distance (y km) 240(y1) y2 y3 y4 y5

When the distance covered by the car increases, the amount of petrol consumed also
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increases. Therefore, petrol consumed is directly proportional to the distance covered.

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x x x x x x
Therefore  k or 1  2  3  4  5
y y1 y2 y3 y4 y5
no y

(i) x1  20, y1  240, x2  5, y2  ? (ii) x3  8, y3  ?

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x1 x2 x1 x3
Now  Now 
y1 y2 y1 y3
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20 5 20 8
or,  or, 
240 y2 240 y3
1 5 1 8
or,  or, 
12 y2 12 y3
or, y2  12  5  60 or, y3  96

226
 Direct and Inverse Proportion
(iii) x4  12, y4  ? (iv) x5  25, y5  ?
x1 x4 x1 x5
Now  Now 
y1 y4 y1 y5

20 12 20 25
or,  or, 
240 y4 240 y5

1 12 1 25

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or,  or, 
12 y4 12 y5

a
or, y4  144 or, y5  12  25  300

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Now complete the table as given below :

is As
Petrol (x litre) 20 5 8 12 25

Distance (y km) 240 60 96 144 300

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Example 2 : Madhurjya can cover a distance of 1 km in 10 minutes on a bicycle. What
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will be the distance he can cover in 1 hour 20 minutes with the same speed ?
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Solution : 1 hour 20 minutes = (60 + 20) minutes

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= 80 minutes
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First method : Let x and y represent time and distance covered respectively. Now, look
at the following table. Here, more time is taken, more distance will be covered. There-
fore it is direct proportion.
to h

Time x 10(x1) 80(x2) x

or, y  k , a costant)
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Distance y 1(y1) y2
no y

x1 x2
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So 
y1 y2

10 80
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or, 
1 y2
or, 10  y2  80 1
80
or, y2  8
10
 Madhurjya can cover 8 km distance in 1 hour 20 minutes.

227
Direct and Inverse Proportion

Second Method (Unitary Method) :

In 10 minutes distance covered = 1 km
1
 In 1 minute distance covered = km
10
1
 In 80 minutes distance covered =  80 km
10

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= 8 km.
Third Method :

a
 More distance is covered in more time

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 It is direct proportion

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Since, we are to find distance and more distance covered in more time.
80
 Required distance = 1 km  = 8 km

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10
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(For more distance, we are to multiply by the greater ratio of time i.e
80
)
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10
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Example 3 : A train covers a distance 720 km in 18 hours. How much time will the train
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require to cover a distance of 200 km with same speed?

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Solution : First Method :

Let x and y represent time and distance respectively.
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Now, let us prepare the following table –

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Time x 18(x1) x2

Distance y 720(y1) 200(y2)

no y

Here, more distance, more time. Therefore, it is direct proportion

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x1 x2
 
y1 y2
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18 x
or,  2
720 200
18
or, x2   200 = 5
720
 The train will require 5 hours to cover 200 km.

228
 Direct and Inverse Proportion
Second Method (Unitary Method) :
To cover 720 km, time required 18 hours
18
 To cover 1 km, time required hours
720
 18 
 To cover 200 km, time required   200  hours = 5 hours
 720 

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Third Method :
Since less time will be required to cover less distance, therefore, it is direct pro-

a
portion. Here, we are to find time and less time will be required.

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200

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 Time required  18   5 hours
720
200
(For less time, we should multiply by lesser ratio i.e. which is less than 1).
720

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Example 4 : The weight of 12 pages thick paper is 40 grams, how many such pages will
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1
weigh 2 kg?
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2
1
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Solution : 2 kg = (2000 + 500) gm

2
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= 2500 gm
Let, the number of pages required be x. Now, let us prepare the table.
to h

No of papers (in pages) 12 x

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Weight of paper (in gm) 40 2500

When number of pages increases, the weight also increases. So, it is direct propor-
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tion.
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12 x
 
40 2500
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or, 40  x  12  2500
12  2500
or, x = 750
40
 Required number of pages = 750

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Direct and Inverse Proportion

Briefly,
2500 2500
Number of pages  12  (  1 , more weight more pages)
40 40
= 750
Example 5 :
The scale of a map in centimeter is 1 : 300000. In that map, distance between two cities

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is shown as 4 cm. Find their actual distance.

a
Solution :

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Here, 300000  3  105

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Let the distance in the map be x cm and actual distance be y cm

Given, 1: 300000  x : y

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1 x
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or, 
3  105 y
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 For x  4 we have,
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1 4

3  10 5
y
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or, y  4  3 105
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 12  105
 Actual distance = 12 km ( 105 cm = 1 km)
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Exercise 13.1

1. Observe the following tables and find whether x and y are in direct proportion or not.
no y

i) x 20 17 14 11 8 5 2
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y 40 34 28 22 16 10 4
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ii) x 6 10 14 18 22 26 30
y 4 8 12 16 20 24 28
iii) x 5 8 12 15 18 20
y 15 24 36 60 72 100

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 Direct and Inverse Proportion
2. If Principal is Rs. 1000, rate of interest is 8% per annum, then fill up the following
table and find out in which case it is direct proportion.
Time 1 year 2 year 3 year
Simple interest (in Rupees)
Compound interest (in Rupees)

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3. Karim covers a distance of 15 km per hour by cycling. How much distance will he
cover in (i) 3 hours (ii) 5 hours (iii) 1 hour 20 minutes?

a
4. In 3 hours 15 minutes, Julumi reaches Kaziranga by a car travelling at an average speed

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of 50 km/hr. From what distance does she come to Kaziranga?

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5. What distance will a plane covers in 2 hours 20 minutes flying at a speed of 510 km
per hour?
6. Mary can run at a speed of 4.5 km per hour and Gurpreet can run 600 meters in 9

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minutes. Who can run faster in an hour?
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7. In a soft drink factory, 840 bottles are filled in 6 hours. How many bottles will be
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filled in 5 hours?
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8. The height of the post of mast of a model ship is 9 cm. Height of the post of mast of
the actual ship is 12 metres. If the length of the actual ship is 28 metres, then what will
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be the length of the model ship?

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9. A vertical tower of height 5 m 60 cm casts a shadow of length 3 m 20 cm. At the same time
(i) What will be the length of the shadow cast by a tower of length 10 m 50 cm?
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(ii) What will be the length of the tower which casts a shadow of length 5 m?
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10. Limsing has a map of road. The ratio of the distance shown in the map and actual
distance is 1 cm : 18 km. If he drives 72 km, what will be the distance in the map?
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13.2 Inverse Proportion

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Observe the following examples –

Example 1 : Distance between Nagaon and Guwahati is 120 km. Ramen reaches Guwahati
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in 3 hours starting from Nagaon by driving a car at a speed of 40 km/hr. Again, returning
back to Nagaon, he requires 2 hours while driving at a speed 60 km/hr. Therefore, if speed
is increased, less time will be required to cover a fixed distance.
Example 2 : 5 men can do a piece of work in 18 days. If 10 men are engaged to do the
same work, then it will be completed in 9 days i.e. if number of men is increased, time
required will decrease.
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Direct and Inverse Proportion

Example 3 : Rohdoi wants to buy a rectangular plot of land of area 144 square metres.
If the length of one side of the plot is 12 metres (suppose x), then length of other side of
the plot will be 12 metres (suppose y).
If she decreases the length of x to 9 metres, then she must increase the length of y to 16
metres. On the other hand, if she increases the length of x to 36 metres, then she must
decrease the length of y to 4 metres. Because in each case the area of the plot remains
same. i.e. for the fixed area of the rectangular plot, if the length of one side (x) increases,

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then the length of other side (y) decreases.
In Example 1, Distance = time × speed

a
If distance covered is fixed, time decreases when speed increases and vice versa.

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In Example 2, for a fixed work, time decreases when number of men increases.

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Now, complete the following tables according to the above examples –

Table 1

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Speed of the car (x km/hr) 10 20 40 60 80
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Time (y hour) 12 8 3 2
xy 120 120 120 120 120
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Table 2
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Number of men (x) 5 10 18 30

Time (y days) 18 9 6 3 2
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xy 90 90 90 90 90
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Table 3
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Length of one side (x metre) 12 9 36 8 24

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Length of other side (y metre) 12 16 4 26 6 3

xy 144 144 144 144 144 144
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In Table 1, if speed is represented by x and time taken is respresented by y, then their

product xy is a constant. Because x × y = 120 in each case.
Similarly in Table 2 and Table 3, the products of number of men and time and
products of lengths are constant respectively.

232
 Direct and Inverse Proportion
From the discussion in the previous page, we see that when x increases (decreases)
y decreases (increases) proportionaly. Their product is a constant. In this case, x is said
to be inversely proportional to y.
1
It is written as x  y
or, xy = k (a constant)

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In Example 1, speed is x, time is y and k is120
Activity

a
In the morning assembly of a school, the students are to be arranged in 10 rows and

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each row consists of 40 students. Now, with the same number of students, changing the

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number of rows, determine the number of students in each row and fill in the blanks of
the following table.
Number of rows x 10 (x1) 16 (x2) 20 (x3) 8 (x4)

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Number of students
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in each row (y) 40 (y1) ..... (y2) ..... (y3) ..... (y4)
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(i) What have you seen in the table? Here, does y decrease when x increases or
does y increase when x decreases?
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(ii) Is x  y the same in each case?

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x y
(iii) Is x  y ?
1 2

2 1
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(iv) Is x2 : x3  y3 : y2 ?
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(v) Is x1 : x2  y1 : y2 ?
Example 1 : Observe the following table and find those pairs of x and y that are inversely
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proportional.
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i) x 50 40 30 20
y 5 6 7 8
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ii) x 100 200 300 400

y 60 30 20 15

iii) x 90 60 45 30 20 5
y 10 15 20 25 30 35

233
Direct and Inverse Proportion

Solution :

(i) x 50 40 30 20
y 5 6 7 8
x  y 250 240 210 160
Since in each case x  y is not same, so, x  y is not a constant. Therefore, in this case
x and y are not inversely proportional.

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(ii) x 100 200 300 400

a
y 60 30 20 15

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x  y 6000 6000 6000 6000

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Since in each case x  y is same, so, x  y is a constant. Therefore, in this case x
and y are inversely proportional.

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(iii) x 90 60 45 30 20 5
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y 10 15 20 25 30 35
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x  y 900 900 900 750 600 175

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Since, in each case, x  y is not same, so, x  y is not a constant. Therefore, in this
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case x and y are not inversely proportional.

Example 2 : If the pencils in a pencil box are distributed among 15 students, each
to h

student gets 8 pencils. If the number of students increased by 5, find the number of
pencils each student will get.
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Solution : First Method :

If the number of students increases, the number of pencils each student gets will
no y

decrease.
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 Number of students and the number of pencils that each student gets are inversely
proportional.
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Let number of students be x and number of pencil that each student gets be y
Now, the following table is prepared.

Number of students x 15 (x1) 20 (x2)

Number of pencils that each students get y) 8 (y1) ? (y2)

234
 Direct and Inverse Proportion
Since x and y are inversely proportional.
 x1 y1 = x 2 y2

Or, 15 × 8 = 20 × y2
15  8
Or, y2 = = 6
20

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 Each student will get 6 pencils.

a
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1
Example 3 : A bus covers a distance in 4 hours moving at a speed 40 km/hr. If the bus

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2
returns back at a speed 45 km/hr., how much time will be required to cover the same
distance?

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Solution : Notice that if the bus moves at a higher speed to cover the same distance,
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it will take less time. Therefore, it is in inverse proportion.
Let the speed of the bus be x km/hr. and the time taken be y hours
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Now, let us prepare the following table.

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Speed of the bus (x km/hr.) 40(x1) 45(x2)

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1
Time taken (y hrs) 4 (y1) ? (y2)
2
to h

Since, x and y are inversely proportional

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x1 y1 = x 2 y2
9
or, 40 × = 45 × y2
2
no y

9 40
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or, × = y2
2 45
or, 4 = y2
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 The bus will take 4 hours to cover the same distance.

Example 4 : One man can complete a thatched house in 15 days. In how many days 3 men
can complete the house?

235
Direct and Inverse Proportion

Solution : Let the number of men be x and time taken be y.

x 1(x1) 3(x2)
y 15(y1) ? (y2)

Since, when the number of men increases, time taken will decrease. So it is a case

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of inverse proportion.
 x1 y1  x2 y2

a
1

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 y2   15  5
or,
3

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 3 men can complete the work in 5 days.
Example 5 : 10 men can dig a pond in 17 days. In how many days 34 men can dig that pond?
Solution :

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Let the number of men be x
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and time taken be y days.
x 10(x1) 34(x2)
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y 17(y1) y2
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When number of men increases, time taken will decrease.

 It is a case of inverse proportion.
to h

 x1 y1  x2 y2
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or, 1017  34 y2

10  17
or,  y2 
no y

=5
34
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 34 men can dig the pond in 5 days.

C

236
 Direct and Inverse Proportion
Exercise 13.2

1. Write whether the following quantities are inversely proportional or not.

(i) Number of workers and time taken to complete the work.
(ii) Speed of a vehicle and time taken to cover a distance.
(iii) Area of a cultivable land and its production.

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2. People of a village decides to dig a public pond. If 30 villagers can dig it in 35 days,
in how many days 210 villagers can dig the pond?

a
3. 15 women of a Self Help Group can weave 500 Gamosa in 24 days. In how many

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days 500 such Gamosa can be weaved by 5 women, 8 women or 24 women?

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4. An empty tank can be filled up in 1 hour 20 minutes by 6 pipes. If 5 similar pipes
are used, how much time will be required to fill up the tank?
5. A dam of length 4 km can be constructed in 42 days by 120 workers. How many

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workers will be needed to construct the same dam in 30 days?
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6. A family consisting of 6 members can manage to run the expenditure of the family
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for 42 days by a fixed income. If one member in the family is increased, then how
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many days the family can be managed to run with the same income?
7. 35 women can complete a work in 160 days. In how many days 28 women can
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complete that work?

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8. Two carpenters can complete 4 new windows in 7 days.

(i) A carpenter fell ill before starting the work. In how many days the remaining car-
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penter can complete the work?

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(ii) How many carpenters will be needed to complete the work a single day?

Multiple Choice Questions :

no y
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1. If x and y are directly proportional, then, which one of the following is correct.
x x x y
a) y  y d) x  y
1 2 1 2
b) x1 y1  x2 y2 c) x1 x2  y1 y2
C

1 2 2 1

2. If x1  4, y1  10, x2  2 and x y are directly proportional, then y2 

a) 20 b) 5 c) 25 d) 10
3. If x and y are inversely proportional, then which of the following is correct?
a) y increases when x increases b) y decreases when x decrease
c) y decreases when x increases d) None of the above

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Direct and Inverse Proportion

4. If weight of 5 books is 4 kg. then, what is the weight of 8 such books?

a) 5 kg b) 6 kg c) 6.4 kg d) 10 kg
5. 10 persons can dig a tank in 6 hours. How many people can dig the same tank in 12
hours?
a) 20 b) 5 c) 7 d) 15
6. A man can complete a work in 6 days. What portion of the work can be com-

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pleted in a single day by 2 men?
1 1 1 1

a
a) b) c) d)
3 6 2 12

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7. 36 persons can do a piece of work in 20 days. In how many days 12 persons can do

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the same work?
20
a) days b) 40 days c) 60 days d) 8 days
3

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8. A canteen can provide food to 300 persons for 20 days. If 50 persons decreases,
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then, for how many days the canteen will run with the same food?
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a) 120 days b) 17 days c) 25 days d) 24 days
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What we have learnt

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1. Two quantities x and y are said to be directly proportional, if their ratios of increase
to h

x
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or decrease are constant i.e.  k (where k is a positive number). If the values of

y
x x
x1 and x2 and the corresponding values of y be y1 and y2 then, y  y
1 2
no y

1 2
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2. Two quantities x and y are said to be inversely proportional, if y decreases when x

increases proportionally. In this case, the product of their corresponding values
become a costant i.e. if xy = k, then x and y are said to be inversely propotional. If,
C

for two values x1 and x2 the corresponding values of them be of y1 and y2, then,
x1 y2
x1 y1 = x2y2 or, 
x2 y1



238