Class 10 Mathematics Circles: NCERT Solutions for Question 1

Find the zeroes of the following quadratic polynomials and verify the relationship between the zeroes and the coefficients.

(i) x² – 2x – 8 (ii) 4s² – 4s + 1 (iii) 6x² – 3 – 7x (iv) 4u² + 8u (v) t² – 15 (vi) 3x² – x – 4

A cottage industry produces a certain number of pottery articles in a day. It was observed on a particular day that the cost of production of each article (in rupees) was 3 more than twice the number of articles produced on that day. If the total cost of production on that day was Rs 90, find the number of articles produced and the cost of each article.

Find two consecutive positive integers, sum of whose squares is 365.

Is the following situation possible? If so, determine their present ages.
The sum of the ages of two friends is 20 years. Four years ago, the product of their ages in years was 48.

Find a quadratic polynomial each with the given numbers as the sum and product of its zeroes respectively.

Refer to Example 13. (i) Complete the following table:

(ii) A student argues that ‘there are 11 possible outcomes 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12. Therefore, each of them has a probability  

Do you agree with this argument? Justify your answer.

Find two numbers whose sum is 27 and product is 182.

The graphs of y = p(x) are given in Fig. 2.10 below, for some polynomials p(x). Find the number of zeroes of p(x), in each case.

Find the nature of the roots of the following quadratic equations. If the real roots exist, find them:

(i) 2x² – 3x + 5 = 0  (iii) 2x²– 6x + 3 = 0

Prove that 3 + 2√5 is irrational.

As observed from the top of a 75 m high lighthouse from the sea-level, the angles of depression of two ships are 30° and 45°. If one ship is exactly behind the other on the same side of the lighthouse, find the distance between the two ships.

A 1.5 m tall boy is standing at some distance from a 30 m tall building. The angle of elevation from his eyes to the top of the building increases from 30° to 60° as he walks towards the building. Find the distance he walked towards the building.

Fill in the blanks :
(i) A tangent to a circle intersects it in                  point (s).
(ii) A line intersecting a circle in two points is called a                  .
(iii) A circle can have                       parallel tangents at the most.
(iv) The common point of a tangent to a circle and the circle is called                   .

The graphs of y = p(x) are given in Fig. 2.10 below, for some polynomials p(x). Find the number of zeroes of p(x), in each case.

Prove that the angle between the two tangents drawn from an external point to a circle is supplementary to the angle subtended by the line-segment joining the points of contact at the centre.

Find a quadratic polynomial each with the given numbers as the sum and product of its zeroes respectively.

A box contains 12 balls out of which x are black. If one ball is drawn at random from the box, what is the probability that it will be a black ball?
If 6 more black balls are put in the box, the probability of drawing a black ball is now double of what it was before. Find x.

Given the linear equation 2x + 3y – 8 = 0, write another linear equation in two variables such that the geometrical representation of the pair so formed is:
(i) intersecting lines (ii) parallel lines (iii) coincident lines

If the zeroes of the polynomial x³ – 3x² + x + 1 are a – b, a, a + b, find a and b.

A tangent PQ at a point P of a circle of radius 5 cm meets a line through the centre O at a point Q so that OQ = 12 cm. Length PQ is: