1 25 0 5 1 2

5 41 3
3 2 6
6
4 8 13 64 8 4 000+ 3 00+ 7 0+ 6

1 9 7 68 1 9 7
5 7 5
6 0 3 9 56 0
3 8 41 0 3 8 4 HANDS-ON
2 3 8 41 2 3
4 23 4
95 4 5 9
1 2 9 1 2
0 51 2 0 5
5
MATHs
12 0 5 12 Arvind Gupta
3 4 1 2 3 64 Illustrations: Reshma Barve
6 13 4 8
8
7 86 1 97
9 56 7 5
6 0 3 9 56 0 3
8 41 0 3 8 41 220 284
23 8 4 1 23
4 23 4
5
95 4 5 9
1 29 1 2
5 3 2 7
71 3 4
4 0 5
8 1 48 1
2 3 8 1 23 9 10
4 234 5
8
9 8 7
5 7 6

9 4 5 192 10 6

1 2 9
2 1 2 6 3
6 03 9 5 0 4
8
3 2 41 0 3 8
8 41 2 3
1 3 2 4
 HANDS-ON MATHS
Arvind Gupta graduated from the Indian Institute of Technology,
Kanpur (1975) with a degree in Electrical Engineering. He has written
20 books on science activities, translated 150 books into Hindi and
presented 125 films on science activities on Doordarshan. His first
book Matchstick Models & Other Science Experiments was translated into 12
Indian languages and sold over half a million copies. He has received
several honours, including the inaugural National Award for Science
Popularization amongst Children (1988), Distinguished Alumnus
Award of IIT, Kanpur (2000), Indira Gandhi Award for Science
Popularization (2008) and the Third World Academy of Science Award
(2010) for making science interesting for children. Currently he works at
Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics’s Children’s
Science Centre, Pune, and shares his passion for books and toys through
his popular website http://arvindguptatoys.com.

Reshma Barve studied Commercial Arts at the Abhinav Kala

Mahavidyalaya, Pune. She is a freelance artist and designer and has
illustrated many children’s books.
HANDS-ON
MATHs
Stories & Activities

Arvind Gupta
Illustrations: Reshma Barve
 Dedicated to Dr. Vinod Raina
who sowed seeds of hope

Text © 2015 Arvind Gupta

Illustrations © Reshma Barve

This book was developed under a grant from the

Sir Ratan Tata Trust.

All rights reserved.

Published by Scholastic India Pvt. Ltd.

A subsidiary of Scholastic Inc., New York, 10012 (USA).
Publishers since 1920, with international operations in Canada,
Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, India, and Hong Kong.

No part of this publication may be reproduced in whole or in part, or

stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means,
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For information regarding permission, write to:

Scholastic India Pvt. Ltd.
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This edition: February 2015

ISBN-13: 978-93-5103-XXXXX
 Contents

Preface ................................... 1
Real Life Math ................................... 2
Add From One to Hundred ................................... 4
Linking Them Together ................................... 5
Lilavati: Poetry in Maths ................................... 6
Anno's Magic Seeds ................................... 8
Ramanujan: The Mathematical Genius ...................................10
Mollakka's Horse ...................................11
Kaprekar's Constant: 6174 .................................. 12
Following Instructions ...................................13
Geometry by Paper Folding ...................................14
Symbols and Spaces ...................................14
Mathematical Rigour ...................................15
Odd and Even ...................................15
P. K. Srinivasan: The Math Missionary ...................................16
Folding a Pentagon ...................................18
Folding an Equilateral Triangle ...................................18
Folding a Diamond ...................................19
Folding an Octagon ...................................19
Making a Cross ...................................20
Folding a Hexagon ...................................20
Angles of a Triangle/Quadrilateral ...................................21
Paper Protractor ...................................22
Number Friends ...................................22
Paper Patterns ...................................23
Drawing a Circle ...................................23
Kaleidoscope ...................................24
Fantastic Flexagon ...................................25
Paper Ball ...................................26
Strip Tetra ...................................27
Broomstick Structures ...................................27
Self Locking Cube ...................................28
Cryptograms ...................................29
Tessellations ...................................30
Folk Art of Kolam ...................................30
Simple Tessellations ...................................31
Square Up! ...................................31
The Height of It! ...................................32
Place Value Snake ...................................32
Diagonal of a Brick ...................................33
Catching Crooks ...................................33
Maps and Surveys ...................................33
Which Holds More? ...................................34
Understanding the Universe ...................................34
Thinking Outside the Box ...................................35
Number Patterns with Dots ...................................35
Cats and Mats ...................................36
Palindrome ...................................37
Simple Conservation ...................................38
Remembering the Value of Pi ...................................38
Parts of a Circle ...................................39
Which Holds More? ...................................39
A Tricky Circle ...................................40
Add to 100 ...................................40
Measuring Out ...................................40
How Many Days in February? ...................................40
Legend of the Chess-Board ...................................41
Mathematical Proof ...................................42
Mirror Puzzles ...................................43
Shortest Path ...................................44
Postman's Problem ...................................45
Matchstick Matching ...................................46
Tangram ...................................47
Value of Pi ...................................48
Biggest Box ...................................49
Fun with Dices ...................................51
Birthdays ...................................52
Perforated Symmetry ...................................53
Maths Graphics ...................................53
Finger Multiplication ...................................54
The Earth's Circumference ...................................55
Cylinder-Cone Volume ...................................56
Square to Triangle ...................................56
Solutions to Matchstick Matching ...................................57
 PREFACE
Mathematical thinking is an
important way of solving real
world problems. Math enables
us to see every day problems
quantitatively:
HS
MAT
“Should I put my money in a
bank fixed deposit (FDs) or
fixed maturity plan (FMPs)—or
invest it in the stock market?”
“What is the best and shortest
route for a newspaper boy?” Pix: Danger School

We need more quantitative thinking now than ever before. But schools seldom
present math in real-world terms. In most math classes children are confronted with
contrived, uninteresting problems. They mechanically go through this grind of
solving bookish problems and never get to the bigger picture of using math in the
real-world context.

Math has been reduced to simple computation, divorced from its larger purpose
and removed from its practical applications. Is it any surprise that many smart
people conclude math isn't for them? We tend to forget that early mathematics
evolved from the work of the tailor and the tinkerer—all practical crafts people.
Mathematics has deep roots in practice. The very vocabulary of mathematics is
replete with associations of its pragmatic past. Consider, for instance, the word
“straight line”, which comes from the Latin “stretched linen”. Any farmer wanting to
grow potatoes would simply stretch a string to help him sow in a straight line. Any
mason would simply stretch a piece of string to enable him to lay bricks in a straight
line. So, over time “stretched linen” became “straight line”. The “digits” 1 to 10,
which we use so commonly come from the Latin word for fingers—the 10 fingers of
our hands.

It is time school mathematics was rescued from its mumbo-jumbo and made
more effective and authentic to its purpose. Computers offer powerful tools in
solving complex numeric problems. A Calculus class should be about solving
problems in the real world of engineering—to build smarter bridges and houses.
Mathematics will be much more interesting and engaging for students if it
mimicked the real world and helped solve some practical problems.

Children need to solve a wide variety of puzzles and teasers—in short, learn maths
the fun way. They need to experiment with real things. This book documents a few
interesting math stories and activities.
1
 REAL LIFE MATH
Dr. Abhay Bang is an iconic doctor. As a Community Health Activist he has worked
with the most marginalised indigenous communities in India.
As a child he studied at the Nai Taleem (Basic Education)
School set up by Gandhiji at Wardha.

Here Dr. Bang recounts the

fascinating story of how he
learnt real life math—not by
solving bookish problems but
by actually constructing a
water tank for cows in his school.

Here is a typical bookish maths

problem.
“There is a water tank with two taps.
One tap fills the tank, the other drains it
out. How long will it take to fill up the
tank?

Maths books are replete with such

mundane questions. Any clever person
can easily solve the problem by
closing the lower tap!
I will give an example how I learnt the
concept of volume in my school."
The moot question is: Is there
any link between mathematics
and real life experiences?

2
 We had to do three hours of constructive work
every day. This was part of Gandhiji’s philosophy
of "Bread Labour" where children worked in the
fields to grow their own food.

It was also part of Vinoba Bhave’s vision of

gaining various skills by engaging in socially
useful productive work.

For this I had to work for a few days in the

newly constructed cowshed. My teacher
assigned me a very specific practical
problem.

I had to find the amount

of water a cow drinks in
a day. How much water
would be needed for all
the cows in the cowshed?
Then construct a water
tank with the capacity
to satiate the thirst of
all the cows.

For this I had to figure out the number of bricks needed to construct
such a tank. Then go to the market and buy the bricks. For over a
week I grappled with this real-life mathematical problem.

There were numerous tanks with varying sizes. How to measure their
volume? What was the relationship between the volume and the
outer surface area of the tank? Finally, I actually constructed the
water tank and in the process learnt a great deal of real-life
mathematics.
3
 ADD FROM ONE TO HUNDRED

Carl Friedrich Gauss (1777—1855)

was the prince amongst mathematicians.
Born in a poor family in Germany
he showed immense talent for
mathematics at a very young age.

One day as his father

calculated the wages
of his workers little
Carl looked on.

Later he told his father that the answer was wrong and told
him the right way to calculate it. His father re-calculated
and found Carl was correct. No one had taught Carl how to
calculate, he just listened and learnt.

There is another famous story from Gauss's schooldays. When he was ten years old,
Master Buttner asked the students to write down the numbers from 1 to 100 and
then add all of them up. The children wrote down the numbers on their slates and
started to add them up. It was easy to add the first few numbers as they were
small. But as they went to two digit and higher numbers the going became slow.
All the while that the other children were frantically adding, Carl looked intently
at the numbers. As he peered at the numbers with rapt attention he saw an
amazing pattern.

4
 In a flash, Carl wrote the
answer 5050 on his slate.
While the other students
toiled on for the rest of the
hour, Carl sat with folded
hands under the scornful
and sarcastic gaze of
Master Buttner. 5 0
50
At the end of the period,
Carl alone had got the
correct answer. Upon
inquiry Carl explained how
he had arrived at his result. 101
1 + 2 + 3 ...............98 + 99 + 100
101
101

I looked at the first and the last number. And

Seeing their sum was 100 + 1 = 101. Then I looked at
patterns the second and the second last number. There
makes things sum was also 101 (2 + 99 = 101). The sum of
the third and the third last number was also 101
much simpler. (3 + 98 = 101). This pattern extended to the
whole series. I reckoned as there were only 100
numbers there would be fifty such pairs—each
adding to 101. So I simply multiplied 101 by 50
and got 5050.

LINKING THEM TOGETHER

These 15 links are to be

joined into one long chain.
It costs one-rupee to cut a
link and two-rupees to weld
a link together.

What is the cheapest way to

make the chain?

5
 LILAVATI – POETRY IN MATHS

In his famous
book Lilavati,
Bhaskaracharya (1114-1183)
claimed that the division
of a quantity by zero is an
infinite quantity “which does
not change when worlds are
created or destroyed.”

Mathematics is often portrayed as a complex, dry subject with

abstract reasoning that may appeal to only a select few. Lilavati,
a mathematical treatise by the Indian mathematician
Bhaskaracharya, corrects that impression by presenting the
reader with attractive problems poetically described and
relating to contemporary life.

Consider the following example:

The square root of half the total
number of a swarm of bees went to
a Malati tree, followed by another
8/9th of the total. One bee was trapped
inside a lotus flower, while his mate came
humming in response to his call.
O Lady, tell me
how many bees
were there
in all?
This problem can be solved
algebraically by using a quadratic
equation. The answer: There were
72 bees in all.
6
It is said that Bhaskaracharya wrote
these problems to get his daughter Lilavati
interested in mathematics. Bhaskara studied
Lilavati’s horoscope and predicted that her
husband would die soon after the marriage
if the marriage did not take place
at an auspicious time.

To alert Lilavati of the correct time, he placed a

cup with a small hole in its base in a vessel of water.
The cup would sink at the beginning of the
propitious hour. Bhaskara hid the device in a
room with a warning to Lilavati to not go
near it. The curious Lilavati could not resist
the temptation and sneaked in the room to
look at the device. Just then a pearl from
her nose ring accidentally dropped into the
cup, upsetting it. Because the marriage took
place at the wrong time Lilavati was
soon widowed.

Here is another pearl of a problem:

A necklace broke.
A row of pearls mislaid.
One-sixth fell to the floor.
One-fifth upon the bed.
The young woman saved one third of them.
One-tenth were caught by someone else.
If six pearls remained upon the string
How many pearls were there altogether?

7
 ANNO’S MAGIC SEEDS

Anno’s Magic Seed is a rare book. It weaves the

magic of math in a gripping story. It was written by
the celebrated Japanese author Mitsumasa Anno (b 1926).
Anno won the coveted Hans Christian Anderson
Award in 1984 for his extraordinary books.

Anno weaves
sophisticated
mathematics into
stories. Often one doesn’t
know whether it’s the math which is driving
the story or the story which is pushing the math.

Jack is a good for nothing lazy bum. One day he meets a wise old man. The magic
begins when the wizard gives Jack two magic golden seeds. Jack eats one and,
miraculously, isn’t hungry for a whole year! He buries the other seed, just as the
wizard had told him to do and the plant yields two seeds. One seed keeps Jack’s
tummy full for a year. He plants the other seed. Each plant always bears two seeds.
So every year Jack eats one seed and plants the other.

Years pass away in bliss. But one year Jack decides to find food elsewhere and
plants both seeds instead of just one. Next year he gets 4 seeds: he eats 1 and
plants 3. Next year he gets a crop of 6; eats 1 and plants 5. His store of seeds
grows and he becomes rich.

8
Later Jack gets married and has a child. He not only feeds his family but soon his
fortune grows by ones and twos, then faster and faster until he becomes very rich.
Then a terrible flood threatens to take it all away.

Jack and his family loose all their fortune to the

vagaries of nature. A devastating flood washes
away everything. Just a few magic seeds remain
tied to the branch of a tree. Jack, his wife and
child bow to God for saving there lives and start
all over again.

This many-layered tale is much more than just an entertaining mathematical story.
It has a deeper message. Visual clues reveal the moment when carefree Jack
mends his lazy ways; perceptive viewers will detect at what point Jack becomes
smarter (or perhaps more calculating). In the end, a wiser Jack finds the courage
to start it all again. Here is a heartening message for readers of all ages. This story
mirrors many events from the real world. Adversity and poverty is followed by
prosperity. The change of fortune leads to great success. But finally a natural
disaster threatens to wipe out all the riches and is deeply humbling.

Solutions to Cryptograms on Page 29

1. S = 1, O = 7, I = 3, L = 4, B = 6, Y = 2. 13. W = 0, I = 6, N = 2, L = 5, A = 7, S = 8, T = 9.
2. S = 3, L = 0, Y = 6, R = 5, I = 9, G = 1. 14. A = 4, H = 6, O = 2, G = 5, T = 1, I = 0, E = 7.
3. C = 1, R = 4, A = 9, B = 5, S = 0. 15. O = 6, N = 9, E = 3, R = 8, Z = 1.
4. M = 4, E = 6, A = 2, L = 1, S = 5. 16. T = 7, H = 5, I = 3, S = 0, V = 1, E = 9, R = 4, Y = 2,
5. T = 9, E = 0, P = 1, I = 5, L = 7. A = 5.
6. P = 8, E = 1, N = 3, R = 6. 17. C = 9, R = 6, O = 2, S = 3, A = 5, D = 1, N = 8, G =
7. D = 8, O = 4, G = 9, F = 1, A = 0, N = 2, 7, E = 4.
S = 7. 18. M = 1, E = 3, T = 7, R = 4, L = 6, I = 9, G = 5, A = 0,
8. H = 9, O = 3, T = 2. S = 2, C = 8.
9. L = 6, U = 7, S = 1, H = 9, E = 0, R = 5. 19. J = 8, U = 4, N = 3, E = 2, L = 7, Y = 5, A = 1, P = 6,
10. S = 5, P = 9, I = 4, T = 6. R = 9, I = 0.
11. T = 2, A = 5, P = 8, E = 6. 20. FIND OUT FOR YOURSELF!
12. S = 9, E = 5, N = 6, D = 7, M = 1,
O = 0, R = 8, Y = 2.
9
 RAMANUJAN: THE MATHEMATICAL GENIUS
Srinivasa Ramanujan was born on December 22, 1887 in
Erode, Tamil Nadu, His father worked as a clerk in a sari
shop. Ramanujan was a child prodigy and showed a flair
for maths very early on. He always asked questions ...
sometimes unusual ones like. “How long would it take for a
steam train to reach Alpha Centauri?” This didn’t endear
him to his teacher.

One day the teacher explained division saying "If you divide
any number by itself, you get 1.''
“Is zero divided by zero also equal to one?'' Ramanujan asked.

Ramanujan was a mathematical prodigy; he did not have

a formal training in mathematics. Yet Ramanujan produced
gems in number theory. When Paul Erdos asked G. H.
Hardy, what was his greatest contribution to mathematics?
Without hesitation Hardy replied that it was finding
Ramanujan. Though Hardy was an atheist and would always
ask for a rigorous proof, Ramanujan would sometimes jot
down proofs based purely on intuition.

Ramanujan was awarded a Bachelor of Science degree by

Cambridge in 1916 and was made a Fellow of the Royal
Society (FRS) in 1919. Being a strict vegetarian he would
cook his own food. Perhaps, due to intense work pressure
and lack of proper diet, he contracted tuberculosis in
England and was admitted to a nursing home.

“Our country has produced only one mathematician of

the first rank after Bhaskaracharya 800 years ago. This was
Ramanujan and he was unable to pass even the first year
of college. India gave him birth, starvation, tuberculosis,
and a premature death. It is to the everlasting credit of the
English mathematician Hardy that he recognised the merit
of one who was considered half made by the Indians, had
D. D. Kosambi him brought in England, trained him, and brought out his
(Eminent Indian splendid ability.”
Mathematician)
10
 While visiting Ramanujan in the nursing home Hardy remarked,
“The number of my Taxicab was 1729, it seemed to me a rather dull number.”

"No Hardy! It is a very interesting number," replied Ramanujan, "It is the

smallest number expressible as the sum of two cubes in two different ways
(1729 = 13 + 123 = 93 + 103)."
These are known as Taxicab Problems.

MOLLAKKA’S HORSE
Once upon a time there lived a businessman. He had three sons. None of them
were interested in his business. The transactions were carried out by his manager.
Accidentally one day he fell ill. In his last days he prepared a will, which
mentioned that half of his property should go to the first son. Half of the remaining
should go to the second; and half of the remaining should go to the third. After his
death they realised that their father left them only 7 horses. In order to divide the
property as in the will, they would have to cut the horses. So they were in a deep
dilemma.

Then a wise man called ‘Mollakka’ came to help them. He first gave his horse to
them—as a gift, after which the total inheritance became 8 horses. As mentioned
in the will, the first son got half of the total, i.e. 4 horses; the second son got half of
the remaining 4, i.e. 2 horses and the third son got half of the remaining 2, i.e. 1
horse. All together they got
4 + 2 + 1 = 7 horses. Mollakka returned home riding his own horse.

11
 KAPREKAR’S CONSTANT - 6174
Dattaraya Ramchandra Kaprekar
(1905–1986) was an Indian mathematician
who discovered several interesting results in
number theory, including a class of
numbers and a constant named after him.
Kaprekar had no formal postgraduate
training and worked as a school teacher
through his entire career (1930-1962),
in Nashik, Maharashtra.

He published extensively, about recurring decimals, magic

squares, and integers with special properties. Soon he
became well known in recreational mathematics circles.
Working largely alone, Kaprekar discovered a number of
results in number theory and described various properties
of numbers. Initially his ideas were not taken seriously by
Indian mathematicians, and his results were published
privately and also largely in low-level mathematics journals.

International fame arrived when Martin Gardner wrote

about Kaprekar in his March 1975 column on
mathematical games for the Scientific American
magazine. Today his name is well-known and many other
mathematicians have pursued his work. He discovered the
Kaprekar constant—6174—in the year 1949.

First choose a four digit number where the digits are not all the same (that is not
1111, 2222...). Then rearrange the digits to get the largest and smallest numbers
these digits can make. Finally, subtract the smallest number from the largest to get
a new number, and carry on repeating the operation for each new number.

Let us try number 2013. The maximum will be 3210 and the minimum will be 0123

3210 - 0123 = 3087

8730 – 0378 = 8352
8532 - 2358 = 6174
7641 - 1467 = 6174
When we reach 6174 the operation repeats itself, returning 6174 every time.
We call the number 6174 a "kernel" of this operation. So 6174 is a kernel for
Kaprekar's operation, but this is as special as 6174 gets.

12
In 1949, Kaprekar discovered the CONSTANT 6174 which is named after him.

6174 is reached in the limit as one repeatedly subtracts the highest

and lowest numbers that can be constructed from a set of four
digits that are not all identical. Thus, starting
with 1234, we have ...

n
= 3087, the
4321 - 1234
= 8352, and
8730 - 0378
= 6174
8532 - 2358

Repeating
from this point
onward leaves the
same number
(7641 - 1467 = 6174).

FOLLOWING INSTRUCTIONS
How good are we at giving
precise instructions? Two players sit
across a table with a screen in
between. Both have the same set
of objects. The girl puts the things
one-by-one in a particular pattern.
She explains her actions to her
partner.

Her partner cannot see her

arrangement but has to follow her
instructions and make a similar
arrangement. This is often not very
easy to do. You will be surprised at
the goof ups!
13
 GEOMETRY BY PAPER FOLDING
India gave the world the Zero is well known. However, few know
that the first book on learning geometry through paper folding -
Origami was written by an Indian—Tandalam Sundara Row.

His book Geometric Exercises in

Paper Folding was first published
k
boo t in 1893, by Addison & Co, Mount
o f the f ac
l a rity th e Road, Madras (Chennai).
u m s
pop d fr o year
The gauge rint 125 d.
be np lishe
can it is still i first pub rk first
that r it was New Yo has Those were British days and it is
afte r Inc. of 966 and e. logical to assume that the Rao in
e 1 c
Dov ed it in ever sin T. Sundara Rao was anglicised to
r i n t r i n t
rep t it in p Row. Little is known about this
kep enigmatic genius but for the fact
that he did a B. A. and was a
Deputy Collector somewhere in
Tamil Nadu.

SYMBOLS AND SPACES

About 5,000 years ago in Babylonia, located
in modern day Iraq, people counted in 60s.
They used 59 different symbols for numbers
1-59 and left a space for zero. For bigger
numbers, each symbol's position stood for
groups of 60s, or 60 x 60, and so on.

This whole inscription symbolizes 72. The first

symbol stands for one group of 60. The next
three symbols represent 12 units.
This counting system still survives in the way
hours are divided into 60 minutes, and
minutes into 60 seconds.
14
 MATHEMATICAL RIGOUR

This story told by Ian Stewart highlights the rigour in mathematics.

An astronomer, a physicist, and a mathematician were holidaying in
Scotland. In the countryside they observed a black sheep in the
middle of a field.

"How interesting", observed the astronomer, "All Scottish sheep are black!"
To which the physicist responded,"No, no! Some Scottish sheep are black!"
The mathematician gazed heavenward in supplication, and then intoned,
"In Scotland there exists at least one field, containing at least one sheep,
at least one side of which is black!"

ODD AND EVEN

If you are an even number, But if you are an odd number,

You always have a pair. There's always a lonely one.
So if you look around, He looks around to find his buddy,
Your buddy will always be there. But he's the only one.

- Marg Wadsworth

15
 MATH MISSIONARY - P. K. SRINIVASAN

I first heard about T. Sundara Row’s epic book Geometric Exercises in Paper
Folding from P. K. Srinivasan (PKS) (1924-2005). PKS was the greatest
proponent in India of learning mathematics through activities.

PKS breathed maths. He dreamt maths. More than anything else he rubbed this
infectious enthusiasm on anyone who crossed his path. In 1986, I first met him
in a workshop organised by the Sri Aurobindo Ashram at Puducherry.

Those were pre-Xerox days. So, PKS summoned a ream of cyclostyling sheets,
scissors, glue, old newspapers and one lone stapler. Every teacher was given
one sheet of paper and asked to fold an angle of sixty degrees.

The teachers were at sea!

Schooled into drawing angles
only with a protractor they
didn’t know of any other way.
Soon the teachers gave up.

Then PKS folded one straight edge (180-degrees) into three equal parts and produced
an exact 60-degree angle! The teacher’s were amazed. It was almost like a
revelation— all so elegant and beautiful.
16
The whole day the teachers folded geometric shapes—rhombus, hexagon,
octagon etc. They folded over 80 2-D and 3-D shapes. They learnt more about
practical geometry in this two-day workshop than they did in their entire
B. Ed. course.

As a one man math missionary P. K. Srinivasan did more than anyone

else to imbue children with the love of this most beautiful subject
mathematics—the queen of all sciences. He cried, he wept and pleaded
with one and all that mathematics was all around them. And when no
one listened he wrote a series of 60 articles for The Hindu newspaper
which have become classics. He showed that there was mathematics in
coins, in broomsticks, in matchboxes, in the square copy, in bus tickets,
in the calendar and in every ordinary thing around us. These articles have
been collated and published as a book—Resource Material for
Mathematics Club Activities by the NCERT.

PK Srinivasan’s other books—Number Fun With a Calendar

and Romping in Numberland—have been translated
and published in several Indian languages.

17
 ING
FOLD
A
N
A GO
PENT

How does one fold a pentagon?

It is tricky but easy. In 1893, T. Sundara Row
demonstrated this beautifully. How?

Cut a long 3 cm wide strip from an A-4 size paper and

simply tie a knot. Flatten the knot and trim the long
ends to get a regular Pentagon. How many times have we
tied knots yet never noticed this!

FOLDING AN EQUILATERAL TRIANGLE

Place the top left

corner on the mid-
line. Crease such
that the left edge
passes through the
bottom left corner.

Fold the mid-line

of a square.

Cut along the two

dotted lines ... to
see an elegant
Equilateral Triangle!
Repeat the same with
the top right corner.

18
 FOLDING A DIAMOND

Fold a sheet first into half

and then into quarter.

Crease the triangle at

the four fold corner.

On opening the sheet you will see

an elegant Rhombus in the middle.

Make several parallel creases.

On opening you will see a
diamond in a diamond in a
diamond.

FOLDING AN OCTAGON

Fold a square in half from top to bottom.

Fold it again in Fold the top left

half, from right corner to the bottom
to left. right corner along
Centre
the diagonal.
of paper

Fold vertex below and crease a triangle.

Cut along the ...and unfold to

dotted line .... see a regular
Octagon!
19
 MAKING A CROSS

Fold a square in half from bottom to top.

Fold in half Fold the upper layer

from left diagonally in half.
to right. Turn over and do the
same behind.

Cut along ...and unfold to

dotted line... see a CROSS!

FOLDING A HEXAGON

Fold a sheet into half. Fold the doubled up straight edge (180-degrees)
into three equal parts of 60-degrees each..

Fold a triangle from the apex

point. On opening the paper
you will see a regular Hexagon
in the middle.

If you crease several triangles

then on opening the paper
you will see a Hexagonal
Cobweb in the center.

20
 ANGLES OF A TRIANGLE

Take a paper—white on one side and coloured on the other. Cut a triangle ABC
of any shape. A

D E D E

B C B C
A
Fold apex A to touch base BC. Then fold the left and right angles

D E D E

o
180

B
AC B AC
You will find that all the three angles of the triangle neatly come
together and make a straight line—an angle of 180 degrees.

B C

Tear a triangle into three parts

and then bring the three angles
together to make 180 degrees.
A A B C

ANGLES OF A QUADRILATERAL

B Take any four-sided

A quadrilateral. Tear it as shown
A C into four parts. Then bring the
B four corners of the quadrilateral
D
together. They will snug into
each other and add up to
360 egrees. Try this
C exercise with different shapes
D of quadrilaterals.

21
 PAPER PROTRACTOR
A B A A
0
30

0
60 G
G 900 0
60
B D B C
D C D C X
1. Fold mid-line of a 2. Place corner B on 3. Angle AGB will be
10 cm paper square mid-line and pass it 60-degrees. As angle ABG
(ABCD). through corner A. is right angled so angle
BAG will be 30 degrees.
Lift and tuck lower flap
A along GX.
A
0 0
30 30
0 0
30 15

0
60 G 5. This paper protractor
0
90 can measure angles of
0
150
0
750 900 60
15, 30, 45, 60, 75 and
B
D P DB G 90 degrees. So, next
P 4. Now fold AD time if you forget your
to AB. This will protractor, just fold one!
bisect angle DAB.

NUMBER FRIENDS
Ancient Greek mathematician Pythagoras
founded a community called the Pythagorean
Order.
Its members believed numbers could explain
everything in the world.
The two numbers they especially liked were 220
220 284 and 284. If you add up the factors of 220
(except 1 and 220), you get 284.
And if you add up the factors of 284
(except 1 and 284), it makes 220.
Because they shared this strange link
Pythogoreans called them Amicable Numbers.
22
 PAPER PATTERNS

2. Fold the right edge to the left edge.

1. Fold a sheet of coloured paper in half.
Then fold the top layer of the bottom edge
up to the folded edge. Turn over
and do the same behind.
3. Fold the top layer of the left edge to the folded edge.
Turn over and repeat to get a square with 16 layers.

4. Cut away each corner of the 5. By cutting off the shaded parts you
little square, to create a grill will get a more complex pattern.
(jaali) like pattern.
DRAWING A CIRCLE

Here is an unusual way of drawing a circle. Take a rectangular piece of

paper. Place two pins, 4 cm apart, on a piece of board. Place one
edge of the paper (the right angle) between the two pins. Mark a dot
at the right angle.
Now keep moving the paper in a circular motion, marking dots.
Join these to make a perfect semicircle. Just make sure that the
sides of the paper are touching the two pins at all times. After
completing the semicircle, point the right angle the other way and
complete the circle.

23
 KALEIDOSCOPE

1. With a protractor, make a strip of 10 2.Valley fold where shown.

equilateral triangles; of side length 5- X goes beneath Y. Y
cm. Mountain fold the marked line.

3. Glue triangle X,
then valley fold it
onto Y, to stick
them together.

Y
4.The Kaleidoscope is now
complete. Decorate as
X shown, or draw your own

B D
5. To change
B
the pattern,
E G A collapse along 6. Fold E behind
five creases E G A to touch F.
radiating from F
C
C F

B
B
G 8. Then you will
G G see a different
A pattern. Keep
C
flexing and
7. If you open out decorating.
C A
at the top.
G

9. Turn over. Continue to flex and decorate. Once you learn to change
the patterns, you can also make a coloured picture book of your own.
24
 FANTASTIC FLEXAGON
The Flexagon is a rotating paper model. As you flex it, each time a different
picture comes into view. It can be used to depict any four stage cycle or sequence.
It is simply unbelievable that paper can rotate like this without tearing.

1. Take a 20 cm x 10 cm 2. Crease long edges 3. Fold 8 equal segments

sheet of Xerox paper. It to midline. along the width.
will have two squares.

4. Draw and crease 10 slant 5.Tuck the shaded two- 6. Push top and
lines with pencil and scale. sections in the left hand bottom triangular
pocket to lock and flaps inwards.
make a prism.

7. Tucking the flaps 8. Hold the flexagon with both hands and rotate it.
inwards will complete Soon all its four different surfaces will be exposed.
the Flexagon! The Flexagon can be used to depict the Food Chain
and other cycles like the various seasons, life cycles of
a butterfly etc.

25
 PAPER BALL
Make a Paper Ball using 20 Hexagons.

1.Take a hexagon and fold every other one of its corners to

the centre. Make firm creases, then let the little triangular flaps
so formed stand at right angles to the main area. Do the same
with four more pieces.

2. Join two pieces by 3. Similarly glue a 4. Add two more pieces.

gluing the outer sides third piece to the The fifth piece will be glued
of two flaps together. first two. to the first piece...

The completed
20 piece ball!

5. ... to complete a standing 6. Now glue the remaining 10 hexagons together

structure which has five in line. Note that the first three pieces are joined
triangular sides with little as shown in step 3 but the fourth piece is
flaps in between. differently placed. Glue the two ends of the
chain together. Then glue the top and bottom
sections in place to complete the Ball.

26
 STRIP TETRA

1. Fold a paper strip 28 cm x 4 cm 2. ... and tape them. 3. Bring the taped
in half. Bring the free ends together .... end to one side.

4. Fold again in half. 5. Fold mountain/valley along

diagonals. Open the model.

6. Open up like a boat. Bring the two edges together to complete the Tetrahedron!

BROOMSTICK STRUCTURES

Coconut broomsticks
Thread
(15-cm)

Make a Tetrahedron by tying three broomsticks to the vertices of an

equilateral triangle.

Make low-cost structural models by

tying broomsticks with thread.
For example make a Pyramid and Cube.

27
 SELF LOCKING CUBE

1. Fold opposite 2. This will be 3. Bisect the 4. On opening

edges of a square the cupboard top left you'll find a small
to the mid-line. fold. angle in half. triangular flap.

5. Fold and 6. Insert right 7. Repeat for the 8. Fold the

tuck the flap corner inside lower left corner. small triangular
inwards. the left vertical Bisect bottom flap inwards.
rectangle. right angle.

10. Invert and fold

9. Insert bottom left two triangular flaps.
corner to make a The base of the square
self-locked parallelogram. will have four pockets.

11. You will need six 12. Tuck the flap of one 13. Assemble so that all
similarly oriented parallelograms in the flaps tuck in the pockets
parallelograms. pocket of the other. to make a No-Glue CUBE.

28
 CRYPTOGRAMS
Here are some tough puzzles. Instead of numbers you've got
letters! Each letter stands for a digit from 0 to 9. The challenge is to
find out what each letter stands for and do the sums! (For answers
see page 9)

1. 2. 3. 4.
BOYS GIRLS ARCS LLAMA
+BOYS +GIRLS +BRAS - SEAL
SI LLY SI LLY CRAS S SEAL

5. 6. 7. 8. TOO
LIP PEP GOOD TOO
+ LIT + PEP + DOG TOO
PIPE E RN R FANG S + TOO
HOT
9. 10. 11. PET 12.
HER SPIT PET SEND
+ HURL + SIP +PET + MORE
SELLS TIPS TAPE MONEY

13. 14. 15. 16.

ST I LL EIGHT ONE THI S
STALL + EIGHT +ONE I S
+ ST I LT T AT T OO ZERO +V E R Y
N I TW I T EASY

17. 18. M E T R E 19. 20. T H R E E

CROSS JUNE
LI TRE THREE
+ R OA D S +JU LY
+ G R AM S + F O UR
DANGER APR I L
METRI C E L E V EN
29
 TESSELLATIONS
A tessellation is the tiling of a plane surface using one or more geometric shapes,
called tiles, with no overlaps and no gaps. Historically, tessellations were used in
Ancient Rome and in Islamic art such as in the decorative tiling of the Taj Mahal. In
the 20th century, the work of M. C. Escher often made use of tessellations for artistic
effect. The arrays of hexagonal cells in honeycombs are tessellations.

The famous artist M. C. Escher

(1898-1972), whose art is a
source of inspiration to many
mathematicians, had studied
patterns made on the walls of
Alhambra in Spain. About
those special patterns, he says
in his book:”This is the richest
A floor tiling pattern from source of inspiration I have ever
the Taj Mahal stuck. A surface can be regularly divided into, or filled
up with, similar shaped figures which are contiguous to
one another, without leaving any open spaces.”

FOLK ART OF KOLAM

Kolam is a 5000-years-old and popular visual folk-art of Tamil Nadu.

Kolam patterns are made on the main entrance to the house or the floor
at the place of worship.
The designs are made with admirable ease. The ingredients used are rice flour or
powdered quartz (a kind of white stone). Hence it is generally white in colour.
The flour is taken between the thumb and the forefinger and dots are made before
the lines are drawn. The designs are produced using a grid of dots.
30
 SIMPLE TESSELLATION
Here's a simple example of how to play around with a simple tessellating
shape to make a more complex, yet, another tessellating pattern:

1. First draw 2. Cut a section from 3. Add that section to

a square. one side of the square. the other side.
It doesn't matter what Draw a picture to
shape you cut out. fill the new shape.

4. Copy the shape again

and again to build up
your tessellation.
Try new patterns on
your own.

SQUARE UP!
Copy these shapes on to another card sheet. There is something special about
these shapes. Now, with just one cut you should be able to divide the shape
into two pieces and then put the two pieces together to make a square!

31
 THE HEIGHT OF IT!

Thales (c. 624 BC – c. 546 BC) was a Greek philosopher from Miletus in Asia Minor.
Thales rejected the mythological interpretation of the world and was a pioneer of
the scientific revolution. Once he went for a sightseeing trip to Egypt. In the desert
at Giza, he visited the three pyramids and the Sphinx half-buried in the sand nearby.
During the year 600 B.C. when Thales visited the pyramids they were about 2000
years old.
“How high is this pyramid?” Thales asked the guides.
The guides were dumbfounded. They had no clue. No sightseer had ever asked
them such a question. Thales pondered at the height of the Great Pyramid. He
noticed that the sun's shadow fell from every object in the desert at the same
angle. Since this was true, the sun's shadow created like triangles from every object.
He calculated the height of the Great Pyramid by the length of its shadow, relative
to the length of his own shadow.
Thales saw that at a certain time of the day, the length of his shadow equalled his
own height. So, to calculate the pyramid's height, he measured its shadow at the
same time of the day. Did Thales actually measure the height of the Great Pyramid
at all?
It is impossible to say for sure, but the idea of measuring the height of such a tall
object using only its shadow was so beautiful and striking that it still continues to
delight and inspire. The Great Pyramid of Giza is approximately 139-meters high.

PLACE VALUE SNAKE

This splendid teaching aid is made from a strip of paper. When you open up the
snake then you see the actual place values of all the numerals.

4 3 7 6 4 000+ 3 00+ 7 0+ 6

1 9 7 . 3 6 1 00+ 9 0+ 7 . + 3 +0 6
32
 DIAGONAL OF A BRICK
How can you use a ruler
to find the length of the
long diagonal—from B
one corner of the brick to
its opposite corner? The
solution is surprisingly
simple. First place the
brick at the corner of the A
table and then move it
along equal to its length.
The length of the
diagonal from A to B can
then be easily measured.

CATCHING CROOKS MAPS AND SURVEYS

A new system for finding places on maps was

invented by French mathematician Rene
th
Descartes in the 17 century. In his system,
any point on the map can be described by
its distance, along a horizontal one (the X-axis)
Police sometimes locate and a vertical line (the Y-axis) from a particular
criminals by triangulating point. These are known as CARTESIAN
signals from their mobile COORDINATES.
phones. First, the phone
company traces the
phone's unique signal.
Then, they find out which
three phone masts are
nearest to that signal.

The strength of the

signal between each
mast and the phone
can pinpoint the
phone's exact location.
33
 WHICH HOLDS MORE?
9 cm
Postcards in India measure 14 cm x 9 cm.
Fold two cylinders from two postcards by bringing
their long and short edges together and taping
them. You will get a thin but tall (14 cm tall)
cylinder. Also a fat, short cylinder (9 cm tall).
14 cm

Both cylinders will have the same surface area.

Now, ask your friends: “Which cylinder will hold
more sand?”

Most will say that both cylinders will hold the same
amount of sand. But on testing they will be in for a
50

surprise. Fill the thin, tall cylinder with sand to the

top. Then slide the fat cylinder on the thin one,
shake the thin cylinder and remove it. This way
you can easily compare the volumes of sand they
contain.
14 cm

The fat one will be only two-third full! Why? The

volume of a cylinder depends on the square of
9 cm

the radius and its height. As the fat cylinder has a

larger radius, the square of the radius makes it a lot
more capacious.

UNDERSTANDING THE UNIVERSE

th
In the early 17 century,
German mathematician
and astronomer Johannes
Kepler experimented with
shapes and worked out how
the planets and the Sun
relate to each other.

He came up with the theory that planets orbit the Sun in elliptical (or oval)—not
circular—paths. His discoveries helped later astronomers to predict how planets
and their moons move through space.
34
 THINKING OUTSIDE THE BOX
Some ‘tricks’ or puzzles can be used to help children
realise the importance of looking at things in new ways—of
going beyond the limits their own minds have set. Here is
an example.
Draw 9 dots on a paper, on the blackboard, or in the dust,
as shown. Ask everyone to try to figure out a way to
connect all the dots with 4 straight lines joined together
(drawn without lifting the pencil from the paper).
Wrong
You will find that most people will try to draw lines that do
not go outside the imaginary square or ‘box’ formed by
the dots. Some may even conclude that it is impossible to
join all the dots with four lines.
You can give them a clue by saying that, to solve the Wrong
puzzle, they must go beyond the limits they set for
themselves.
At last someone will probably figure out how to do it. The
lines must extend beyond the ‘box’ formed by the dots. Correct!

NUMBER PATTERNS WITH DOTS

Make a pattern and count: Triangular numbers are formed by making

The number of dots on the a sequence of right angled triangles as
perimeter of each square: shown and counting the number of dots
4, 8, 12... in each triangle.
The number of dots inside each 1, 3, 6, 10 … How many dots would there
square: 1, 5, 13... be in the 12th triangle?
35
 CATS AND MATS

Once some cats

found some mats.
But if each mat Should each mat
had but one cat now have two cats
there’d be a cat there’d be a mat
without a mat. without a cat.
How many cats
and how many mats?

Figure out how many more cats would be needed to occupy all
the places on the mats the second time, than to get the situation
we had the first time? This is simple: in the first case one cat was
left without a place, whilst in the second case all the cats were
seated and there was place for two more.

Hence for all the mats to be occupied in the second case there
should have been 1 + 2; i.e. three, more cats than there were in
the first case. But then each mat would have one more cat.
Clearly there were three mats in all. Now we seat one cat on
each mat and add one more to get the number of cats, i.e. four.
Thus, the answer is Four cats and Three mats.

36
 PALINDROME

A Palindrome is usually defined as a word, There are some word Palindromes too.
sentence, or set of numbers that spell Like:
the same backward as well as forward.
The term is also applied to integers that DAD
are unchanged when they are reversed. RADAR
Both types of palindromes have long EVIL OLIVE
interested those who amuse themselves MADAM I’M ADAM
with number and word play. DO GEESE SEE GOD?
NEVER ODD OR EVEN
Let’s take an example. Take 132 for MA IS A NUN AS I AM
instance. It is not a palindrome. A DOG! A PANIC IN A PAGODA!
But reverse it and add it to itself. CIGAR? TOSS IT IN A CAN, IT IS SO
132 + 231 = 363 TRAGIC

Sometimes it may take much longer for

you to get to a Palindrome.
Take the number 68 for instance.
68 + 86 = 154
154 + 451 = 605
605 + 506 = 1111

For all two-digit numbers if the sum of

their digits is less than 10, the first step
MALAYALAM
gives a two-digit palindrome. If their digits
add to 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, or 18,
a palindrome results after 2, 1, 2, 2, 3, 4,
6, 6 steps respectively. You may check
this yourself, and also entertain yourself in
the process!

ON
NO LEM N
LO
NO M E

37
 SIMPLE CONSERVATION

Lump of
Clay

Make four clay balls of the

same weight and size.

Then transform each ball into a different

shape—animal, cube, cup and a saucer.

Ask your friend, “Which shape is heavier?”

Each shape was made from a similar ball, so
how can they have different weights?

REMEMBERING THE VALUE OF Pi

If you need to remember Pi, just count the letters in each word of the sentence,

MAY I HAVE A LARGE

CONTAINER OF COFFEE ?

If you get the

coffee and say,

THANK YOU.

You get two more decimal places. ( 3.141592653......)

38
 PARTS OF A CIRCLE
Here is a very simple way to label the parts of a circle.
You will need two card sheet circles, glue and a pen.

Cut two circles of Fold them along

10 cm diametre the diametre.
from thin card sheet.

Stick the top halves of both circles

together. The lower half of the top
circle can be lifted like a flap.

CU MFEREN
CIR CE
Now label C
AR T
SEM the top EN
ICIRC GM Lift the bottom
LE SE D
circle. OR
CH flap and label
DIAM
ETR the lower
E
SECTOR
circle.
S QUADRANT
D IU CENTRE
RA

TANGENT

WHICH HOLDS MORE?

Suppose these six containers were

set outside to measure rainfall.
Which container would collect
the smallest amount of rain?
Which will fill up first?

39
 A TRICKY CIRCLE

Can you draw a circle and its centre

without lifting the pencil? It looks
impossible but it can be done.

Fold the right corner of the paper,

as shown. Start with the centre of the
paper from the folded corner and then
proceed to draw the whole circle.

ADD TO HUNDRED
15
+36
+4 7 Here are digits from 1 to 9 arranged so they equal 100.
98 Can you find another way to do this?
+ 2
What rule was followed when these numbers were arranged?
100

MEASURING OUT HOW MANY DAYS IN FEBRUARY?

You have two measures of
4 litres and 7 litres and a How Wrong.
bucketful of milk. How will you many All 12 months
give 2 litres of milk months have 28 days.
have One. Most have
to a customer? February.
28 days? 2-3 days
more.

4
7

40
 LEGEND OF THE CHESS-BOARD

Chess, one of the world’s

most ancient games, was
invented in India. The Indian
king was amazed at its
ingeniousness and the
infinite variety of positions it
afforded.

Having learned that the game was invented

by one of his subjects, the king wanted to
reward the inventor.
The inventor, named Seta, came before the king’s throne.
He was a simple scribe who earned a living giving lessons to pupils.
“I want to give you a big reward, Seta, for the beautiful game you have
invented,” the king said.
“I’m rich enough to fulfill any of your desires,” the king went on to say.
“You name a reward and you’ll get it”.
Seta said: “King, please order that one grain of wheat be given to me
for the first square of the chess-board.”

“A simple wheat grain? That’s all!” the king was shocked.

“Yes, my lord. For the second square let there be two grains, for the third
four, for the fourth eight, for the fifth 16, for the sixth 32 ...
“Enough!” the king was exasperated. “You’ll get your grains for all the 64
square of the board according to your wish.”
The court mathematicians went into an overdrive trying to calculate the
number of wheat grains and came up with a prodigious number of 18,
446, 744, 073, 709, 551, 615 grains.

The first square will have 1, second 2, third 4, fourth 8, etc. The result of
the 63rd doubling will be what the inventor should receive for the 64th
square of the board. It was a huge amount. It’s known that a cubic
metre of wheat contains about 15,000,000 grains. Consequently, the
reward of the inventor of chess would occupy about
12,000,000,000,000 cubic metres, or 12,000 cubic kilometres. If the
barn were 4 metres high and 10 metres wide its length would be
300,000,000 kilometres, twice the distance to the Sun!
The Indian king could never grant such a reward.

41
 MATHEMATICAL PROOF

A problem could be solved scientifically

or mathematically. Here we will see the
difference.
Two opposite corners have been
removed from a chess-board. So, instead
of 64 only 62 squares remain. We have 31
dominoes—with one white and other
black square. Will it be possible to cover
the chess-board with 31 dominoes so that
they cover all the 62 squares on the
chess-board? Here are the scientific and
mathematical ways.

(1) Scientific Method: A scientist would try to solve the problem experimentally.
He will try all possible combinations to fill up the chess-board with 31 dominoes
and will soon discover its impossibility. But how can he be dead sure about his
claim? He tried out several combinations which did not work. But there would
still be millions of other untried ways. Some combinations might actually work.
Who knows? Maybe someday someone may discover the right combination and
upturn the scientific theory.

(2) Mathematical Method: On the other hand the mathematician tries to answer
the question by developing a logical argument. He will try to derive a sure shot
correct conclusion which will be etched in stone and remain unchallenged forever.
Here is a sample of the mathematical logic:

As the removed corners were both white, so there will now be 32 black and
only 30 white squares left. Each domino can cover only two adjacent squares
with different colours—one black and the other white. Therefore, no matter how
they are arranged, the first 30 dominoes will cover only 30 white squares and 30
black squares. Consequently, this will always leave you with one domino and two
black squares. But remember a domino covers two adjacent squares, and
neighbouring squares are opposite in colour. Because, the two remaining squares
are both of the same colour so they cannot both be covered by the one
remaining domino.
Therefore, covering the board is impossible! This proof shows that every possible
arrangement of dominoes will fail to cover the mutilated chess-board.
42
 MIRROR PUZZLES
Draw and cut a pattern on a
postcard. Push a pin in one
corner and draw the pattern.
Rotate a quarter turn and
draw again.
You will get a beautiful pattern
showing rotational symmetry.

Draw a shape and put a mirror besides

it so that the shape doubles itself.

Fold a paper in half. Cut a shape on its doubled

edge. Open the paper to see a symmetric
pattern. Which is the line of symmetry?

Stand your mirror on this master pattern each

time, in different orientations, to get the rest of
the patterns. You will be able to get most of
them.
But some of the patterns have been included to
trick you. They are not just hard, but simply
MASTER impossible. Can you locate these? If you have
PATTERN enjoyed these mirror puzzles why not make
some of your own.

43
 SHORTEST PATH

H
H
S S

Riverbank a b
Q R O Q R O

H1 H1
A shepherd is out grazing his sheep. At the end of the day he wants to take them to
the river for a last drink of water before heading home. Which path should he take
to minimise the travel to his home via the river? In other words which part of the river
(R) should he pick so as to minimise the total distance home?

To minimise travel his path to the river and from there to his home should be such
that they make equal angles with the river (Angle a = Angle b).

To solve this problem imagine his hut H was at the same distance from the river
bank but on the opposite side at H1. For whichever point R on the river bank the
shepherd (S) stops at, the distances RH and RH1 will then be equal. How to pick
point R? It should be chosen to minimise the distance SR + RH1. So, pick R so as to
minimise SR + RH is the same as picking up R so as to minimise SR + RH1.

The solution to this problem is simple. Choose R so that SRH1 is a straight line.

44
 POSTMAN’S
PROBLEM
A B
Soap bubbles are often considered as
playthings for children, but they can
be fascinating for adults too. As soap
bubbles always minimise their surface
area they help solve many complex
mathematical problems in space.
:
D C
This is a very practical problem:
A postman has to deliver letters to
four towns A, B, C and D located
at the vertices of a square.
How to connect these towns so as
to minimise the postman’s beat?
You can have a “U” shaped
A B A B network of three straight lines with a
total length of 3 units. A little trial
and error will show that we you do
better by introducing an
intersection point in the
D C D C middle—essentially two lines in a
3-Units 2.83-Units
“X” formation. As both diagonals of
the unit square AC and BD will be
1.41, so the total length of the cross
will be 2.83.
A B
120
120 Steiner This of course raises the question of
Joint whether we might do better by
120
introducing one more intersection
D C point. But what should its location
2.73-Units be? At what angle?

This is a very difficult question and one way of experimentally dealing with it is to
use soap bubbles. Take two clear Perspex or acrylic sheets. Place them parallel
to one another and affix four pins at the corners of the square. Now on dipping
it in soap solution, each time you will get a soap film which minimises its surface
area. You will find five straight lines with two 3-way intersections at an angle of
120-degrees. These 120-degree joints are called as Steiner Joints. The total
length of this road will be just 2.73 units—the minimum distance joining the four
towns. This also turns out to be the solution to the Postman’s shortest beat.
45
 MATCHSTICK MATCHING

Move only as many sticks as directed and create as many squares

as requested. (Squares can overlap or have corners in common)

CHANGE 2 STICKS CHANGE 3 STICKS CHANGE 4 STICKS

MAKE 2 SQUARES
MAKE 3 SQUARES
MAKE 4 SQUARES
MAKE 5 SQUARES

46
 TANGRAM
Tangram is an ancient Chinese puzzle, which is
essentially a square cut into seven pieces.

1. Make 16 small squares 2. Draw lines 3. Cut along the lines

on a card square. as shown. to get seven pieces.

Then join all the seven pieces together to create different patterns—geometric
designs, humans, birds, animals, etc. All the seven pieces have to be used for
each design.

47
 VALUE OF Pi

Toothpick

You could find the value of Pi (ð) quite accurately by dropping toothpicks!
Count Buffon did this interesting experiment. You can repeat it 300 years
later. Make a series of parallel lines on a sheet of paper. The lines should be one
toothpick apart. The toothpick will play a crucial part in this experiment. Hold
the toothpick on the edge of a chair and let it fall onto the ruled paper,
as shown here.

Record the number of times any part of the toothpick touches any line. Also
note down the number of times the toothpick does not touch any line. Count
Buffon found that if you drop the toothpick enough times, a definite
relationship exists between the two possibilities.

The chance that the toothpick will touch a line is 2/3.14 or 2/(ð).
We know that the circumference of a circle is equal to its diametre multiplied
by Pi (ð). The constant Pi (ð) has been identified with a circle.
Isn't it strange that the toothpick dropping experiment can help you find the
value of Pi (ð)?

An Italian mathematician Lazzerini dropped the toothpick

3408 times. The value of Pi ( ) which he obtained was
3.1415929 ...

48
 BIGGEST BOX
Make different patterns using 5
squares each time. There are
only 12 known Pentaminos. Here
they are fitted in a jigsaw to form
a 10 x 6 rectangle. Cut them
out from a piece of cardboard.
Try fitting them to form 10 x 6,
12 x 5, 15 x 4 and 20 x 3
rectangles. There are thousands
of solutions, but feel happy if
you can find one for
each rectangle.

In mathematics we are often

confronted with problems of finding
the SMALLEST or the BIGGEST.

For instance, given a 12 x 12 cm card

sheet how to fold a box which will hold
the most amount of water?
10 x 10 x 1 = Volume 100 cc
This is a challenging exercise and has
a great appeal because some of the
solutions are very amazing and
satisfying. Some of the possible
combinations of length, width and
height in centimetres are as follows:

8 x 8 x 2 = Volume 128 cc Volume = Length x Width x Height

L(12) x W(12) x H(0) = Volume 0 cc
L(10) x W(10) x H(1) = Volume 100 cc
L(8) x W(8) x H(2) = Volume 128 cc
L(6) x W(6) x H(3) = Volume 108 cc
L(4) x W(4) x H(4) = Volume 64 cc
L(2) x W(2) x H(5) = Volume 20-cc
L(0) x W(0) x H(6) = Volume 0-cc
6 x 6 x 3 = Volume 108 cc
49
 y
This experiment gives a
Maximum Volume = 8 x 8 x 2 = 128 cm3
140 wonderful feel about
130
Differential Calculus.
VOLUME OF THE BOX (cm3)

When the height is 1 cm, the

120
volume is 100 cc.
110
With height 2 cm, volume is
100 128 cc, which is the
90 maximum. With height 3 cm,
80 volume drops to 108 cc.
70 The inflexion point occurs
60
when height is 2 cm.
50
40
30
The graph shows that if
the height of the box is
20
represented by (a) and the
10 volume by (b). Its base has
x a side of (12-2a).
0 1 2 3 4 5 6

HEIGHT OF THE BOX (cm)

The volume of the box can be calculated by using the formula:

Volume = Length x Width x Height

= (12-2a) x (12-2a) x a
= (144 – 24a – 24a + 4a2) x a
= (144a – 48 a2 + 4a3)
The differentiation (dy/dx) finds the gradient
dy/dx = 144 – 96a + 12 a2

The gradient will be Zero at the maximum and minimum turning points on the
graph, This is when the dy/dx = 0, giving the maximum and minimum volume.

144 – 96a + 12 a2 = 0

On solving we get a = 6 and a = 2.

So, the maximum volume 128 cc of the box will be when its length and width are
8 cm and the height is 2 cm.

50
 Each p
erson
d raws fo
a ur box
h a pes on outs es like
th
rent
s cut is:
s ix diffe ardboard d put Roll the
k
Mar Cut 10 c ape an e. Feel
. sh ic shown dice. Write
dice of ever y Roll the d t the bo on the dice he number
t
h g . h a xes. O in
eac in a ba shape t e chang nce p any one o
of th u
the m or t h e f ac e e, until a e its position t, you can't f
ag f top shap ll the b . Roll th
the b rs on the the right left ha
n
oxes a e dice
a
appe If you pu
ll right h d number g re full. Is the
a
dic e.
it. you co nd number? reater than
eep t
you k rns. person llect a coun If it is then he
tu to coll ter. The
Take ect fiv
e cou first
nters w
ins.

WITH
FUN ES
DIC
A player tosses two dices twice. She
adds the dots on the top surface of
For this each dice on every throw. Then she
three
game multiplies them. The correct answer
dices you re
and p and a quire wins 1 point.
e pa
score. ncil to reco per For eg.
Throw rd you 6 x 9 = 54
dices all thre r
to e
dots o gether. Ad
n d
of all t the top sur the After each round, the
he thr faces player with the highest
playe ee dic
rt es
total o o score a g . The score gets a point. The
f 100 r
is the and player who scores
winne
r. 10 points first is the winner.

VARIATION
Children can change the rules and make various games using three
dices. They can throw all three dices together. Then add the two
dices with the highest numbers and from this sum subtract the
number on the third dice. This would be their score. They take turns
and the player who scores 100 first is the winner.

51
 BIRTHDAYS

There is a good
chance that while
attending a party
you may find
someone else
with the same
birth date as yours.

This problem is very counter-intuitive. Imagine two hockey teams with the referee.
They will be a total of 23 people. What is the probability that any two of those 23
people share the same birthday?

With just 23 people and 365 birthdays to choose from, it may appear very unlikely
that a pair may share the same birthday. Most people would guess a probability of
perhaps 10 per cent at most. But in fact, the actual answer is just over 50 per cent.
It means that, it is more likely than not that two people on a hockey field will share
the same birth day.

While looking for a shared birthday, we need to look at pairs of people not
individuals. Surprisingly, 23 people can make 253 pairs. For example, the first person
can be paired with any of the other 22 people. This gives 22 pairs. The second
person, in turn can be paired with any of the remaining 21 people giving 21 more
pairs. The third person can be paired with any of the remaining 20 people, giving
an additional 20 pairs. On adding all these we will reach a total of 253 pairs.

The fact that the probability of a shared birthday within a group of 23 people is
more than 50 per cent seems intuitively wrong, and yet it is mathematically
undeniable. Strange probabilities such as this are exactly what bookmakers and
gamblers rely on in order to exploit the unwary. The next time you are at a party with
more than 23 people you might want to make a wager that two people in the
room will share a birthday. Please note that with a group of 23 people the
probability is only slightly more than 50 per cent, but the probability rapidly rises as
the group increases in size. Hence, with a party of 30 people it is certainly worth
betting that two of them will share the same birthday!
52
 PERFORATED SYMMETRY
A piece of paper was folded and punched just once with a paper punch.
How can you fold and punch a paper so that it looks like the drawing
when unfolded.

3. Fold
1. Fold the bottom 2. Fold the top corner up.
edge of the paper edge one-third
one-third upwards. down.

5. Punch hole here. 6. Open to see this pattern.

4. Fold point over.

MATHS GRAPHICS
A picture says more than a thousand words. These delightful graphics will
help you visualize these geometric figures.

53
 FINGER MULTIPLICATION
This simple method of multiplication was used in Russia before the
Russian Revolution. At that time people were poor and could not
send their children to school. This is a simple way to multiply numbers
from 6 to 10.
10 10
9 9
8 8

7 7
6 6

For this, give numbers to your fingers from 6 to 10 as shown.

10 9
If you want to multiply 7 by 8, finger number 7 8
of one hand must touch finger number 8 on the 7 8 9
6 7
other hand. Then the two fingers together with all the
fingers under them are tens. You have five tens, that 6 10
is 50. Then you multiply the number of the other
fingers on the left hand by the number of other
fingers on the right hand. This gives you 3 x 2 = 6.
Add 50 and 6 and this will give you the answer - 56.
This method always gives the right answer.

3x2=6

7 8
7 x 8 = 50 + 6 = 56

5 x 10 = 50

FRAC X
E PONENT
TION
DIVIDE
PENTAG N PYR MID
54
 THE EARTH'S CIRCUMFERENCE
Around 2,200 years ago Eratosthenes, an ancient Greek mathematician,
used his knowledge of circles, triangles etc to estimate the circumference
of the Earth.

Eratosthenes But at exactly the same

lived in Egypt. time in Alexandria, the
He measured sun cast a slim shadow
shadows cast onto a sundial.
At precisely noon on a
by the sun.
midsummer's day, the sun
cast no shadow onto a
I estimate this
sundial in Syene, a town in angle to be about
Southern Egypt. 7 degrees.

In those days distances were measured in As the Earth was roughly circular,
units called Stadia (1 Stadia = 0.15 km). the arc between the towns was
The distance from Alexandria to Syene was 7 degrees out of the total of 360
about 756 kms. degrees, or approximately 1/50. So
the distance between the towns
was 1/50 of the total circumference
ALEXANDRIA of the earth.

SYENE
SYENE
ALEXANDRIA

1/50 of Earth's
circumference

Eratosthenes estimated the Earth's circumference as

37, 800 kms. Modern measurements give it as
40, 075 kms. So, Eratosthenes's estimate was pretty
good. This powerful idea demonstrated that one need
not walk around the Earth to measure it. One could use
a simple shadow to come to a great conclusion!

55
 CYLINDER - CONE VOLUME

5 cm
108 degrees

TETRAPAK

1. Cut a sector of a 2. The cone will 3. The cone and a cylinder will
circle with radius 5 cm sit snugly into the have the same base and height.
and an angle of 108 cylindrical film The volume of the cylinder will be
degrees. Fold and reel bottle. thrice than that of the cone. Test it
stick to make a cone. by pouring three conefuls of water
in the film bottle.

SQUARE TO TRIANGLE
6.5 cm 6.5 cm
A 13 cm edge square of rubber shoe sole
has been cut into four pieces here. All the
5.5 cm

7.5 cm

pieces are hinged together with small strips

of cloth and stuck with a rubber adhesive.
7.5 cm
5
cm

5.5 cm
5
cm

Cloth strip
6.5 cm 6.5 cm hinges

It is said that the great British

puzzler Dudney had a table
like this. If he had two guests
(he was the third) he would
have the configuration of a
triangle. With three guests he
would just turn around the table
to make it a square so that four
This arrangement could be easily turned people could sit around.
around either to make an equilateral
triangle or a square.
56
Solutions to Matchstick Matching on page 47

57
 1 5 0 5 12
5 2
3 4 12 36
4 8 6 13 64 8
1 9 7 68 1 9 7
7 5
HANDS-ON
6 053 9 5 6 0
3 8 41 0 3 8 4
MATHs 4
2 8 41 2 3
3 2 4
3
95 4 95
1 2 95 1 2
0 1 2 05
There is a saying:

1 25 0 5 1 2
3 4 1 2 3 64
Skills are taught
6
Concepts are caught
8 13 64 8 7
7
Children don't learn a concept by mechanically
9 68 71 9 5
solving numerous bookish problems. Children
learn a great deal of math through teasers,

6 053 9 5 6 0 3
puzzles and activities. Problem solving helps
them to figure out things and learn math. This

8 41 0 3 8 41
book collates inspiring stories from the lives of
2 8 4 1 23
3
mathematicians along with many creative
4 2 4
activities which will give children a concrete
3
95
feel for math.
95 4
1 2 51 2
5 92 7
71 3 5 3 4
8 410 4 8 1
2 3 8 1 23
4 2 4
5 3 95
9 4
1 2 95 1 2
2 1 2 6 3
6 0 9 0
8 3 5 4
4
3 4 0 38
7 2 1 84 2
1 3 214 3