Why is tossing a coin considered to be a fair way of deciding which team should get the ball at the beginning of a football game?

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 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

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

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

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.

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.

Prove that 3 + 2√5 is irrational.

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.

Check whether the first polynomial is a factor of the second polynomial by dividing the second polynomial by the first polynomial:
(i) t² – 3, 2t⁴ + 3t³ – 2t² – 9t – 12

(ii) x² + 3x + 1, 3x⁴ + 5x³ – 7x² + 2x + 2

(iii) x³ – 3x + 1, x⁵ – 4x³ + x² + 3x + 1

The angles of elevation of the top of a tower from two points at a distance of 4 m and 9 m from the base of the tower and in the same straight line with it are complementary. Prove that the height of the tower is 6 m.

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

Form the pair of linear equations for the following problems and find their solution by substitution method.
(i) The difference between two numbers is 26 and one number is three times the other. Find them.
(ii) The larger of two supplementary angles exceeds the smaller by 18 degrees. Find them.
(iii) The coach of a cricket team buys 7 bats and 6 balls for Rs. 3800. Later, she buys 3 bats and 5 balls for Rs. 1750. Find the cost of each bat and each ball.

(iv) The taxi charges in a city consist of a fixed charge together with the charge for the distance covered. For a distance of 10 km, the charge paid is Rs. 105 and for a journey of 15 km, the charge paid is Rs. 155. What are the fixed charges and the charge per km? How much does a person have to pay for travelling a distance of 25 km?
(v) A fraction becomes, , if 2 is added to both the numerator and the denominator. If, 3 is added to both the numerator and the denominator it becomes  Find the fraction.

(vi) Five years hence, the age of Jacob will be three times that of his son. Five years ago, Jacob’s age was seven times that of his son. What are their present ages?

Gopi buys a fish from a shop for his aquarium. The shopkeeper takes out one fish at random from a tank containing 5 male fish and 8 female fish (see Fig. 15.4). What is the probability that the fish taken out is a male fish?

Without actually performing the long division, state whether the following rational numbers will have a terminating decimal expansion or a non-terminating repeating decimal expansion:

Which of the following cannot be the probability of an event?

 (B) –1.5 (C) 15% (D) 0.7

If tangents PA and PB from a point P to a circle with centre O are inclined to each other at angle of 80°, then ∠ POA is equal to
(A) 50° (B) 60°
(C) 70° (D) 80°

A die is thrown once. Find the probability of getting
(i) a prime number; (ii) a number lying between 2 and 6; (iii) an odd number.

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

The sum of the reciprocals of Rehman’s ages, (in years) 3 years ago and 5 years from now is 1/3. Find his present age.