EVERYDAY

R M BHAGWAT
EVERYDAY MATHEMATICS

·..,,,:
Popular Science

'EVERYDAY
MATHEMATICS
RM.BHAGWAT

Illustrator
PABITRA GHOSH

e
nbt.1nd1a
Vin:��

NATIONAL BOOK TRUST, INDIA

ISBN 978-81-237-1490-5

First Edition 1995

Second Edition 1999
Tenth Reprint 2018 (Saka 1940)
© RM. Bhagwat, 1995

Published by the Director, National Book Trust, India

Nehru Bhawan, 5 Institutional Area, Phase-II
Vasant Kunj, New Delhi-110 070
Website: www.nbtindia.gov.in
 Contents

Acknowledgement vii
Preface ix
1. Introduction
2. The Numbers 5
3. The Variables 34
4. Ratios: Comparing Things 44
5. Shapes apd Sizes 50
6. Trigonometry 68
References 74

'.,I;':
 To
my father and mother
 Acknowledgement

I have great pleasure in expressing my gratitude to Prof.

V.G. Kulkarni, ex-Director, Homi Bhabha Centre for Science
Education (HBCSE), Tata Institute of Fundamental Research
(TIFR), Bombay, for extending all support and facilities·
to me while the book was in preparationJ am extremely
grateful to Dr H.C. Pradhan, who was instrumental in
inducing me to write this book. He had critically read the
manuscript and made valuable suggestions. I thank him for
his constant support and encouragement. br Seema Purohit
of Kirti College, Bombay, had carefully gone through the
manuscript and made valu�ble suggestions. I express my
sincere thanks to her. I wish to express my thanks to Shri
Arun Mavalankar, who had· taken the responsibility of
preparing the press copy of the manuscript;-Shri V.N. Gurav,
who put the manuscript on the word processor and Shri
Shivaji Nadkar, who carefully xeroxed it. All these staff
members at HBCSE had been very helpful to me. I must
thank Nilesh, Sameer, Vrinda and Dhanashree, all members
of my family for the pains they took in preparing a few
illustrations included in the manuscript before they were
redrawn at NBT.
This book could not have been complete without the
persistent follow-up by Ms Manju Gupta, Editor, National
Book Trust, who has patiently borne the delay in writing the
book. I sincerely thank her for her kind appreciation and
encouragement.

Mumbai R.M. BHAGWAT

 Preface

Mathematics is a creation of the human mind originating

from human activities and observation of Nature. Mathemat­
ics goes t<:> the very basic thinking processes of the human
mind to express them in precise terms. It converts the world
of reality into a world of concepts and studies the laws of
abstract concepts which govern the real world. Most of
everyday mathematics is the essence of these basic concepts
and therefore simple to fathom. Although many concepts
occur to our mind intuitively, it is necessary to build up a
suitable vocabulary and certain rules and symbols to express
them precisely and briefly. Thus, mathematics has its own
language and script, which has to be learnt first. This is
perhaps the reason why it is thought to be unrelated to
everyday life and hence, difficult to comprehend; while in
reality, it is not only intimately connected with real life but
originates from it. Ironically, most people detest mathemat­
ics and turn their backs to it, while, in fact, it is of use in all
walks of life and for all other branches of knowledge. It is
not a mere coincidence that great scientists like Archimedes,
Newton, Gauss and Lagrange have made great contribu-
tions to mathematics as well as to science. ·.�'
Mathematics is perhaps one of the first disciplines
of human knowledge and is as old as the civilisation
itself. It has grown in volume and in complexity with the
volume and comp · ty of human life. Life of man has
changed gradually throughout the history of civilisation,
from the simple life of a cave-man to an extremely com­
plex and multifaceted life of modern man. With this,
mathematics has also grown into a vast and rich branch of
human knowledge. Although the common man need not
go much beyond the mathematics of, say, a thousand years
ago, scientists, mathematicians, technologists, economists
and others make use of the most sophisticated systems in
mathematics in everyday life in one way or the other, on an
unprecedented scale. Mathematics is now an all-pervasive
element of everyday life.
It is, therefore, necessary that people from all walks
of life should understand and appreciate the contribution
of mathematics to the progress of mankind. The book
explains the nature of everyday mathematics in simple
language with a number of illustrations drawn from our life.
The historical development of mathematics has been
described, emphasising how mathematics originates from
simple everyday activities and how it helps solve problems
in daily life. It is a matter of pride for us that throughout the
development of mathematics up to the twelfth century,
almost all important steps in its progress were based upon
the findings of Indian mathematicians. The contributions of
ancient Hindu mathematicians has been duly emphasised
in this book. That mathematics is not a mere collection of
abstract concepts and rules but is the very basis of everyday
life has been explained with the help of a number of every­
day problems. Essential aspects of mathematics have been
explained in simple language, using the minimum of math­
ematical terms and formulae. The book has been amply il­
lustrated with a number of diagrams. Every effort has been
made to make the book as interesting and as readable as
possible.
It is hoped that Everyday Mathematics will serve to
encourage readers to understand, appreciate and study
mathematics.
 1

INTRODUCTION

Since the earliest times mathematics has been one of

the most useful of subjects. The word 'mathematics' comes
from the Gi;eek mathemata, meaning 'things that are learned'.
According to Bertrand Russel, the famous twentieth-century
British mathematician and philosopher, "Mathematics
may be defined as the subject in which we never know
what we are talking about, nor whether what we are
saying is true." It tells us nothing about the real world, but
states that one thing follows from another in a certain way.
It may seem strange to apply this phrase to a single field
of knowledge, but for the Greeks, mathematics included not
only the study of numbers and space but also astronomy
and music as mathematical subjects; yet, the scope of math­
ematics today is broader than ever before.
The origins of mathematics are lost in antiquity but
we know that it was used 4,000 years ago by ancient
peoples, such as the Babylonians and Egyptians, to.work
out the calendar, so that they could know in ad'trance
when to sow their crops, or when the river Nile was going
to flood, or to solve quadratic equations. They even knew
about the theorem now wrongly attributed to Pythagoras.
Their cultures were based on farming, and-they needed
methods of surveying and plotting the courses of stars
and planets quite accurately. Arithmetic was used in
trade for exchange of money and goods and for keeping
accounts. Geometry was used for marking out boundaries
2 EVERYDAY MATHEMATICS

Fig. 1

of fields and for building monuments such as the pyramids.

The first theoretical mathematician is believed to be
Thales of Miletus (645-546 B.c.). He showed that it was
possible to calculate the height of an object by measuring its
shadow and comparing it with the shadow cast by a meas­
uring stick (Fig.l). He is supposed to have predicted an
eclipse of the sun. His pupil, Pythagoras, established geom­
etry as a recognised science among the Greeks and prepared
the way for Euclid and Archimedes.
The Greeks added much to what they had inherited
from the Babylonians. In addition, they made mathematics
into a logical system, which begins with some basic ideas
that are assumed to be true (called axioms) and then goes
on to make conclusions (called proofs).
All of us are mathematicians to some extent. We use
mathematics every day in our lives-when we consult a
watch or clock to find out time, when we calculate the cost
or purchases and the change due to us, when we play
sports like football, tennis or cricket and keep the score.
 INTRODUCTION 3

Fig. 2

The accounting operations of business and industry are

based on mathematics. Insurance is largely a matter of the
compounding of interest. The pilot of a ship or plane uses
geometry in piloting his course. Much of the surveying
is based on trigonometry. Mathematics helps even the artist
in drawing, let's say, the perspective-the system by which
the artist represents on a flat surface objects and persons as
they actually appear in a three-dimensional world (Fig. 2).
In music, scales and theories of harmony and counterpoint
are based on mathematics. Mathematics is so important in
science and serves so many of its branches that it has been
called tµe 'queen and servant of science', by mathe!Ilatician
Eric Temple Bell. Measurements and other mathematical
techniques are vital for the physicist. Chemists use loga- ·
rithms to calculate tl}e acidity of ·a substance-the pH
value. Astronomers measure angles and areas to study
the motion of the sun, stars, the moon and planets. In biol­
ogy dimensional analysis is used to analyse the growth
pattern of certain animals.
With high-speed electronic computers, calculations
can be performed in a fraction of a time in which people
4 EVERYDAY MATHEMATICS

could do them using other methods, so their invention has

revolutionised the type of things for which mathematics can
be used. As calculations involving astronomical measure­
ments and time keeping became more accurate, navigation
became easier, and from the time of Christopher Columbus
onwards men ventured further and further from home to
explore new territories,.making maps as they went. Math­
ematics was used to design better ships, railway engines,
cars and eventually aeroplanes, and it was also used in the
design of radar systems, and to send rockets to the moon
and some of the planets. Such then, in brief, is the scope of
mathematics.
 2

THE NUMBERS

Numbers Everywhere
Our life is governed by numbers. Consider the following
situations in a common man's life:
• In the early morning, the sound ol an alarm clock
awakens an office-goer. "It's 6 o'clock; must get up."
Thus starts his day.
• In a bus, a conductor to a passenger: "Give me 40 paise
more."
Passenger: "Why, I have given you the correct fare."
Conductor: "There is a 25 per cent increase now."
Passenger: "Oh!"
• A housewife, at a milk booth in a city: "Give me a two­
litre bag."
"I don't ha71e a two-litre bag."
"Okay, give me a one-litre bag and two half-litre bags."
• In a restaurant, a customer looking at a bill, says:
"Waiter, you have not added the bill properly: it should be
Rs 8.50 instead of 9.50."
"Sorry, sir!"
These are a few instances where numbers are used in
our everyday life. Numbers are also crucial in not so
common fields- of life. A difference of 0.001 second in a
sprinter's time may make him earn or lose a gold medal.
A difference of even one-thousandth of a centimetre in the
diameter of a wheel may make it useless for a watch.
6 EVERYDAY MATHEMATICS

A telephone number, a number on a ration card, a number

of a bank account or an examination number helps us in
identifying a person.
How old are these numbers? Who invented them?
What is the origin of numbers? These are some of the
questions that naturally come to our mind. The answers to
these questions are as interesting as the questions them­
selves. Let us try to learn a few facts about numbers.

The Origin of Numbers

Numbers are almost as old as the human civilisation itself.
In the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford, there is an Egyptian
royal mace on which there is a record of 120,000 prisoners
and of booty consisting of 400,000 oxen and 1,422,000 goats.
The record dating back to before the year 3400 B.c. shows
that in antiquity people knew how to write large numbers.
Of course, the beginnings of the use of numbers must go
back long before the Egyptians.
The primitive man did not have much to do with

Fig. 3
 THE NUMBERS 7

counting: home was a cave at hand, food grew on trees or

plants or was hunted with weapons. However, 10,000 years
ago when primitive people began settling down into villa­
ges, started agriculture and began keeping animals, life
became more complex than before. They felt the need to
regulate their daily routine, their community life and the
family life too. Numbers were needed to count their cattle,
to compare their agriculture produce, to measure the land
and to keep track of time. There were a number of civilisa­
tions in different parts of the world, such as Babylonia,
Egypt, India, China and others. All these civilisations had
developed their own primitive numbers, perhaps, at about
the same time. Ancient clay statutes of the Babylonians are
found with numbers written on them (Fig. 3). They devel­
oped cuneiform or wedge-shaped writing in which differ­
ent symbols were produced with sharp-edged sticks on wet
· clay, formed into clay bricks. There were special symbols
for one (Y), ten (-<), hundred (Y>-), etc. For writing a number
the Babylonians repeated the symbols, e.g. to write 1,000

r� lT TTT lf w
a

1_ 2 3 .. s·
.
YYY 'YY'f
'Ht
YTT
l 1"fY Y
tf �\
1'
7 • 9
�
10

, T�
100
�1�
l,OOb

Fig. 4
8 EVERYDAY MATHEMATICS

they used --< Y � or repeated

100 ten times (Fig. 4). The
Babylonians could count
quite large numbers. They
counted numbers from 1 to
60 and counted larger num­
bers in groups of 60, as we
do at present with groups of
10. The ancient people in
Egypt were also able to count
large numbers and had
found out that there were
365 days in a year. They used
the hieroglyphic system of
writing numbers on monu­
ments, known as obelisks
(Fig. 5). This system, how­
ever, was rather cumbersome
when it came to writing large
numbers (Fig. 6.aj. Fig. 6.b.
shows how the number 527
could be written.
These people used only
a few elementary counting
numbers in the beginning.
Many of them could not
count beyond 20, and some
only upto 10 or 5. Even today
many people in villages can
count only up to 20 and some
primitive tribes can count
only up to 4. Little children
learning to count find it
difficult to count beyond 10.
At first, a person
counted the number of ani­
Fig. 5 mals in a herd by placing a
 THE NUMBERS 9

II 111 I II I ill 111

II l 11

"" .1:1. , n
2 3 4 5

•
1111
9 ,o
nn nnnn ClC\ �
n n nnn ea_
/ / / :k. 200 1,000
40 70 100

Fig. 6.a

Fig. 6.b

pebble on the ground or tying a knot in a rope for each ani­

mal (Fig. 7). �ach pebble in the growing heap or �ch knot
in the rope would stand for a single animal. Later, probably
man used his ten fingers for his calculation. We may sur­
mise that when ten fingers had been counted, a little
stone would be set aside to represent this first 10; the
fingers would then be used to count another 10. Another
stone would be added to the first one and so on. When the
stones in the pile would equal the number of fingers, they
would represent 10 tens (Fig. 8). The pile of 10 stones would
then be removed to be replaced by a larger stone to indicate
10 EVERYDAY M�THEMATICS

Fig. 7

'10 tens' or a 100. Thus three large stones, seven small

stones, eight sticks standing for eight fingers, would repre­
sent three hundreds, seven tens and eight units, i.e. the
number 378 (Fig. 9). Not all primitive peoples would use
10 or the number of fingers on one's hands; some would use
only the two hands and not the fingers; some may have used
the toes too, and so on.
Since stones, pebbles and sticks are awkward to han­
dle, people created symbols to represent numbers as soon
as they learned to write.
 THE NUMBERS 11

10

100

Fig. 8

= 378

Fig. 9
12 EVERYDAY MATHEMATICS

Writing Numbers
The ancient civilisations in India, China, and elsewhere had
developed their own systems of denoting numbers. The
Indians and Egyptians used the base 10 to count numbers,
e.g. they used numbers 1 to 10 and then used groups of 10
to count larger numbers. The Mayans in South America
used the base 20, while the ancient Syrians used base 2 to
count numbers.

Fig. 10

The Greeks and the Romans (Fig. 10) used the leti:ers of
their alphabets, instead of separate symbols, to denote
numbers. In the most widely adopted version, the Greeks

AB r �E F*Z He I KAMN
ZOU ([Pl: TT <Jl XlFft'-f{
r 2 3 , s , , a 9 10 2� 30 . 40 so

M � - � � � - - � - - - -

Fig. 11
 THE NUMBERS 13

used all the letters of their alphabet plus three additional

symbols. Each letter stood for a definite value, e.g. the first
nine symbols for numbers 1 to 9; the next nine were tens,
from 10 to 90 and so on. They had no symbol for zero (Fig.
11). The Roman letters I (one), V (five), C (100), M (1,000)
are well known and are still used to denote numbers
(Fig. 12). However, because of this cumbersome practice, the
ability of the Romans to write large numbers or do calcula-
tions was restricted.

II Ill IV• V VI VII VIII IX

:.,:,0,- .-

.:·I I t

X xx L C D M CMC :
I ' t I I 6 T

ICI ,. (I _20 100 � 1,000 10,000

. Fig. 12
It was the Hindus who developed an ·extremely con­
venient and perfect system of writing numbers, which was
followed by all the world and is used even today. In the
period around 100 B.C. to A.O. 200, the Hindus developed the
symbols for the numbers 1 to 10 and this was later adopted
by the Arabs. The Arabs conquered a large part of Spain in
the eighth century and in time introduced the Hindu­
Arabic numerals in the conquered land (Fig. 13). The sys­
tem was gradually adopted by the other peoples of Europe.
By the fifteenth century the symbols of the system had
acquired the familiar form of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 0. In
the beginning, there were separate symbols for 20, 30, 40,
etc. However, in the later period two revolutionary ideas
changed the face of mathematics. One was the concept of
using groups of 10, 100 (i.e. 10 groups of 10), 1,000 (i.e. 10
groups of 100), etc. and giving a separate place for each
group. The numerals from 1 to 9 were used to denote how
many groups of 10 or 100 or 1,000 were in their respective
14 EVERYDAY MATHEMATICS

Fig. 13

places. This did away with the necessity of separate sym­

bols for 20, 30 and so on. The concept is called the place
value notation. The word for zero was sunya, meaning empty.
The single numbers from 1 to 9 were called ekak, a .group of
10 was called dashak, a group of 100 was called shatak
and so on. If a number contained two groups of 10 and
no units then 0 was written in the units place and the
number was written as 20. Sim ilarly 307 meant three
groups of 100, no group of 10 (an empty place) and seven
units. The place of units group was at the right, that of 10,
one place to the left of it, that of 100, one place to the left of
lO's place and so on.
 THE NUMBERS 15

Thus the places of the 'digits' of a number were as shown

below:
Thousands Hundreds Tens Units
1,000 100 10 1
A digit, i.e. a numeral from 1 to 9 indicated the number
of tens, hundreds, thousands and so on;. zero (0) indicated
an empty place. Thus, the number 85,406 would be written
as shown below:
10,000 1,000 1 00 10 1
8 5 4 0 6
Thus 85,406 means (8 x 10,000) + (5 x 1,000) + (4 x 100) +
(6 x 1). That is, here the digit 8 has the place value 80,000,
the value of digit 5 is 5,000 and so on.
This system of the Hindus was so revolutionary that
all other systems were abandoned and it was adopted all
over the world. It removed all the restrictions on writing
numbers and one could write any number as large as
one wished. Calculations could now be done with paper and
pen instead of using mechanical devices like the abacus. In
the modern index-notation the groups of 10, 100, etc. are
shown as powers of 10. Hence, it is said to be based on 10,
and is called the decimal system. The place values are
written as
107 106 10s 104 103 102 101 100
In this way the number can be extended . to any
number of places. In fact, the Hindus had developed it at
least to 18 places. The number 1,000,000,000,000,000,00
was called a parardha. In the modern notation it may be
called hundred thousand million millions.

Bases other than Ten

The power of the decimal system lies in its most general
character. The place value concept and the concept of zero
can be used to write any number in any other system with
16 EVERYDAY MATHEMATICS

a base other than 10. Consider a system with base 5. The

places are now written as power of 5:
56 5s 54 53 52 51 50
This system would have the digits 1, 2, 3, 4, 0. The numbers
1 to 4 are written in units place, the groups of 5 written in
the next place, five groups of 5 would be written in the place
of 52, and so on. A number 4,203 would mea·n four groups of
53, two groups of 52, no group of 5 and 3 units, i.e.
53 52 51 50
4 2 0 3
In the usual decimal notation this would be (4 x 125) +
(2 x 25) + (0 x 5) + 3 = 553 because 0 x 5 = 0. If we choose
2 as the base of our system then it consists of the digits 1
and 0. The places are represented by powers of 2; the
number 553 would be written as
29 2s 27 26 2s 24 23 22 21 20
1 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1
In this system, that is, (1 x 512) + (0 x 256) + (0 x 128) +
(0 X 64) + (1 X 32) + (0 X 16) + (1 X 8) + (0 X 4) + (0 X 2) + 1,
shows how general the system is. More about the base 2
later.
The invention of zero is considered as the most impor­
tant event in the history of mathematics. It is humorously
said that the Hindus contributed 'nothing' to mathematics.
An American writer on the history of mathematics says,
"In the whole history of mathematics there has been no
more a revolutionary step than the one which the Hindus
took when they invented the sign 0." Lapiace, one of the
greatest mathematicians in the world, says, "It is India that
gave us the ingenious method of expressing all numbers
by means of ten symbols, each symbol receiving a value of
position as well as an absolute value; a profound and
important idea which appears so simple to us now that we
ignore its true merit. We shall appreciate the grandeur of
 THE NUMBERS 17

this achievement when we remember that it escaped the

genius of Archimedes and Apollonius, two of the greatest
men produced by antiquity."

Operations
Mathematics is not only useful in everyday life; it has
originated from it. Mathematics is the creation of man, who
developed it in the first place to help regulate his social and
personal needs. Even the life of the primitive man was full
of many activities. He had to count the number of animals
in his herds, the people in his village and so on. He had to
measure areas to build houses, to develop the fields,
to erect altars for religious functions; he had to measure
volumes of the agricultural produce, weights of many
objects, and most important of all, he had to measure time.
For this man had developed various systems of mea­
surement. The obelisk, used by the early Egyptians, was also
known as the shadow clock. It cast the shadow of the sun;

,
,,
?

Fig. 14
18 EVERYDAY MATHEMATICS

the space between

the shadow of the
rising sun and the
setting sun was
divided into hours
(Fig. 14). He had
also developed
scales to convert
measurements from
one system to an­
other. The Egyptian
priests used the
metal bar to corre­
spond to a cubit
with the smaller
divisions, palms
(actually the width
of four fingers) and
digits indicated on
the bars (Fig. 15).
All these activities
not only required
numbers but also
�---..Li-........=,.____,:�
operations on num-
bers, to suit their
numerous activities.
At the base of
the origin of the
numbers and the
Fig. 15
operations of num­
bers is a simple and fundamental principle. It involves
one-to-one pairing of the objects in two groups. A readily
available group of objects used as a reference set was the
group of ten fingers on the hands. One object was paired
with one finger, two objects with two fingers and so on.
Thus the numbers from 1 to 10 were conceived. The size of
one set of objects was compared with that of another set
 THE NUMBERS 19

of objects by pairing them off. If an object remained unpaired

in a group, then that was supposed to contain more
objects. If the objects were paired off perfectly, the groups
were said to be equal. This sense of comparison by one-to­
one pairing of objects is an innate equality which comes
naturally to our mind. This idea of one-to-one pairing is
now cal�ed the principle of one-to-one correspondence and
is the basis for the development of mathematics. In fact, the
principle of one-to-one correspondence enables us to estab­
lish a unique pair of an object and a number.
This leads to the unique identification of an object. For
example, a post office and its pin code number establish
a code of identification. Now it is enough to mention the pin
code instead of the name of the post office to direct a letter
to the proper place. Examination roll numbers determine a
code between the candid�te and her /his number. While
declaring the results, only a list of numbers is published,
instead of the names of candidates. It is because of this
principle that a telephone number or the number of a ration
card are used to identify a person. The working of a modern
computer depends entirely on the code established in a pro­
gram between the numbers and entities they represent.
In the initial stages of development of numbers actual objects
like bits of sticks or pebbles were used as reference sets to
pair them off with the objects to be counted. The simplest
and the most fundamental operation of addition suggested
itself through the act of pairing of objects in two sets.
Consider a set containing three coins and another set
containing two coins (Fig. 16.a). Set B is a subset of set A
as one coin in it remains unpaired. Thus 3 is greater than 2.
Now, if we put one more coin in set B, shown white, the
coins would be paired off perfectly. The numbers now would
be equal. Thus we get the relation 2 + 1 =. 3. This is in fact the
beginning of operations on numbers, i.e. addition of two
numbers. Thus, addition of two numbers gives another
number greater than both of them. It was noticed that
the addition of 2 + 1 always gave the number 3, whatever
20 EVERYDAY MATHEMATICS

�
@
�

Fig. 16

be the objects. Hence, the addition gives rise to a unique

number associated with a pair of numbers. Here again a one­
to-one correspondence exists between 2 + 1 and 3. The set
of numbers, thus extended by means of the operation of ad­
dition, consists of the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4 . . . , the three
dots denoting the unending sequence of these numbers.
By adding any two numbers of this set, another number
in the set is obtained.
Now consider the sets of coins A and B again. If we
take away one coin from the set A, the coins can be perfectly
paired as in Fig. 16. b. The act of taking away something
from a set of objects suggests the operation of subtraction,
3 - 1 = 2. This is exactly the reverse of addition. The opera­
tions of addition and subtraction were the first operations
carried out by man. Gradually more complex operations,
like multiplication and division were devised. However, they
are based on the fundamental operations of addition and
subtraction. In fact, in the modem age of computers, addi­
tion and subtraction have assumed ev�n greater importance.
 THE NUMBERS 21

Thinking in terms of groups comes naturally to our

mind. Many a time we count a large number of objects in
groups of two or four or five. Addition of two groups of 3
gives 6, three groups of 3 gives 9 and so on (Fig. 17).

rJ
'�s�_-
"' . .
- .

:: 6

Fig. 17

This realisation leads one to the operation of multipli­

cation. On the contrary, subtraction in groups leads to divi­
sion. It would be interesting to see how addition was used
to obtain the product of two numbers. The ancient Egyp- ·
tians used the following method to multiply 12 by 12, by
addition:
1 12
2 24
4 48
8 96 ... .
Each number in the above Table was obtained by doubling
the preceding one. Now since 4 x 12 = 48 and 8 x 12 = 96,
48 + 96 gave 12 x 12 = 144. It is interesting to note that
they had realised the fact that 4 x 12 + 8 x 12 = (4 + 8) x 12.
This fact is now known as the distributive property of
multiplication. .
Division consists of repeated subtraction. Consider
the division 1 2 + 3. It can be accomplished by taking
22 EVERYDAY MATHEMATICS

away 3 from 12, four times. Thus, 12 + 3 = 4. Now consider

the division of 19 by 8. We can take away 8 from 19
only twice. This would leave 3 to be divided by 8. Hence,
7 can be written as
� s = 2 + .2...
s ' i.e. 2 + 2
s + �
s ' i.e. ..E.
s = 2 + 2--
4
+ 2--
s
Division can be looked upon as dividing qne whole
into its parts. For example, a square piece of paper can be
cut into four parts of equal size. This can be considered as
dividing 1 by 4. Each part is denoted by ¼. This leads to
the concept of fractions. Thus, now we can deal with two
types of numbers, the natural numbers and fractions. When
zero was invented, it was added to the existing numbers.
The natural numbers, with zero and the fractions along with
the four operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication
and division are enough to carry out most of the everyday
activities of our life.
It can be easily seen that when, say, 3 is added to 4,
we get 7. Now to get the original number 4, we have to
subtract 3 from 7. Thus, subtraction nullifies the effect of
addition. Hence, subtraction is called the inverse operation
of addition. Similarly, addition is called inverse of subtrac­
tion. Likewise, multiplication and division are inverse
operations of each other.
Just as multiplication is repeated addition of the same
number, repeated multiplication of the same number gives
a square, a cube or a higher power of that number. Squaring
a number is an essential operation while dealing with areas.
Similarly, it is necessary to find the cube of a number while
finding the volume of a rectangular solid with congruent
sides. The inverse operations of taking square root and cube
root are also important in everyday life.
How is it that only a few operations suffice to work out
all the problems of various fields of human activity? Let us
find it out with the help of an example. Consider the follow­
ing problems:
 THE NUMBERS 23

• A bookseller bought' 100 copies of a book at Rs 4 each.

What was the cost of the books?
• What would be the total area of a house containing
four rooms of 100 sq metre area each?
• How many centimetres are there in a length of 4
metres?
• What would be the total fees collected from 100
students at the rate of Rs 4 each?
It will be seen that each time the answer is 100 x 4. This
shows that all the situations had a common pattern which is
represented by the operation of multiplication, 100 x 4. Thus
the operations are representations, or in the modern lan­
guage, models of various situations that occur in everyday
life. The numbers along with the operations bring out the
patterns underlying our activities. The numbers in them­
selves are independent of the actual objects involved. Only
when associated with the real physical entities do numbers
get a meaning and can provide information about the enti­
ties. For example, the number 50 gives us different ideas
when we say that Ramesh scored 50 marks out of 100 in
mathematics, and when we hear that the maximum tem­
perature in Jaipur was 50° C.

Development of Number System

By A.O. 500, India had become the main centre for the devel­
opment of arithmetic, algebra and trigonometry (Fig. 18).
The number system had been developed and the rules for
various operations on whole numbers and fractions were
established. The numerals from 1 to 9 and 0, the signs for
operations and various terms of the language of mathemat­
ics were well defined. However, these rules were given in
the form of rules for calculations and were not established
as the general laws, though it seems that the Hindu math­
ematicians were aware of them. During this period they were
also dealing with two more types of numbers, viz. negative
numbers and irrational numbers. The negative numbers
24 EVERYDAY MATHEMATICS

' I .-, . ,�, ... ., ,, ·c,: ,-.,

'•.

Fig. 1 8

were introduced to deal with the problems of debt. A debt

was denoted by a negative number. However, negative num­
bers were not yet used as freely as they are now. Negative
numbers are now used to denote temperatures less than
that of ice, which is taken arbitrarily as 0°C. Deficit in rain­
fall is denoted by negative numbers, if it is less than the
average rainfaH. Negative points are given to a golf player
if he finishes the course in a less number of shots than the
standard.
Historically, irrational numbers like f2 or D were
known to the ancient mathematicians well before the
negative numbers. They occurred while calculating the sides
of a right-angled triangle and while drawing a square of a
known area on the diagonal of another square, or while
drawing a square having area equal to that of a given circle.
For example, to draw a square having double the area of a
given square, the diagonal of the given square is taken as
the side of the re�ired square (Fig. 19). Since the length of
the diagonal is ,/ 2 times the side of the square, the area of
 THE NUMBERS 25

the square on the diago­

nal is two times the area
of the given square.
Similarly, to draw a
square having thrice the
area of the given square,
a rectangle is constructed
with the diagonal of the
square as its length and
the side of the square as
its breadth (Fig. 20). Then
the length of the diago­
Fig. 19 nal of the rectangle is �
times the side of the
.. . - - - . ... .
- . .. . . .
. . given square. The area of
·
a square drawn on the di­
·1

agonal of the rectangle is

I

I
I three times the area of the
given square. The so­
I

I .
I called theorem of Py ­
thagoras was known to
I
'� / ancient mathematicians
I
in India, Egypt, China
and elsewhere even be­
fore the start of the Greek
geometry. It was known
that the exact value of
Fig. 20 f2 cannot be found. The
famous mathematician,
Bhaskaracharya II (A.D. 1150) had given in his famous book
Lilavati, a method to calculate the approximate values of an
irrational number like f3.
It took about 5,000 years for the complete development
of the number system as we use it today. In the modem
system the numbers are classified into different sets. The
first set of numbers is, of course, the set of counting
numbers, which are now known as natural numbers and
26 EVERYDAY MATHEMATICS

the set is designated by the letter N. It is denoted as N = {l,

2, 3, 4. . .}. The three dots indicate that there is no end to the
set of natural numbers.
The next step into the development is the inclusion of
zero in the natural numbers. This new set is called the set
of whole numbers. The negative numbers, which were
rejected as unnatural at one time, have now their legiti­
mate place in the number system. The set which includes
all natural, numbers, zero and all-negative whole num­
bers is called the set of integers and is denoted by I.
I = { . . . -4, -3, -2, -1, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 . . . }. The dots indicate that
there are infinite positive as well as negative integers.
The set of integers is further extended by the
inclusion of positive and negative fractions, such as
+ and ;� . Any number in this set can be expressed as
+, a ratio of two integers; for example, -h - : and so on.

3 = +,
Integers can also be expressed in this form. For example,
7 = � and so on. This set is called the set of

Q = {. . . -2, �3 , -1, -; , 0, +-, +,

rational numbers, and is denoted by Q. Thus,
1, 2 '. . . }.

New Ways of Writing Numbers

We must now study two recent systems of writing certain
numbers. The first of them is the way fractions are written.
The new way of writing fractions is known as the decimal
notation. The decimal notation is seen to be simple extension
of the place value notation to fractions. Observe the
following place values:
I I I 1
. . . 10,000 1,000 100 10 1 10 Too 1000 ioooii""
Here the place values to the right of 1 are +a-, 1�0-
and so on. ( ½, � , etc. can also be written as 10-1 ,
1 0
10- , etc.). Just as the digits in a whole number are
2

multiplied by the value of the place and then added, the

digits to the right of the unit's place in a decimal fraction are
multiplied by the values of their respective places and
added to get the fractional part. A dot, called the decimal
 THE NUMBERS 27

point, to the right of the unit's digit indicates the fractional

part of the number. Thus the decimal fraction 234.567 can be
written as
102 101 100 10-1 10--i 10-3
2 3 4 5 6 7
1
i.e. 2 X 100 + 3 X 10 + 4 X 1 + 5 X 10 +6X 1�0 +7X 1 ioo

In the usual notation of fractions this is written as 234 15:;0 •

Writing numbers in decimal notation is extremely con­
venient. To add or subtract one has to write the numbers
with the respective places one below the other and add or
subtract like whole numbers. Multiplication is done as
in the case of two whole numbers and the decimal point
put in the proper place, given by the addition of the deci­
mal places in the two numbers. Division is also done as in
the case of two whole numbers and the decimal point is put
when the zeros are added after the unit's digit is taken in
the division.
A fraction can be converted to a terminating or a

+, +
recurring decimal. Fractions with powers of ¼ = 0.25,

+
½ = 0.5. Fractions like are recurring, for example
= 0.666 . . ., -f = 0.222 . . . Numbers like -v3, flcan also
be written as decimal fractions. However, such decimals
are non-terminating and non-recurring. One gets a more
and more accurate value of such a number by taking the
decimal fraction to more and more places.
The second system of writing numbers is the one
scientists all over the world have adopted as a §tandard
practice for writing the values of various quantities, like
length, time, force, etc. Here the number is written with only
those places in the decimal fraction which are significant
for the value of the quantity measured. For example, if the
length is measured to the tenth of a millimetre, then the
length of a segment is written as, say 27.15 cm. This is then
written as 2. 715 x 10. Thus in the decimal form of the number,
integral part is only the unit's place; the rest is a fraction and ·
28 EVERYDAY MATHEMATICS

the whole number is expressed as multiplied with the proper

power of 10. For example, the radius of the earth is 6,700
km. It would be written as 6.7 x 106 metres in SI units.
Similarly, the radius of a bromine atom is 1 .1 4A. Since
l A = 10-10 metres, it would be 1 . 1 4 x 1 0- 10metres. This
method of writing numbers is very convenient for the
comparison of two quantities. In the above example one can
easily see that the radius of the earth is 10 16 times greater
than the radius of an atom. The number is so large that the
ratio of 6.7 to 1 .14 does not matter at all and can be safely
left out of the calculation. Such a comparison is called the
order of magnitude and is extremely important in science.
Some Strange Numbers
There are some numbers in mathematics which form the
basis of modem mathematics but no one knows what they
exactly are! The most well known of these numbers is the
Greek letter 7t (pi). Popularly it is taken to be equal to the
ratio 2; • It is not, however, the real value of 7t. In fact no one
knows its exact value. All that is known about its value is
that it lies between 3 and 4, which is a rather rough esti­
mate. Still better estimate is that its value lies between 3. 1
and 3.2. The estimate becomes more and more accurate as
we go on taking more and more decimal places in its value.
The modem value has been computed up to more than a
million decimal places, with the help of computers.
The number 7t denotes the ratio of the circumference
of a circle to its diameter. Throughout history people have
used various approximations for n. For the ancient Hebrews,
who built Solomon's temple, 3 was obviously good enough,
for in the Bible, First Book of Kings, in a description of a sort
of an ornamental pond outside the temple, it is said, "Also
he made a molten sea of 10 cubits from brim to brim . . .
and a line of 30 cubits did encompass it roundabout." The
Babylonians took 7t to be 3½ and the Egyptians 3{}-. The
ancient Hindus used the value 3.1416 to draw a square
equal in area to a circle. The Chinese had taken the value of
 THE NUMBERS 29

7t equal to 3.16, although Tsu Ch'ung Chih had calculated it

correct to seven places to be between 3 . 1 415926 and
3.1415927. Although the number 7t was used as a ratio in the
ancient times, it was not considered as a special number
and the values obtained were obtained indirectly. The
special status of 1t was first given by Archimedes and its
value was calculated as the ratio of circumference to the
diameter of a circle. He decided that its value was between
3 �� and 3-f Hence, it was taken to be approximately equal
to 3t, i.e. 2; • He did not, however, denote it by any letter.
The letter was first used to denote this ratio by William
Jones in 1706. An interesting one was hit upon by accident
in 1964 (the year British Television changed to 625 lines on
the screen) by an engineer working for Pye Television: 1:26; .
However, just out of interest, since the year 1949, mathema­
ticians have programmed computers to calculate 7t to more
and more decimal places, and in 1984 a computer in Japan
worked out two million decimal places. Obviously numbers
are important for many practical reasons, but they also have
a fascination of their own, and the branch of mathematics,
known as number theory or higher arithmetic, is concerned
entirely with numbers and how they behave.
The number 1t is the basis of circular (or trigonometric)
functions. Angles are measured in a unit called radian.
21t radians equal 360°. Hence, all trigonometric functions
are expressed in terms of ic. It is required to find out the
circumference of a circle and hence is the basis of modem
technology. Electrical engineering, propagation of w�ves of
all kinds, astronomical calculatioris, are all based on' trigo­
nometric functions. Thus 7t is an important number in mod­
em sciences.
Another strange number similar to 1t is e. Like 1t the
number e also forms the basis of modem mathematics. Func­
tions like trigonometric functions, hyp erbolic functions, ex­
potential functions are based on e.
The number e is obtained by considering the sum of
the infinite series:
30 EVERYDAY MATHEMATICS

1 + 1 + 1.2
I
+
I I
+ 1 .2.3.4 + . . •
1 .2.3
This is an w1ending series. However, the sum is always less
than 3. Both 1t and e are irrational numbers.
Yet another strange number is i. It is called an imagi­
nary number because it cannot really exist, as it is taken to be
the square root of a negative number such as "'/-1. All
num bers have one common p roperty: square of any
number, positive or negative, is always positive. Thus, in
the real number system it is impossible to find a number,
square of which would be negative. However, mathemati­
cians s ince ancient times had encountered such numbers
while finding the square roots of numbers. The name
'imaginary' number was given to such numbers by Des
Cartes. Any number of the form a + b../-1 , i.e. a + bi is called
a complex number. Complex numbers are used extensively
in modem mathematics and form the basis of many func­
tions used in mathematics and science.

Fig. 21
 THE NUMBERS 31

Calculating Numbers
The progress of civilisation has gone hand in hand with the
progress in counting numbers. For example, progress in
navigation followed the invention of the logarithmic and
trigonometric tables, and technology progressed when the
slide rule was ready, while the modem age is known as the
Age of Computers.
The abacus (Fig. 21) was the first device of a perma­
nent nature which was used for calculating. It consisted of
vertical bars fitted in a frame. A horizontal bar separated
the frame into two parts. The upper part contained two
beads while the lower part contained five beads on each bar.
The upper beads denoted fives and the lower one units.
This was used to add and subtract large numbers.
Although the origin of abacus is not known, it was used
in China for the last 3,000 years and is still popular in China
and Japan.

Multiplication
Multiplication is nothing but addin g the same number aga in

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 g 10
1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
2 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
..,16 20
3 3 6 9 12 15 18 21 24 27 30
4 4 8 12 16 20 24 28 ' 32 38 40
5 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
6 6 12 18 24 30 36 42 48 . 64 60
7 7 14 21 1-1 28 35 42 49 se 63 ·10
8 8 16 2- 32 40 48 58 64 72 80
9 9 18 27 36' 45 54 63 72 81 90
10 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 1 00 !
Fig. 22
32 EVERYDAY MATHEMATICS

and again. Thus for 2 we get the series of multiples of 2,

such as
2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 1 8, 20
up to 2 x 10. We can go on writing the higher multiples.
However, it is not necessary to go beyond 2 x 10. For if we
say 2 x 16, we can get it by using the Table up to 10; thus
2 x 16 = 1 6 x 2 = (10 + 6) x 2 = 20 + 1 2 = 32. The Table given
in Fig. 22 is sufficient to carry out all multiplications and
divisions that are usually required.
In Indiamultiplication Tables were developed to a large
extent. Tables for integers up to 30 for first 10 multiples, and
for fractions for first 100 multiples were developed and used
extensively for more than 2,000 years.
Tables for multiplication are also used for division. For
example if 3 x 4 = 1 2, then 1 2 + 4 = 3. Multiplication Table is
a powerful device for speedy and accurate calculations
except for very complicated calculations which involve
powers or roots of numbers.

Logarithms
During the fifteenth century sea voyages were under­
taken by the western countries like Great Britain, Denmark,
Spain and Portugal on a large scale. In sea, navigation de­
pended on knowing the correct positions of stars, planets
and constellations. It was necessary to prepare accurate
trigonometric Tables, for which complicated calculations
were necessary. Logarithms were invented to facilitate
the calculations.
The logarithms convert the problem of multiplication
into a problem of addition and a problem of division into a
problem of subtraction. This immensely simplifies the task
of calculation.

Computers
The electronic computer is the most efficient of all the
machines developed till date for computation. It can handle
large numbers, is extremely fast and accurate. At the heart
 THE NUMBERS 33

of a computer are electronic circuits which carry out the

logical operations required for computations. However, a
computer does not work with the language of words. It
works with the language of numbers and all the words in
computer language consist of only two numbers-1 and 0.
Since the binary system consists of only two digits, 1 and 0,
all numbers are expressed in terms of powers of 2. The
place values are as shown below:
2 s 2 7 2 6 2s 2 4 2 3 22 2 1 2 0
Using this place value system, numbers in the 10-base
system can be converted to the 2-base system. For example,
1 = 1
2 = 10
3 = 11
4 = 100
5 = 101
6 = 110
7 = 111
8 = 1,000
9 = 1,001
10. = 1,010 and so on.
In a computer circuit 1 means a closed circuit and 0
means an open circuit. A code is fed to the computer through
a procedure called a program. The code translates ordinary
language into the number language of the computer and
vice versa. While doing computations, a computer converts
a problem of multiplication into a problem of addition and a
problem of division into that of subtraction. This seen'.}$ to
be going back to a primitive procedure. However, a compu­
ter does these additions or subtractions so fast that nobody
minds it. Nowadays highly sophisticated computer pro­
grams are available which can deal with all sorts of compli­
cated problems-from solving hundreds of equations to
drawing pictures and printing books, even booking reser­
vations. Indeed, computers have become the mainstay of
modem life. It may be said that we are living in the world of
one and none!
 3

THE VARIABLES

Mathematics deals with situations in everyday life. The situ­

ations are, however, varied in nature.
We come across many instances of unknown or vari­
able quantities in the course of a day. For example, when we
travel in a bus, the speed of the bus keeps on changing; the
number of passengers changes at every stop; and the amount
in the purse of the bus conductor also keeps changing. In
fact, life is full of variable quantities. The monthly expendi­
ture of a person, the profit earned in a business, the yield of
a crop, the yearly rainfall, the temperature of air, the height
of a plant and even the length of a day are all variable quan­
tities.
The Hindu mathematicians were the first to recognise
the need for denoting unknown or the variables and used a
different notation for them. The world yavat-tavat, meaning
'as much' or 'as many', was used to denote an unknown
quantity in a manuscript dating back to the period well
before 300 B.C. Later mathematicians used the word avyakt,
meaning 'an unknown quantity' (as against vyakt which
denotes a known quantity) instead of yavat- tavat.
Recent discoveries have shown that Babylonians solved
problems in variables though they had no symbols for
them. They used only words to denote such numbers, and
that is why their algebra has been referred to as rhetorical
algebra. The papyrus, an Egyptian scroll going back to
1600 B.c., has a number of problems in algebra, in which the
 THE VARIABLES 35

unknown is referred to as a hau,.meaning 'a heap'.

Aryabhatta I, Brahmagupta and Bhaskaracharya II were
some of the eminent ancient Hindu mathematicians who
propounded and perfected the methods of beej-ganita, the
mathematics of variables, as it is expressed in modern lan­
guage. Beej-ganita means literally, 'the mathematics of
letters'.
Little further progress was made in this field until we
came to Diophantus, a Greek mathematician, living in third
century A.O. He reduced problems to equations, represent­
ing the unknown quality by a symbol suggesting the Greek
l: (sigma). He also introduced an interesting system of
abbreviations in which he used only the initial letters of
words and omitted all unnecessary words. In the sixteenth
century, Francois Vieta, a French mathematician, used the
vowels a, e, i, o, u to represent unknown numbers and the
consonants b, c, d, f, g and so on to stand for values that
remained fixed throughout a given problem. Rene
Descartes, the great sixteenth-century French philosopher,
proposed the system of a, b, c and other letters near the
beginning of the alphabet to represent the fixed values. The
concept of using letters to denote variables or unknown
quantities in a problem was the first step towards generali­
sation of the basic concepts of arithmetic and the key to the
progress of mathematics.
The word 'algebra' originated from the title of a work
on algebra by a Persian, Mohammed ibn Mesa al-Kwarizmi
who lived in ninth century A.O. He wrote in Arabic a w_ork
called Al-jebr w'al Muqabala, which means 'restoration
and reduction'. By al:-jebr, or restoration, was meant trans­
posing of negative terms to the other side of an equation to
make them positive. Whe� the Arabs came to Spain, they
brought this word with them. In the course of time al-jebr
got changed to 'algebra', and the word came to be applied
not to a single operation, but to the many operations in­
volved in algebra.
36 EVERYDAY MATHEMATICS

Mathematical Patterns
The most important function of algebra is to bring out a pat­
tern in its general form. For example, consider the arithmeti­
cal operation of addition. Take the following example:
3+4 = 7 = 4+3
5 + 10 = 15 = 10 + 5
6+7 = 13 = 7 + 6 and so on.
Deleting the numbers in the middle, we get
3+4 = 4+3
5 + 10 = 10 + 5
6+7 = 7+ 6
If we replace the numbers in these expressions by letters,
we get a + b = b + a. This single algebraic expression repre­
sents all the possible expressions of the above kind. The
algebraic expression brings out the particular property of
the operation of addition-that the result of addition is the
same, if the order of addition of two numbers is reversed.
This property of addition is known as the commutative law of
addition. The following laws express the most important
properties of addition and multiplication that are constantly
used in everyday calculations. In these expressions a, b, c
are any numbers.
a+b=b+a Commutative law of addition
(a + b) + c = a + (b + c) Associative law of addition
axb=bxa Commutative law of multiplication
(a x b) x c = a x (b x c) Associative law of multiplication
a x (b + c) =a x b + a x c Distributive law of multiplication
with respect to addition
As has been mentioned earlier, the discovery of zero
and its properties was the most important event in the
history of mathematics. Aryabhatta and other Hindu math­
ematicians had studied the peculiar properties of zero. They
had, of course, exposed the properties verbally in verse
form, as was the prevalent practice in India at that time.
 THE VARIABLES 37

In the modem notation the properties are:

a+0=0+a=a
a x0 = 0 xa=0
a-0 = a
a + 0 is indeterminate.
However, they were not very clear about the division by
zero.
Let us see how these laws of operations help us in our
everyday chores. One of the most important activities is
to keep the account of various transactions of money.
Suppose, for example, the amounts of Rs 50, Rs 100, Rs 45
and Rs 40 are to be added, i.e. the sum of 50 + 100 + 45 + 40
is required. The numbers are always added two at a time.
The addition goes as follows:
50 + 100 + 45 + 40 = (50 + 100) + 45 + 40
== (150 + 45) + 40
== 195 + 40
== 235
However, it would not matter at all if the addition is done as
follows:
50 + 100 + 45 + 40 = 50 + 100 + (45 + 40)
== 50 + (100 + 85)
== 50 + 185
== 235
Thus the numbers can be added in any order. Here both the
commutative and associative laws are freely used mostly
intuitively, in our daily life. The same is the case with multi­
plication. The multiplication 5 x 17 is usually done as
17 x 5 since it is easier to find it from the multiplication
Table. The product 1 2 x 5 x 2 is done as follows:
12 X 5 X 2 == (12 X 5) X 2
= 60 x 2
= 120
or == 12 x (5 x 2) == 12 x 10 == 120
38 EVERYDAY MATHEMATICS

Sometimes this helps in carrying out a difficult multi­

plication; for example, it is easier to find the product
137 x (5 x 2) , i.e. 137 x 10 than (137 x 5) x 2. The distribu­
tive law of multiplication, viz. a (b + c) = ab + ac is used
while we multiply large numbers. For example, the product
256 x 7 is· carried out in the following way:
(256 X 7) = (200 + 50 + 6) X 7
= 1400 + 350 + 42
= 1792
In actual practice the product is done orally by carry­
ing forward digits denoting the groups of 10 or 100 at each
step. It can be easily seen that these laws are an integral part
of our everyday life.

The Equality Relation

When the letters in an algebraic expression are replaced by
numbers, a value of the expression is obtained. If the values
of two expressions are found, it may happen that the two
expressions have the same value. Such expressions are
said to be equivalent (having equal values). It is said that an
equality relation exists between the two expressions. This
relation is written in the form of an equation. For example,
a x (b + c) and a x b + a x c are two equivalent expressions.
Consider the value a = 2, b = 3, c = 4; then
a x (b + c) = 2 X (3 + 4)
= 2x7
= 14
and a x b + a x c = 2x3+2x4
= 6+8
= 14
Hence the relation is expressed as a x (b + c) = a x b + a x c.
There are various types of equivalent expressions. They
form a large part of our daily life as well as of the study
of mathematics and science. Consider the following
problem. A football club was joined by three new members.
 THE VARIABLFS 39

After a month, half of the existing membe,s left. How

many members were there in the beginning?
Let x be the number of members initially. When three
members joined the club, the number became x + 3. When
half of them left (x+ 3)/2 members remained. When 1 0
members joined this club the number was [(x + 3)/2} + 10.
This was equal to x. Hence we get
-,2- + 10 =X
2 [ x;J + 10 ] = 2x
:. X + 3 + 20 = 2x
:. X + 23 = 2x
:. X + 23 - X = 2x - X
23 = X

Hence, initially there were 23 members in the club.

Systems of Equations
Bhaskaracharya has given the following p roblem in his
famous book, Lilavati: "Tell me, oh student, what are the
numbers whose sum is 101 and the difference 25, if you
know how to do it." Let us try to solve the problem, using
equations. Let the two numbers be x and y. Then
x+y = 101
and x -y = 25
(x + y) + (x - y) = 101 + 25
2x = 126
X = 63
Now x+y = 101
i.e. 63 + y = 101
y = 101 - 63
y = 38
Thus 63 and 38 are the numbers.

Sequences
Two friends A and B were having a chat. A made an offer to
B, the other, "I will pay you one thousand rupees on the
first day, 2,000 rupees on the second day, 3,000 rupees on
40 EVERYDAY MATHEMATICS

the third day, and so on for a month. In return you should

pay me one paisa on the first day and double the amount
next day and so on for every day for a month." B accepted
the offer readily. But to his chagrin, he had to repent after­
wards. Can you guess why?
Let us see what each of. them would get each day.
Day A (rupees) B (rupees)
1 1,000 .01
2 2,000 .02
3 3,000 .04
4 4,000 .08
5 5,000 .16
6 6,000 .32
7 7,000 .64
8 8,000 1.28
9 9,000 2.56
10 10,000 5.12
11 11,000 10.24
12 12,000 20.48
13 13,000 40.96
14 14,000 81.92
15 15,000 163.84
16 16,000 327.68
17 17,000 655.36
18 18,000 1310.72
19 19,000 2621.44
20 20,000 5242.88
21 21,000 10485.76
22 22,000 20971.52
23 23,000 41943.04
24 24,000 83886.08
Do you see now why A had to repent? On the 23rd
day he had to pay almost double the amount he received
from B.
 THE VARIABLES 41

Can you tell how B could overtake A even if he had

started with just one paisa? Let us see how the numbers
went on growing:
Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4
For A 1000 2000 3000 4000 . . .
i.e. 1000 1000+1000 2000+1000 3000+1000 . . .
For B 0.01 0.02 0.04 0.08 . . .
i.e. 0.01 0.01 X 2 0.02 X 2 0.04 x 2 . . .
The numbers are in a Sequence and grow in a systematic
way. In the first sequence each number is greater than the
previous number by 1,000. In the second sequence each
number is double the previous one. One can see that by ad­
dition, the sequence grows slowly, while by multiplication
it grows very fast. The sequence of the first type is called
Arithmetic Progression (A.P.); the second type is known as a
Geometric Progression (G'.P.). The study of sequences like these
is an important part of algebra.

Series: Adding the Terms of a Sequence

In an elementary class a teacher gave the children a difficult
task of adding all the numbers from 1 to 100. He was sure of
getting a rest for some time. He was in for a surprise, though.
As soon as he finished giving the sum, a boy wrote the
answer on his slate and put it down. The teacher asked the
boy to show his answer. The answer was 5,050, which was
the correct answer. The boy was Freidrich Gauss, whg:;later
became one of the greatest mathematicians. Instead of add­
ing all the numbers, he found out that the sum is given by
(1 + 100) + (2+99) + (3+98) +. . . . , that there were 50 pairs each
adding to 101; so the sum was 50 x 101= 5,050. This is in fact
the method used to find the sum of a series in arithmetic
series. The sum of an arithmetic series of n numbers with a
as the first term and d as the commo� difference is given by
S11 = + [2a + (n - 1) d]
42 EVERYDAY MATHEMATICS

If we put a = 1, d = 1 and n = 100, we get

5 roo = ..1QQ....
z [2 + 99} = 50 X 101 = 5'050
Gauss's genius had found out the pattern of numbers
in the addition in a flash.
The sum of a geometric series with a as its first term
and common ratio r, to first n terms is given by the formula
a (r" - 1)
S II = r-1

We can now find out what each of the friends A and B

received at the end of the month. The amount received by
A is given by
S11 = �o [2 X 1000 + (30 - 1) 1000]
= 15 [2000 + 29000]
= 15 X 31000
= 465000 or Rs 4,65,000
The amount received by B, if given by
sII = 1 (230 - 1)
(2 - 1)
= 230
-1
= 1073741823 or Rs 1,07,37,418.23

Mathematics in Real Life

Mathematics can be said to be a mirror in which life is re­
flected. A mathematician facing a real problem can then, like
Alice in Wonderland, wander in the mathematical image of
life, allow his imagination to work, solve the mirror prob­
lem and then return back to real life with the real answer.
Let us take a simple problem and see how mathematics helps
to solve it.
Expenses of a student's hostel increased from Rs 7,000
to 9,000 per month, when the number of boarders
increased from 12 to 16. The hostel had to pay a fixed
rent per month and spend a certain amount per per­
son as living charges. What was the rent and the ex­
pense per person?
 THE VARIABLES 43

To convert the real problem into a mathematical one, let us

denote the quantities with letters. Let M be the number of
students, A be the amount charged per person, R the rent
and E the total expense per month. Then we get
E = M xA + R
Now, according to given conditions, substituting the values
for M and E we get
7000 = 12A + R . . . . . (1)
and 9000 = l6A + R . . . . . (5)
This is now a mathematical problem of solving two simulta­
neous equations. Subtracting (1) from (2) we get
2000 = 4 A
A = 500
Substituting in (1), we get
7000 = 6000 + R
R = 1000
Here the mathematical part of the problem is over. We have
now to interpret the result into the real life. We then con­
clude that the amount spent per person is Rs 500 and the
rent is Rs 1 ,000.
To solve the above problem we used letters to denote
various quantities of the problem and formed the equation
E =MxA + R
which is in fact a mathematical model of the problem. This
method is called mathematical modelling, which provides
us with a very powerful means of solving problems in real
life. Today, with the help of computers, many versions of a
mathematical model can be tested by changing the values
of the variables and the most suitable model is selected to
deal with extremely complicated problems in meteorology,
aeronautics, hydrodynamics, nuclear physics, social sciences
like economics, sociology and communication.
 4

RATIOS: COMPARING THINGS

In everyday life we often compare two things while buying

a thing, or choosing between two jobs, and so on. Compari­
sons like 'Calcutta is bigger than Bombay', 'Subhash is
stronger than Satish', 'Kalpana is better than Kavita in
mathematics' are always made. However, these statements
are rather vague. They do not give the exact idea of how
much bigger, or how much stronger. One can compare things
properly if numbers are assigned to them. Then one can com­
pare the numbers according to the established rules of math-
ematics and arrive at a proper conclusion. For example, if
one knows that the populations of Calcutta and Bombay are
10 million and 8 million respectively, then one can say that
Calcutta is bigger than Bombay since 10 million is larger
than 8 million. Thus to compare two things, we compare
numbers assigned to them. The problem thus reduces to com­
paring two numbers.
There are two ways of comparing two numbers.
Suppose a and b are the two numbers. Then we can find the
difference a - b. For example 14 - 10 == 4, i.e. 14 is greater
than 10 by 4. The other way of comparing two numbers
is to divide one number by the other. Suppose 20 and 10
are two numbers, then i� = t . Thus 20 is two times 10 or
� = ½; that is 10 is -½ of 20. Thus, in general, a ratio answers
the questions, "How many times one number is of the
other?" or "What fraction of one number is the other?".
Another way of saying this is that the ratio of 20 to 10 is
 RATIOS: COMPARING THINGS 45

2 to 1 . Comparing two numbers by taking their ratio is

quite common and also very useful. For example, it is bet­
ter to say that 50 is ½- of 100 than to say that 50 is less than
lO0 by 50.
Ratios are expressed in deferent ways. For example,
a company report while extolling the efficiency of the
company says: "The p rofits have doubled this year. " This
means that the ratio of this year's profit to last year's p rofit
is t While distributing the bonus shares a company
says that it would distribute the shares in the ratio 1 :2.
That means, one bonus share will be given for every two
shares lield by the shareholder. Talking about the literacy
of a village, it is said that there is one literate for every three
illiterates in the village. That is, the ratio of literates to illit­
erates is t·The ·ratios are sometimes written in a different
notation. For example, the ratio ½- in the above example is
also written as 1. :3. A ratio } can be written as 2+3 or } or
I
2:3, and so on.
When a ratio is written in the form � where a and b are
integers and b is not equal to zero, it can be treated as a
rational number. Hence, when we are dealing with ratios,
rules of rational numbers are applied to them. For example,
f f
and are two ratios. It is necessary to decide which is the
greater one, then they can be compared as if they are two
fractions. Hence, writing that } = � , and ¾- = ;! , it can be
f
found that is the greater of the two.
Care has to be taken when quantities compared are
not simple numbers, but are measured in some units. For
exampler "Which is gr�ater, 1 50 minutes or 3 ho�rs?"
Here, the quantities are in different units and cannot be
compared unless they are reduced to the same units.
Three hours means 180 minutes. Now 150 minutes and 180
minutes can be compared. On the other hand, 150 minutes
means 2,5 hours. Now 2.5 hours and 3 hours can be
compared.
46 EVERYDAY MATHEMATICS

Percentages
In practice ratios are used and compared in various ways.
A student gets 75 marks out of 100 in language and 120
out of 150 in science. In which subject is his performance
better? We can compare the ratios ;� and :;� and decide
225
the issue·" .1L
100 = �
300 and ll!!. 300" Hence by comparing 300 and
150 = EQ.
f� we can see that he had done better in science than in
language. Here we have taken 300 as the common denomi­
nator in both the ratios. In principle any number can be taken
as the common denominator, and the ratio is expressed as a
percentage. For example, 75 marks out of hundred is ex;..
pressed as 75 per cent marks. The words per cent mean 'for
each hundred'. In this way :� = 18� • Hence 120 out of 150
mean 80 out of 100, i.e. 80 per cent. The ratio in terms of 100
means 'percentage'. In everyday life, marks in examinations,
the results of various examinations, number of literates and
illiterates in a population, and many other quantities are
expressed as percentages.
Proportion
We often hear expressions like 'the more the merrier', 'the
more one gets the more one wants', 'the deeper you go into
the water the higher the pressure gets', or 'it gets cooler as
you go up in the air'. Such expressions tell us about rela­
tions between two things. If one of the things changes, the
other also changes, either in the same way ,or in the oppo­
site way. For example, as the depth under water increases,
the pressure of water also increases and vice versa. Here the
quantities 'depth' and 'pressure' increase or decrease to­
gether. On the other hand, as the height of a point from
sea level increases, the temperature of air at that point
decreases. Thus the changes in the height and the tempera­
ture of air are opposite to each other.
Let us take a few examples where two related things
change or vary in the same manner. Consider the number of
copies of a book bought and the price paid for them.
 RATIOS: COMPARING THINGS 47

No. of Books Price Paid

10 200
20 400
50 1000
Here as the number of books increases, the total price paid
also increases. Thus we consider the ratios ;� and ,m. It is
= 21 . s·unilarly 50
10 •
seen that 20 200
= 400 10
000 = 5. Thus m each
= 1200 1

case the ratios of corresponding values of the quantities

concerned are equal. If two ratios are equal, the four quanti­
ties involved in the ratios are said to be proportional. In
general if 1- = 1 then a, b, c, d are said to be in proportion,
when written in that order. This means that though a, b, c, d
are in proportion, a, d, b, c are not. On the other hand, given
that a, b, c, d are in proportion, r- = 7. The numbers a, b, c, d,
are called the terms of proportion. When three terms of a
proportion are known, the remaining one can be found out.
The following problem fits into this pattern and can be solved
in the same way.
A person bought 3 copies of a book for Rs 75. How
many copies can he get for Rs 300? If x is the number
of copies, we get
is = 3�
X = is X 300
= 12
Thus the person gets 12 copies of the book.
Consider another example. For a car travelling.;1t an
average speed of 50 km per hour, the distance covered would
increase with time, as in the following Table:
Time (hrs) Distance (km)
1 50
2 100
3 150
4 200
In the above examples the related quantities, viz.
48 EVERYDAY MATHEMATICS

number of books and the price, and time and distance are
changing in the same manner, i.e. increasing together. Such
quantities are said to be in direct proportion. Sometimes the
related quantities change in an opposite manner, i.e. while
one increases, the other decreases or vice versa. Consider
the following problem:
An amount of Rs 1,000 is to be repaid by monthly
instalments. The time required to repay the loan
depends upon ·the amount of each instalment.
A Table can be prepared as shown below:
Amount (Rs) Time (months)
100 10
200 5
250 4
500 2
Here, as the amount of monthly instalment increases, the
time of repayment decreases; the ratio of the amount is the
multiplicative inverse of the ratio of corresponding time
period. For example,
= 21 , 5
100 10
= 12 which 1s• mverse
• of 2I . Agam,
"
t- = -¾ and i is its inverse.
200

In this case the 100, 200, 10, 5 are said to be in inverse

proportion.
Continued Proportion
Another interesting type of proportion is the proportion
between three terms instead of four. Here the middle term is
in proportion with both the first and the third terms. Thus,
a b
T C

ac = b2
b = {ac
Thus, the middle term is the square root of the product of
the first and third terms. The middle term is called the
geometric mean of the other two terms. It is used in many
 RATIOS: COMPARING THINGS 49

branches of mathematics and science. It is used as an

important statistical average. The idea of a common term
in a p rop ortion can be extended to more than three
terms. Such a proportion is called a continued proportion. For
example,
If !:. = !. =
b C
.E...
d = 2-. etc
I •

then the quantities a, b, c, d, etc. are said to be in continued

proportion.

'.;,',.';
 5

SHAPES AND SIZES

Radhanath Sikdhar was a surveyor working in the office of

the Survey of India. He was on his usual duty in his office
at Darjeeling. One day he decided to measure the height of
a distant peak, that seemed to be the loftiest of all. It was
called PK-15. He had already fixed the height of the place
where he had established his base. From there he took meas­
urements and made calculations. He could not believe his
eyes. He was 29,002 ft (8,700.6 metres) from sea level. This
was the highest peak in the world which was later named
Mt Everest. He was the first person to find it out. How could
he find the height of the peak without actually climbing it?
It was no magic. It was his knowledge of geometry that ena­
bled him to achieve this result. Let us see how geometry
helps us in dealing with such problems.
'Geometry' literally means, 'measuring the earth'
(geo means 'earth', metry means 'measuring'). However,
geometry began primarily as a study of various shapes found
in Nature. Look at a few of Nature's beautiful products
(Fig. 23).
Each of them shows a certain geometrical shape.
For example, the banana leaf shows parallel lines and
angles, the beehive shows hexagons, while the quartz crys­
tal shows a six-sided solid figure. Each of these figures shows
a particular arrangement of its parts. Such an arrangement
is called a 'pattern'. Each of these objects has a different pat­
tern. The fun of it is the fact that we can recognise these
 SHAPES AND SIZES 51

Fig. 23

patterns, can remember them, can understand the difference

between them and can recall these patterns if they occur
elsewhere.
Development of geometry took shape through the in­
teraction of man with Nature. The bright stars in the night
sky gave rise to the concept of a point. The branches of tr�·es,
the stars in a configuration gave him the idea of an angle.
Beams of light penetrating the gaps in the leaves of trees
and made visible by dust or smoke gave rise to the concept
of a straight line, while the shapes of leaves gave rise to the
idea of a curved line.
The basic shapes of geometry-a point, a line, an
angle, and a circle were conceived by observing the patterns
of leaves, petals, etc. (Fig. 24). All other shapes, viz. the
triangle, quadrilateral (with four/sides), hexagon (with
52 EVERYDAY MATHEMATICS

Fig. 24

six sides), etc. were built up of these basic shapes. The

Sanskrit names, trikon (with three angles}, chatushkon (with
four angles), panchakon (with five angles}, etc. also exem­
plify the same thing.

Geometry: A Useful Tool

The beginnings of geometry go back far into prehistory.
As the population of a given region grew, the natural dwell­
ing places available did not suffice. It became necessary to
build shelters big enough to house families and strong
enough to withstand sun, wind, rain and storm. To make
a shelter of proper size, a person had to compare lengths
and take the height to be higher than the tallest person.
The ancient Babylonians were pioneers in this branch
of mathematics. The land between the Tigris and Euphrates
 SHAPES AND SIZES 53

rivers, where the Babylonians dwelt, was originally

marshland. Canals were built to drain the marshes, and to
catch the overflow of the rivers. For the purpose of canal
construction, it was necessary to survey the land. In so do­
ing, the Babylonians developed rules for finding areas. These
rules were not exact, but the results they gave were enough
for canal construction.
In Egypt, the farmers had farms along the banks of the
river Nile which were taxed according to their holdings.
In the rainy season, the river would overflow its banks and
submerge the land, washing away all landmarks. It became
necessary, therefore, to re-measure the land so that each
owner would have his rightful share (Fig. 25). After the floods
had subsided, trained men or rope-stretchers would estab­
lish new landmarks. They would use ropes knotted at equal
intervals so that they could measure out desired lengths and
divide the land into triangles, rectangles, and trapezoids.
They devised practical rules for the areas of these figures
which were rough and not exact.
As the civilisations developed all over the world, math­
ematicians studied the properties of various geometrical
figures. It is interesting to note that civilisations in ancient
Babylonia (now Iraq), Egypt, India and China, although far

Fig. 25
54 EVERYDAY MATHEMATICS

away from each other had developed almost the same

geometry. The people in these countries were great build­
ers, and used the property of a right-angled triangle to draw
accurately perpendicular lines, squares and other figures.
For instance, the ancient Babylonians and Egyptians knew
that if you make a triangle whose sides were 3, 4 and 5 units
long, then the angle between the two shorter sides was a
right angle (90°). The Egyptians used a rope with knots tied
at regular intervals as a ruler, and by using one of these it
was fairly easy to construct a 3, 4, 5 triangle to make a right
angle (Fig. 26.a). Using such simple tools they could build
pyramids and palaces with surprising accuracy. Though
today we know that the area of any triangle is one-half the
product of its altitude or height, and its base, the Egyptians
erroneously gave this area as one-half the product of the
base and a side. Since most of the triangles used in their

Fig. 26.a
 SHAPES AND SIZES 55

Fig. 26.b

survey work were long and narrow-in such triangles there

is not too much difference in length between the side and
the altitude-the result of their calculations showed a fairly
correct basis for allotting of land and for taxation purposes.
The Great Pyramid built in Egypt in 2500 B.c. has a base
which is an exact square having sides of length about 230
metres (Fig. 26.b). It was indeed a great feat to draw such a
huge square with extremely accurate sides and angles.
In the hands of the Hindus, geometry took an entirely
different tum. They developed geometry as a tool to solve
practical problems in everyday activities and astronomy.
They freely used the numbers and algebra to solve geometri­
cal problems of measuring areas, volumes, and so on. Be­
cause of the practise of learning sutras by heart, written books
56 EVERYDAY MATHEMATICS

had appeared late in India. The first books of geometry in

the form of Shulba-sutra are believed to have appeared around
800 a.c. This indeed was much before the Greeks started
doing geometry.
In India, the theorem of Pythagoras was known as
Baudhayan S iddhanta (Theorem of Baudhayan ) long before
Pythagoras. Baudhayan was a Hind� mathematician who
has described the geometry of building altars for religious
rites of sacrifice. In ancient India, performing sacrifices was
an important part of ·religion. Altars of various shapes had
been prescribed · for various sacrifices and had to be built
according to the exact specifications.
The people of ancient civilisations had realised the pat­
tern of the movement of the sun, the moon and the stars.
They started using it to keep time and their calendars. The
science of astronomy told them that every constellation takes
about 360 days to appear on the horizon in the east again.
Hence, the whole circular dist_ance covered by jt was divided
into 360 parts and each part was called a. degree. Thus -the
measurement of an angle came into being. Each degree was
further divided into 60 parts, called minutes, and each minute
was divided into further 60 parts, called seconds. This scale
of 60 was the gift of the ancient Babylonians, who had a
number system based on 60.
The knowledge of the positions of the ·constellations
helped in regulating their daily life, the occasional social
functions and the religious rites. It helped them in fixing the
direction of any place. For example, the Shulba-sutra teils
how to fix the east exactly at the middle of the constellations
chitra and swati, when they are a yuga (163.4 cm) above the
horizon. More importantly it gave a vigorous impetus to
the study of geometry.

Geometry as a Discipline
The Greeks called the early Egyptian surveyors 'geometers'
or 'earth measurers' (in Greek geo means 'earth' and meteria
means 'measurement'). The geometers found out many facts
 SHAPES AND SIZES 57
about triangles,
squares, rectangles
and even circles. These
facts became a body of
knowledge that the
Greeks called 'geom­
etry' or 'the study of
the measurement of
the earth'. They made
important advances in
the field of geometry
by not only correcting
m any of the faulty
• rules of the Egyptians,
but also studying the
different geometrical
f igures in order to
Fig. 27 work out relation­
ships. Thales, the
Greek mathematician (Fig. 27), who lived 2,500 years ago,
discovered that no matter what diameter one draws in a
circle, it always bisects the circle, i.e. cuts it into two halves.
He also noticed that if two straight lines cross each other,
the opposite angles are always equal, no matter at what an­
gle the lines cross. This helped the Greeks to change geom­
etry from the study of land measurement to the study of the
relations between different parts of the figures existing
in space. After Thales, other Greek mathematician� like
Pythagoras discovered and proved a number of facts about
geometric figures.
By the fourth century B.c., there had grown up a vast
body of facts concerning geometric figures like theorems
of triangles and circles, but no orderly arrangement. The
learned Greek mathematician, Euclid (Fig. 28), who taught
at the Alexandria Museum in Egypt, about 300 a.c., was
the first man to apply logical development in his Elements of
Geometry. He used terms, definitions and postulates to prove
58 EVERYDAY MATHEMATICS

theorems about geo­

metric figures. Be­
sides, he introduced a
method of treatment
that became a model
for the development
of other branches of
mathematics. This
method is as valid to­
day as ever.

Congruency and
Similarity
Of all the principles of
geometry, the princi­
ples of congruency
Fig. 28 and similarity are the
most important. They
form the· basis of all
our activities. Let us see how.

Congruency
Take a paper. Fold it along a line. Cut any figure from the
folded paper, holding the folds together. You get two fig­
ures which can be perfectly matched with each other by
putting one over the other. Two plane figures are said to be

Fig. 29
 SHAPES AND SIZES 59

congruent if they match perfectly when overlapped (Fig. 29).

Consider a de�k of playing cards. The cards are congruent.
They overlap each other perfectly. However, the actual proc­
ess of overlapping is not necessary to determine the con­
gruency of two figures. Congruency can be established by
first establishing a one-to-one correspondence between the
elements of the figures and by the measurement of the
corresponding elements of the figures. In the case of two
triangles if the measures of corresponding sides and corre­
sponding angles are equal then the two triangles are con­
gruent. Thus, two triangles are said to be congruent if for a
given correspondence of the vertices, the corresponding sides
and corresponding angles are congruent. The congruence
of sides and angles is established by the definitions that
segments are congruent if their lengths are equal and two angles
are congruent if their measures are equal.
It is an interesting fact that to establish the congruency
of two triangles it is sufficient to know the congruence of
only three specific corresponding elements of triangles in­
stead of all the six. There are, however, two conditions for
_this. Firstly, the three elements must contain at least one �ide,
and secondly, if the elements contain only one angle, it must
be included by the two sides. For a quadrilateral, the number
of conditions goes up to five (i.e. 2 x 4 - 3), for a pentagon it
is 7 (i.e. 2 x 5 - 3), and so on. In general for a polygon of n
sides, the number of conditions is 2n �3. Two circles are
congruent if they have the same radius. Similarly squares
having same sides are congruent.
You may ask, "Does congruency have any significance
in real life?" The answer is a very emphatic, "Yes!" In fact
our real life depends upon our strong belief, although intui­
tive, in congruency of things. All the �gs of daily use-­
cars, radios, TV sets, watches, toys, etc. depend on congru­
ency for their manufacture. To manufacture a watch, for ex­
ample, dies are prepared to produce various parts of it. Each
part produced from a die is exactly like the others in all
respects. One part of a machine can be replaced by another
60 EVERYDAY MATHEMATICS

part only because we know that they are exactly alike,

i.e. congruent. All the pages of a book are congruent and
hence can be properly compiled and bound. If we want to
measure length, we use any ruler that is available because
we know that all rulers are made congruent.

Similarity
Look at the figures. The triangles are equilateral (Fig. 30),
the quadrilaterals are squares, the hexagons are regular. The
corresponding angles are congruent. The sides are parallel

Fig. 30
©
but not congruent. The figures in such a case look alike. They
are called similar figures. The necessary conditions for fig­
ures to be similar are that the corresponding angles must be
congruent, and secondly, the ratios of the lengths of corre­
sponding sides should be equal. All circles are, of course,
similar.
Look at the portrait in Fig. 31. The two sketches show
the same person but in different sizes. Each point in one
figure corresponds to exactly one point in the correspond­
ing figure. However, the distance between two points in
one is not equal to that between the corresponding points
in the other. They are 'scaled down' in the same prqportion
in the smaller figure. In other words, these are similar
figures.
Nature, too, abounds with similar shapes. The best ex­
ample is provided by crystals that occur in Nature. All
crystals of a crystalline substance are exactly alike in shape
 SHAPES AND SIZES 61

Fig. 31

though different in size. If a crystal breaks into smaller

crystals, it always breaks into similar crystals. Soap bubbles
of various sizes, small and large flowers of the same kind,
the hexagonal holes of a honeycomb, beautiful designs on
wings of a butterfly are the common examples of similarity
occurring in Nature.
Why are soap bubbles always spherical? W.lly are
droplets of water always spherical? Has it anything to do
with geometry? Yes, certainly. Nature tries in each case, to
acquire a surface of minimum area, to achieve the state of
least surface energy. The sphere is the shape of a solid which
has a surface area smaller than any other solid of equal vol­
ume. Hence, soap bubbles or liquid droplets always acquire
a spherical surface. For the same reason the planets also are
spherical.
62 EVERYDAY MATHEMATICS

Symmetry
Is symmetry useful in life? The question should really, be
turned around. Is life possible without symmetry? Let us
answer this question in a little detail.
Look at Fig. 32. It shows various arrangements of leaves
on a branch or the petals of a flower. The various shapes like
triangle, square, pentagon, hexagon or a cir�le are quite fa­
miliar to us. In fact," it is Nature which has suggested all
these shapes to man. In all these shapes one can find almost
perfect symmetry in the arrangement. Symmetry is nothing
but the congruence of the parts of a figure with respect to a
line or a point.
Consider the Fig. 32.a. The figure is symmetric about
the vertical line passing through the centre of the figure and
the vertex of the leaf. The figure would be identical if we
turn it through an angle of measure 120°. Thus the figure

A B C

Fig. 32
 SHAPES AND SIZES 63

a b C d,

Fig. 33
64 EVERYDAY MATHEMATICS

has an axial as well as rotational symmetry. All the figures

shown here, except 32.e anq 32.f, have both axial and rota­
tional symmetries. The leaves show only axial symmetry.
The symmetry exists in many other natural objects. Con­
sider the crystals of common salt. They are cubic (Fig. 33.a).
The cube is an object having many axes of symmetry.
The crystals of rhombic sulphur show another example of a
symmetrical crystal (Fig. j3.b).
A tetrahedron is another symmetrical shape favoured
by Nature. The most precious of all the gems, diamond, is
made up of a network of tetrahedrons formed by carbon
atoms. Quartz is another example of tetrahedral network of
crystals (Fig. 33.e).
Hexagon is another symmetrical shape favoured by
Nature. While the tetrahedral network of carbon atoms
makes diamond the hardest of all substances, the hexagonal
arrangement of carbon atoms in a plane imparts smooth­
ness to graphite crystals and makes graphite an ideal lubri­
cant for heavy duty machines (Fig. 33.f). The hexagonal
shape of a hole in a honeycomb makes it the best space­
filling shape.
Perhaps the most important geometrical shape favoured
by Nature is the helix, though it is not perfectly symmetri­
cal. Helix is a curve which winds itself around a cylinder. A
screw is a familiar example of a helix. In Nature we can see
a helix in the form of a creeper which climbs a tree or a ten­
dril winding itself in the form of a spring (Fig. 33.g). What is
not easily seen is the molecule of DNA in the nucleus of a
cell, which is made up of a double helix. Each strand of the
double helix is made up of a long chain of nucleotides which
contain a sugar molecule, a phosphate molecule and a mol·
ecule of a nitrogen base.

Geometry at Home
One can say that our lives are governed by rectangles and
circles. Think of the books, tables, cupboards, walls, floors
and the roofs, the coins and cups and dishes and what not.
 SHAPES AND SIZES 65
Vertical
Call a carpenter and
he would be there
with his setsquare
Horizontal and ruler. Call a
mason and he
would come with
his spirit level and
the plumbline. Why
do they need these
setsquares and
plumblines? The
reason is simple.
The gravity of the
Fig. 34 earth and the
spherical shape of
the earth force us to use only two directions, the horizontal
and the vertical. The force of gravity pulls everything to­
wards the earth's centre, along its radius. The tangent plane
to the surface of the earth at any point is at right angles to
the radius of the earth through that point. The plane is called
horizontal while the line along the radius is called the vertical
(Fig. 34). If we put anything on the ground, it will be stable
only if the surface of the ground is exactly horizontal. Keep
a ball on a surface which is not horizontal. It rolls down the
slope. Pour water on it. It flows down the slope. If the pil­
lars and walls of a building are not built exactly vertical the
building would be unstable. Thus Nature itself forces us to
use the horizontal and the vertical directions. .�
A rectangle is the simplest shape to form and use. It is
a very convenient shape to fill the space. The setsquare of a
carpenter is a right angle, set up permanently, which en­
ables to form perfect right angles at the comers of a rectan­
gle or a square without difficulty. It also enables him to draw
a right angle at any point on a line and also to draw parallel
lines (Fig. 35).
W hen a carpenter fits the planks in a cupboard, he en­
sures that the perpendicular distances AC and BD are equal,
 66 EVERYDAY MATI-IF.MATICS

so that the plank AB is par­

allel to the plank CD. The
planks must be parallel and
horizontal to keep the
things exactly balanced
(Fig. 36). The sprit level and
the plumbline of a mason
achieve exactly the same
purpose, that is, deciding
the true horizontal and the
vertical. Free surface of any
Fig. 35 liquid is always horizontal.
Thus the bubble of air in the
spirit level shows whether
any line or plane is hori­

C l::. ,r-;::==========.==-=:::;;;,
. zontal or not. The plwnb-
,;:l D line when suspended freely
is always vertical (see Fig.
26.a on p. 54).
A B Measuring areas and
volumes is again a daily ac­
tivity completely based on
geometrical formulae. The
carpenter, the mason, the
painter and a worker dig­
ging the earth and making
a heap of stones or soil, all
Fig. 36 measure their work in areas
and volumes.
Geometry can also
provide answers to our questions to satisfy our curiosity.
Suppose a man 2 metres tall stands on the ground, how far
is the horizon from him?
Look at Fig. 37. It is not drawn to scale. However, it
serves our purpose. Let AB be the height of the man. Thus
AB = 2 metres. Let BC be the diameter of the earth. Hence
BC = 13400 x 1 03 metres. Let D and E be the points on the
 SHAPES AND SIZES 67

horizon. Then we have to find the distance BD or BE where

AD and AE are the tangents. Now by a theorem on circles
we have
(AD)2 = (AB) x (AC)

___
(AD)2 = 2 X 13400 X 1()3
= 268 x 105 metres ;..;;...._
(AD) = -.J 26.8 x 106 = -.J 26.8 x 103 metres
= 5.176 x 103 metres
= 5.176 km.
A
Now the
p oint D is so far
away that the dis­
tance BD and dis­
tance AD are prac­
tically equal.
Hence w e get
BD = 5 . 1 76 km.
Thus for a man 2
metres tall, the
horizon is at a dis-
tance of 5.176 km.
This simple
curiosity of a com­
mon man be­
comes a very im­
p ortant p roblem
Fig. 37 of communication
with thousands of
people when it comes to decide the height of a TV tower.
· How high a TV tower should be to telecast its programmes
up to a certain distance around the TV station? For example,
the horizon of a TV tower 200 metres high would be
5.176 x 104 metres, i.e. 51.76 km away. Thus the programmes
telecast from this tower would reach the distance of about
52 km.
 6

TRIGONOMETRY

An important offshoot of geometry is trigonometry, or

triangle measurement. In trigonometry where certain parts
of triangles are known, one can determine the remaining
parts and thus solve a variety of problems.
Consider the following situations:
• A beautiful palm tree stands majestically in a garden.
While enjoying the beauty of this p alm every spectator
wonders about its height. Can its height be measured
without taking the trouble of actually climbing it all
the way to the top?
• A person standing on a bank of a wide river, wants to
know how wide the river is, without crossing.
• While surveying a difficult terrain, a surveyor wants
to fix the distance of an inaccessible tree from where he
is standing.
All the situations are quite common and answers
could be found easily by using simple properties of trian­
gles. A special branch of mathematics has been developed
which studies the relations between the sides and angles of
a triangle. This branch is known as trigonometry. Let us see
how trigonometry helps us to solve the above problems.
Take the case of a simple triangle ABC, with one of its
angles a right angle (Fig. 38). Let angle B = 90 °, angle A = 30 °
and angle C = 60 °. Let a, b, c be the lengths of its sides
as shown.· Now by a well-known property of this triangle,
 TRIGONOMETRY 69
A
½,
we get a = and using the Pythago­
ras theorem we can deduce that
30
°
c2 = b2 - a2, i.e. c2 = lr - = f ¼
lr.
Thus c = -.J 4-Thus the three·sides
of this triangle are b, } and -f.JF.
Hence, if we take the ratio of the
three sides of triangle A BC, we
u
9
get = t h f- = -4"
and f = '\J3.
We
'\.
�\ can see here that each of these
ratios has a fixed value. These
ratios are given sp ecial names
with respect to the angle in consid­
eration. If angle C, whose measure
is 60°, is referred to, the names of
· three ratios are as follows : is i-
B a C called cosine of angle C, f is called
sine of angle C and the ratio f is
Fig. 38 called tangent of angle C. For con­
venience these ratios are denoted
by cos, sin and tan respectively. Thus,
cos 60°= ½,sin 60°= � , tan 60° = --13
The most important point here is that the values of these
ratios depend only on the angles and not on the lengths of
½
the sides. Thus in Fig. 39 the value of cos 60° = in both the
triangles. The values of these ratios are calculated for all
the angles from 0° to 90° and Tables of these values are
A ()0
A.
°
60

C B C B
Fig. 39
70 E\'ERYDAY MATHEMATICS

compi led . These Tables are called trigonometric tables. By

referring to these Tables we can find the value of any ratio
we want. Thus referring to Fig. 39, we get from the Tables
the following values
cos 60° = 0.5000, sin 60° = 0.8660, tan 60° = 1.7321
Preparing accurate trigonometric Tables was an impor­
tant task which had occupied the brains of the best math­
ematicians of ancient times. Hipparchus of Nicaea, a Greek
mathematician (150 a.c.), was possibly the first to prepare
these Tables. It was he who attempted to measure the size of
the sun and the moon and their distances from the earth. He
felt the need for the type of mathematics that, by applying
measurements from the earth, would enable him to meas­
ure the objects in space. He was responsible for the inven­
tion of trigonometry.
How does trigonometry help us in solving problems?
Well, by using a method known as triangulation where we
measure the angles in a number of triangles and use the
trigonometric Tables. Let us represent the situations in sim­
ple diagrams.
To solve the first problem, let the tree be shown by the
line AB (Fig. 40). BC is shown along the ground and angle
ABC = 90 ° . Let BC = 10 metres. For an observer at C, when
he looks up at the top of the tree, the line of sight makes
an angle of 60 ° with the ground. Here :� = tan 60° . Thus,

,
,'
....... ,
I
I
,' I
.,. .,.. ... I
, I
/ I

Fig. 40
 TRIGONOMETRY 71

� = 1.7321 metres.
;\
Thus, AB = 1 . 731 x
10 = 17. 321 metres, or
the height of the tree is
17.321 metres. The use
of trigonometry has re­
duced the problem to
two simple measure­
ments, namely, the dis­
tance BC along the
ground and the angle C.
In the second prob­
lem, suppose the ob­
server is standing at the
point B on one bank of
B C the river (Fig. 41 ). Be
Fig. 41 chooses a point A, say,
a tree on the other bank
of the river. The angle ABC is measured and is found to be
72° . The observer now walks a distance of 30 metres along
the river bank up to a point C directly opposite point A on
the opposite bank, so that the angle ACB is 90° . Now from
triangle ABC, we get 1�
= tan 72°, AC = 30 x tan 72° = 30 x
3.077 = 92.310. Thus the width of the river is 92.3]0 metres.

,\

',
'.,
'
''

I ''
I
. - ''
1.1, - - - - _.ti_ -- -- -- --- �-- __ . [> , I
£
B C
Fig. 42
72 EVERYDAY MATHEMATICS

In the third problem, suppose the surveyor has already

measured the distance between the two points B and C,
denoted by, say, two big trees (Fig. 42). He wants to find the
distance AB, AC and AD. However, point A is inaccessible
and hence he cannot measure these distances directly. He
can however measure the angles ABC and ACB.
Now, suppose that the distance BC is 100 metres, angle
ABC = 60° and angle ACB = 50°. From the trigonometric
Tables he finds that tan 60°= 1.7321 and tan 50° = 1.1918.
He can find tl).e distance AD from the relation
AD =
100 (tan 60° X tan 50°)
(tan 60° + tan 50")

AD = ] 00 X J .732] X

1 .1321 + u 91s
l .J9]8
= 70. 60 metres.
Now distances AB and AC can be found from the
relation
AD
AB =
AD
and AC =
AB = ;�:::, = 81.52 metres
and AC = ;�:::, = 92.16 metres.
Many other problems of similar nature can be dealt
with by using trigonometric formulae and Tables. For ex­
ample, the height of a distant tower or a building or a cliff
C'

A u D
Fig. 43
 TRIGONOMETRY 73

can be found out even without going near the place. The
situation is illustrated in Fig. 43.
C is the top of a cliff across a creek. An observer stand­
ing at A on the shore in front of the cliff, measures angle
CAB to be 55° . He walks a distance of 100 metres to B and
measures the angle CBD to be 65°. From the relations
8�
= tan 65° and 100!BD = tan 55°, the height h can be
obtained by the relation
h = 100 x tan 55 X tan 650
°

tan 65° - tan 55°

= 100 xl.4281 X 2.1445

2.1445 - 1.4281

= 427.5 metres.
Thus the height of the cliff is found to be 427.5 metres. The
most spectacular example of the use of trigonometry was
the computation of the height of the highest mountain in
the world, Mt Everest.
 References

1. Graham Flagg: Numbers, Penguin Books.

2. James R. Newman: The World of Mathematics, Vol. II,
Tempus Books.
3. Lancelot Hogben: Mathematics for the Millions, Pocket
Books.
4. -: Mathematics in the Modern World, The Scientific
American Publication.
5. Morris Kline: Mathematical Thought, Vol. I, Oxford
University Press.
6. N. Datta and Singh: History of Hindu Mathematics.
7. N.H. Phadke: Lilavati Punar Darshan (Marathi).
8. R.P. Kulkarni: Four Shulba-sutras (Marathi), Sahitya
Sanskriti Mandal, Maharashtra.

Printed at Amar Ujala Publications Ltd., Naida

What is mathematics? It is variously described as an
art, the tool of science, the language of science and
as the queen of all sciences. It is a subject which is
detested by many, liked by some and used by all.
Everyday Mathematics is a book about the mathematics
used by all in every walk of life. It gives a lucid account
of the origin and development of .mathematics and
explains how it helps us in solving a variety of
problems. It, in fact, underlines that mathematics is
essential for every citizen, which also happens to be
theme of the worldwide mathematicial movement
'Mathematics for all'.

R.M. Bhagwat (Retd.) served as a resource person

in a number of orientation courses for mathematics
teachers before joining the Homi Bhabha Center
for Science Education (HBCSE), Mumbai. He has
contributed science articles to Kishdr (a Marathi
magazine) and Science Today-2001. He has co­
authored several books on science and mathematics
published by the HBCSE and the Oxford University
Press.

ISBN 615371450-4

18190026