Chapter 8: Working with Fractions Class 8th Mathematics (Ganita Prakash) NCERT Solution

Working with Fractions — Full Solutions | EduGrown
◈ Ganita Prakash · Grade 7 · Chapter 8

Working with Fractions

Complete worked solutions for every in-text question, worked Example, Math Talk, and Figure It Out exercise — multiplying and dividing fractions, the area-model, reciprocals, and Brahmagupta’s rules, explained step by step.

17 in-text & worked-example questions
5 Figure It Out exercise sets (34 parts)
Diagrams for every area-model & puzzle
@EDUGROWN
Part 01

In-Text Questions, Worked Examples & Math Talk

The reflective “?” questions and worked Examples woven through the chapter’s explanation — the reasoning that builds up to multiplication and division of fractions.

1
Page 173
Aaron’s pet tortoise walks only ¼ km in 1 hour. How far can it walk in 3 hours?
Answer

Multiply the distance per hour by the number of hours:

$$3 \times \tfrac{1}{4} = \tfrac{1}{4}+\tfrac{1}{4}+\tfrac{1}{4} = \tfrac{3}{4}\text{ km}$$

The tortoise can walk ¾ km in 3 hours.
2
Page 174
Aaron can walk 3 km in 1 hour. How far can he walk in ⅕ hours?
Answer

In $\tfrac15$ hour, the distance covered is what we get by splitting the 1-hour distance (3 km) into 5 equal parts:

$$\tfrac{1}{5} \times 3 = \tfrac{3}{5}\text{ km}$$

Distance in ⅕ hour = ⅗ km
3
Pages 174–175
How far can Aaron walk in ⅖ hours?
Answer — two-step method
1First find the distance in $\tfrac15$ hour: $\tfrac15 \times 3 = \tfrac35$ km.
2Since $\tfrac25$ is twice $\tfrac15$, double this distance: $2 \times \tfrac35 = \tfrac65$ km.
$\tfrac{2}{5} \times 3 = \tfrac{6}{5}$ km
4
Page 176 — Example 1
A farmer distributed ⅔ acre of land to each of her 5 grandchildren. How much land did she give in all?
Answer

$$5 \times \tfrac{2}{3} = \tfrac23+\tfrac23+\tfrac23+\tfrac23+\tfrac23 = \tfrac{10}{3}\text{ acre}$$

Total land given = 10/3 acre (= 3⅓ acre)
5
Page 176 — Example 2
1 hour of internet costs ₹8. How much will 1¼ hours cost?
Answer

Convert the mixed fraction: $1\tfrac14 = \tfrac54$ hours.

$$\tfrac{5}{4} \times 8 = \tfrac{5\times 8}{4} = \tfrac{40}{4}=10$$

1¼ hours of internet costs ₹10
6
Pages 177–178
The tortoise walks ¼ km in 1 hour. How far can it walk in half an hour?
Answer — using a unit square

We need $\tfrac12 \times \tfrac14$. Take a unit square as the “whole”, shade $\tfrac14$ of it (one row out of four), then split that shaded strip into 2 equal parts. The whole square is now divided into 8 equal parts, and exactly 1 of them is the shaded-then-halved region.

1/8 shaded (hatched) of the whole square

Since the whole is divided into 8 equal parts and 1 part is shaded:

$$\tfrac{1}{2} \times \tfrac{1}{4} = \tfrac{1}{8}$$

The tortoise walks ⅛ km in half an hour.
7
Pages 178–179
A faster tortoise covers ⅖ km in 1 hour. How far will it walk in ¾ of an hour?
Answer — two-step method
1Divide the whole into 5 rows and 4 columns (20 equal parts). The distance in $\tfrac14$ hour is the region we get by splitting $\tfrac25$ into 4 equal parts $= \tfrac{2}{20}$ km.
2Multiply by 3 to get the distance in $\tfrac34$ hour: $3 \times \tfrac{2}{20} = \tfrac{6}{20}$ km.

$$\tfrac{3}{4}\times\tfrac{2}{5} = \tfrac{6}{20} = \tfrac{3}{10}\text{ km}$$

Distance in ¾ hour = 3/10 km
8
Pages 179–180 — Math Talk
Using the area-model understanding, multiply 5/4 × 3/2.
Answer

First represent $\tfrac32$ on a unit square (one whole and a half). Dividing this into 4 equal parts: the whole is split into 2 rows × 4 columns = 8 equal parts, and 3 of them are shaded, so $\tfrac32 \div 4 = \tfrac38$.

Now multiply this by 5 (the numerator of $\tfrac54$):

$$\tfrac{5}{4}\times\tfrac{3}{2} = 5\times\tfrac38 = \tfrac{15}{8}$$

5/4 × 3/2 = 15/8 (= 1⅞)
9
Page 180
Do you see any relation between the area of a rectangle (with fractional sides) and the product of its length and breadth?
Answer
The area of a rectangle always equals the product of its length and breadth — even when the sides are fractions. So to multiply two fractions, we can simply build a rectangle with those fractions as its two sides and find its area.
10
Page 182
Multiply 12/7 × 5/24 and express the product in its lowest form.
Answer — cancelling common factors first

Instead of multiplying first and simplifying later, cancel the common factor of 12 and 24 before multiplying:

$$\tfrac{12}{7}\times\tfrac{5}{24} = \tfrac{\cancel{12}^{\,1}\times 5}{7\times \cancel{24}^{\,2}} = \tfrac{1\times5}{7\times2} = \tfrac{5}{14}$$

12/7 × 5/24 = 5/14
11
Page 185 — Math Talk
Fill in the blanks: When one of the numbers being multiplied is between 0 and 1, the product is ___ than the other number. When one of the numbers is greater than 1, the product is ___ than the other number.
Answer
SituationExampleRelationship
Both numbers > 1$\tfrac43\times4=\tfrac{16}{3}$Product is greater than both numbers
Both numbers between 0 and 1$\tfrac34\times\tfrac25=\tfrac{3}{10}$Product is less than both numbers
One number between 0–1, one > 1$\tfrac34\times5=\tfrac{15}{4}$Product is less than the number > 1, but greater than the number between 0 and 1
• When one number is between 0 and 1, the product is less than the other number.
• When one number is greater than 1, the product is greater than the other number (unless the second number is a fraction between 0 and 1, which shrinks it back down).
12
Page 189
When is the quotient less than the dividend, and when is it greater? Is there a similar relationship between the divisor and the quotient?
Answer

Compare: $6\div3=2$ (quotient < dividend, since divisor > 1); but $6\div\tfrac14=24$ and $\tfrac18\div\tfrac14=\tfrac12$ (quotient > dividend in both, since divisor < 1).

• If the divisor is greater than 1, the quotient is smaller than the dividend.
• If the divisor is between 0 and 1, the quotient is larger than the dividend.
This mirrors multiplication by the divisor’s reciprocal — dividing by a number less than 1 is the same as multiplying by a reciprocal greater than 1.
13
Page 190 — Example 3
Leena made 5 cups of tea using ¼ litre of milk in total. How much milk is in each cup?
Answer

We need $\tfrac14 \div 5$. Rewrite as multiplication by the reciprocal of 5 (which is $\tfrac15$):

$$\tfrac{1}{4}\div5 = \tfrac{1}{5}\times\tfrac{1}{4} = \tfrac{1}{20}$$

Each cup of tea has 1/20 litre of milk.
14
Pages 190–191 — Example 4 (Śulbasūtra, c. 800 BCE)
Cover an area of 7½ square units with square bricks of side ⅕ unit each. How many bricks are needed?
Answer

Area of one brick $= \tfrac15\times\tfrac15=\tfrac{1}{25}$ sq. units. Total area $=7\tfrac12=\tfrac{15}{2}$ sq. units.

Number of bricks $=$ Total area $\div$ area of one brick:

$$\tfrac{15}{2}\div\tfrac{1}{25} = \tfrac{15}{2}\times25 = \tfrac{375}{2} = 187.5$$

375/2 bricks (= 187½ bricks) are needed to exactly cover the area.
15
Page 191 — Example 5 (Chaturveda Pṛithūdakasvāmī, c. 860 CE)
Four fountains fill a cistern: alone they take 1 day, ½ day, ¼ day, and ⅕ day. Flowing together, how long will they take?
Answer

Find how many times each fountain would fill the cistern in one day:

  • Fountain 1: $1\div1=1$ time
  • Fountain 2: $1\div\tfrac12=2$ times
  • Fountain 3: $1\div\tfrac14=4$ times
  • Fountain 4: $1\div\tfrac15=5$ times

Together, in one day they fill the cistern $1+2+4+5=12$ times over.

Time to fill together = 1/12 of a day
16
Pages 192–193 — Math Talk (Fig. 8.4)
What fraction of the whole square does the shaded region in Fig. 8.4 occupy?
Answer — step by step
1The top-right square occupies $\tfrac14$ of the whole big square.
2Inside that small square, the yellow triangle is half its area: $\tfrac12\times\tfrac14=\tfrac18$ of the whole square.
3The shaded (hatched) part occupies $\tfrac34$ of that yellow triangle: $\tfrac34\times\tfrac18=\tfrac{3}{32}$.
Shaded fraction = 3/32 of whole square
Shaded region = 3/32 of the whole square
17
Page 193
In each of the two figures given (a similar 5-line square and a diamond-in-corner square), find the fraction of the big square that the shaded region occupies.
Answer
Figure (a) — following the same style of reasoning as Fig. 8.4 (breaking the square into a sequence of half-regions): the shaded diagonal band occupies 3/8 of the area of the whole square.
Figure (b) — the small shaded sliver next to the diamond occupies 1/16 of the area of the whole square.

In both cases the method is the same: identify what fraction each nested region is of the one containing it, then multiply those fractions together (exactly like the area-model for fraction multiplication).

Part 02

Figure It Out — Exercise Solutions

Every numbered “Figure It Out” exercise from the chapter, solved directly with full working.

E1
Pages 176–177 · Q1–5
Word problems: Tenzin’s milk, water canal, Manju’s oil, Safia’s moonrise, and multiply-then-convert practice.
Answer
Q1 — Tenzin drinks ½ glass/day
In a week: $7\times\tfrac12=\tfrac72=3\tfrac12$ glasses.
In January (31 days): $31\times\tfrac12=\tfrac{31}{2}=15\tfrac12$ glasses.
Q2 — Water canal, 1 km in 8 days
In 1 day: $\tfrac18$ km. In 5 days/week: $5\times\tfrac18=\tfrac58$ km.
Q3 — Manju’s oil, 5 L shared by 3 families
Per family per week: $\tfrac53$ L. In 4 weeks: $4\times\tfrac53=\tfrac{20}{3}=6\tfrac23$ L.
Q4 — Safia’s moon, delayed ⅚ hr/day
Thursday is 3 days after Monday, so the delay is $3\times\tfrac56=\tfrac{15}{6}=2\tfrac12$ hours.
Moon sets 2½ hours after 10 pm → 12:30 am on Thursday.
Q5 — Multiply and convert to mixed fraction
ExpressionProductMixed fraction
(a) $7\times\tfrac35$$\tfrac{21}{5}$$4\tfrac15$
(b) $4\times\tfrac13$$\tfrac43$$1\tfrac13$
(c) $\tfrac97\times6$$\tfrac{54}{7}$$7\tfrac57$
(d) $\tfrac{13}{11}\times6$$\tfrac{78}{11}$$7\tfrac{1}{11}$
E2
Page 180 · Q1
Find the products using a unit square: (a) 1/3×1/5 (b) 1/4×1/3 (c) 1/5×1/2 (d) 1/6×1/5. Then find 1/12×1/18.
Answer

For unit fractions, the unit square is split into (denominator 1) rows × (denominator 2) columns, and exactly one small rectangle is shaded:

(a) $\tfrac13\times\tfrac15$$=\tfrac{1}{3\times5}=\tfrac{1}{15}$
(b) $\tfrac14\times\tfrac13$$=\tfrac{1}{4\times3}=\tfrac{1}{12}$
(c) $\tfrac15\times\tfrac12$$=\tfrac{1}{5\times2}=\tfrac{1}{10}$
(d) $\tfrac16\times\tfrac15$$=\tfrac{1}{6\times5}=\tfrac{1}{30}$
General rule: $\tfrac1b\times\tfrac1d=\tfrac{1}{b\times d}$

So: $$\tfrac{1}{12}\times\tfrac{1}{18} = \tfrac{1}{12\times18} = \tfrac{1}{216}$$

E3
Page 181 · Q2
Find the products: (a) 2/3×4/5 (b) 1/4×2/3 (c) 3/5×1/2 (d) 4/6×3/5
Answer

Using $\tfrac{a}{b}\times\tfrac{c}{d}=\tfrac{a\times c}{b\times d}$:

(a) $\tfrac23\times\tfrac45$$=\tfrac{8}{15}$
(b) $\tfrac14\times\tfrac23$$=\tfrac{2}{12}=\tfrac16$
(c) $\tfrac35\times\tfrac12$$=\tfrac{3}{10}$
(d) $\tfrac46\times\tfrac35$$=\tfrac{12}{30}=\tfrac25$
E4
Pages 183–184 · Q1–5
Water tank fractions, Somu’s land shares, rectangle area, sapling distances, and comparing weights.
Q1 — Tank fills 7/10 in 1 hour
(a) $\tfrac13$ hr$\tfrac13\times\tfrac{7}{10}=\tfrac{7}{30}$ part
(b) $\tfrac23$ hr$\tfrac23\times\tfrac{7}{10}=\tfrac{14}{30}=\tfrac{7}{15}$ part
(c) $\tfrac34$ hr$\tfrac34\times\tfrac{7}{10}=\tfrac{21}{40}$ part
(d) $\tfrac{7}{10}$ hr$\tfrac{7}{10}\times\tfrac{7}{10}=\tfrac{49}{100}$ part
(e) Time for full tank$\tfrac{7}{10}\times t=1 \Rightarrow t=\tfrac{10}{7}$ hours
Q2 — Somu’s land (⅙ taken for a road)

Land remaining with Somu after the road $= 1-\tfrac16=\tfrac56$.

(a) Krishna gets half of this remaining part: $\tfrac12\times\tfrac56=\tfrac{5}{12}$ of the original land.
(b) Bora gets ⅓ of the same remaining part: $\tfrac13\times\tfrac56=\tfrac{5}{18}$ of the original land.
(c) Somu keeps: $\tfrac56-\tfrac{5}{12}-\tfrac{5}{18}$. Using a common denominator of 36: $\tfrac{30}{36}-\tfrac{15}{36}-\tfrac{10}{36}=\tfrac{5}{36}$ of the original land.
Q3 — Area of rectangle 3¾ ft × 9⅗ ft

$$3\tfrac34\times9\tfrac35 = \tfrac{15}{4}\times\tfrac{48}{5} = \tfrac{15\times48}{4\times5}=\tfrac{720}{20}=36\text{ sq ft}$$

Q4 — Four saplings, ¾ m apart

4 saplings in a row have 3 gaps between the first and last:

$$3\times\tfrac34 = \tfrac94 = 2\tfrac14\text{ m}$$

Q5 — Which is heavier?

$\tfrac{12}{15}$ of 500 g $=\tfrac{12}{15}\times500=400$ g $=0.4$ kg.
$\tfrac{3}{20}$ of 4 kg $=\tfrac{3}{20}\times4=\tfrac{12}{20}=0.6$ kg.

3/20 of 4 kg (0.6 kg) is heavier than 12/15 of 500 g (0.4 kg).
E5
Pages 196–198 · Q1–12
Full division-of-fractions practice set, word problems, and the telescoping-product pattern.
Q1 — Evaluate each division
$3\div\tfrac79$$=3\times\tfrac97=\tfrac{27}{7}=3\tfrac67$
$\tfrac{14}{4}\div2$$=\tfrac{14}{4}\times\tfrac12=\tfrac{14}{8}=\tfrac74=1\tfrac34$
$\tfrac23\div\tfrac23$$=1$
$\tfrac{14}{6}\div\tfrac73$$=\tfrac{14}{6}\times\tfrac37=\tfrac{42}{42}=1$
$\tfrac43\div\tfrac34$$=\tfrac43\times\tfrac43=\tfrac{16}{9}=1\tfrac79$
$\tfrac74\div\tfrac17$$=\tfrac74\times7=\tfrac{49}{4}=12\tfrac14$
$\tfrac82\div\tfrac{4}{15}$$=4\times\tfrac{15}{4}=15$
$\tfrac15\div\tfrac19$$=\tfrac15\times9=\tfrac95=1\tfrac45$
$\tfrac16\div\tfrac{11}{12}$$=\tfrac16\times\tfrac{12}{11}=\tfrac{12}{66}=\tfrac{2}{11}$
$3\tfrac23\div1\tfrac38$$=\tfrac{11}{3}\div\tfrac{11}{8}=\tfrac{11}{3}\times\tfrac{8}{11}=\tfrac83=2\tfrac23$
Q2 — Choose the matching expression, then simplify
(a) Maria’s lace — 8 m of lace, ¼ m per bag → number of bags = (iii) $8\div\tfrac14$ $=8\times4=32$ bags.
(b) Ribbon badges — ½ m makes 8 badges → ribbon per badge = (iv) $\tfrac12\div8$ $=\tfrac{1}{16}$ m.
(c) Baker’s flour — ⅙ kg per loaf, 5 kg available → number of loaves = (iii) $5\div\tfrac16$ $=5\times6=30$ loaves.
Q3 — Flour for 6 rotis

¼ kg makes 12 rotis, so flour per roti $=\tfrac14\div12=\tfrac{1}{48}$ kg. For 6 rotis: $6\times\tfrac{1}{48}=\tfrac{6}{48}=\tfrac18$ kg.

1/8 kg of flour is needed for 6 rotis.
Q4 — Pāṭīgaṇita sum

$1\div\tfrac16=6,\; 1\div\tfrac{1}{10}=10,\; 1\div\tfrac{1}{13}=13,\; 1\div\tfrac19=9,\; 1\div\tfrac12=2$

$$6+10+13+9+2 = 40$$

Q5 — Mira’s novel (400 pages)

Yesterday: $\tfrac15\times400=80$ pages. Today: $\tfrac{3}{10}\times400=120$ pages. Total read $=200$ pages.

Pages remaining = 400 − 200 = 200 pages
Q6 — Car mileage

$$16\times2\tfrac34 = 16\times\tfrac{11}{4}=\tfrac{176}{4}=44\text{ km}$$

Q7 — Amritpal’s travel time saved

Train: $5\tfrac16=\tfrac{31}{6}$ hr. Time saved by plane $=\tfrac{31}{6}-\tfrac12=\tfrac{31}{6}-\tfrac36=\tfrac{28}{6}=\tfrac{14}{3}=4\tfrac23$ hours.

Q8 — Mariam’s cake

Cake remaining after cousins ate $\tfrac45$: $1-\tfrac45=\tfrac15$. Shared equally among 3 friends: $\tfrac15\div3=\tfrac{1}{15}$.

Each friend gets 1/15 of the whole cake.
Q9 — Compare $\left(\tfrac{565}{465}\times\tfrac{707}{676}\right)$

Both fractions are greater than 1 (since $565>465$ and $707>676$). The product of two numbers each greater than 1 is greater than both individual numbers, and certainly greater than 1.

Correct options: (a) > 565/465, (c) > 707/676, and (e) > 1
Q10 — Shaded fraction of the square
Shaded region = 3/32 of the whole square (found the same way as In-Text Q16 — nested halving of regions).
Q11 — Ant colony splitting (Fig. 8.7)

At each branch point the group of ants splits into two equal halves. Tracking the fraction of the original colony that survives down each branch to the two food sources, and checking that all the fractional paths add up to the whole colony (1):

Mango tree: 29/32  ·  Sugarcane field: 3/32   (29/32 + 3/32 = 1 ✓)
Q12 — Telescoping product pattern
$1-\tfrac12$$=\tfrac12$
$(1-\tfrac12)(1-\tfrac13)$$=\tfrac12\times\tfrac23=\tfrac13$
$(1-\tfrac12)(1-\tfrac13)(1-\tfrac14)(1-\tfrac15)$$=\tfrac12\times\tfrac23\times\tfrac34\times\tfrac45=\tfrac15$
$(1-\tfrac12)(1-\tfrac13)\cdots(1-\tfrac{1}{10})$$=\tfrac{1}{10}$

Each factor $\left(1-\tfrac1k\right)=\tfrac{k-1}{k}$, so consecutive terms cancel in a chain: $\tfrac12\times\tfrac23\times\tfrac34\times\cdots\times\tfrac{n-1}{n}=\tfrac{1}{n}$ (every numerator cancels with the denominator before it, leaving only the very first numerator, 1, and the very last denominator, $n$).

General statement: $(1-\tfrac12)(1-\tfrac13)(1-\tfrac14)\cdots(1-\tfrac1n) = \dfrac{1}{n}$
Page 199 — Puzzle Time
Chess Puzzle: Place 8 Queens on an 8×8 board so that no two queens attack each other.
Answer — one valid solution

A queen attacks along its row, column, and both diagonals, so no two queens may share any of these. This is the classic “Eight Queens Puzzle” — it has 92 total solutions (12 of them genuinely distinct once you remove rotations/reflections). Here is one valid placement, given as (column, row) pairs:

(1,1) (2,5) (3,8) (4,6) (5,3) (6,7) (7,2) (8,4)

Check: no two queens share a row, a column, or a diagonal — this is one of the 92 valid arrangements. (For the warm-up 4×4 puzzle, one valid placement is rows 2, 4, 1, 3 for columns 1–4.)

Compiled solutions for NCERT Ganita Prakash Grade 7 — Chapter 8 · Working with Fractions · Prepared for study use.

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