Chapter 1 · ApplicationsUse it in real life

Real-World Applications പ്രയോഗങ്ങൾ

Two unknowns and two facts turn up everywhere – at the shop counter, in phone plans, at a ticket window, in a piggy bank, on a river. On every lab below, the sliders secretly choose the unknown numbers; the page then shows only the two facts you would be told, and solves them the way this chapter taught you. Change the sliders and watch the method catch the secret every time.

📖 The methods behind every application

1. Two bills at the shop

You buy 3 soaps and 2 brushes, your friend buys 2 soaps and 3 brushes. You know only the two bills. Adding the bills gives 5 soaps and 5 brushes; subtracting them gives "1 soap − 1 brush". That is the sum and the difference of the two prices!

🛒 The secret prices
In the exam this looks like: "3 soaps and 2 brushes cost ₹130; 2 soaps and 3 brushes cost ₹120. Find each price." → add: 5(s + b) = 250, s + b = 50; subtract: s − b = 10 ⇒ soap ₹30, brush ₹20.

2. Which phone plan is cheaper? (graph view)

Plan A charges a small fixed amount plus a high rate per GB; plan B charges more fixed but less per GB. Each plan is an equation: cost = fixed + rate × GB. Drawn on a graph each is a straight line, and the two lines cross where the plans cost the same – that crossing point is the solution of the pair of equations. graph view · beyond the textbook

📱 Two plans, two lines

Left of the crossing the plan with the smaller fixed charge is cheaper; right of it the plan with the smaller rate wins.

In the exam this looks like: "Plan A: ₹100 + ₹20 per GB. Plan B: ₹200 + ₹10 per GB. For how many GB do they cost the same?" → 100 + 20x = 200 + 10x ⇒ x = 10 GB, cost ₹300.

3. Tickets at a school play

Adult tickets cost ₹50 and child tickets ₹20. The ticket counter knows how many tickets were sold and how much money came in. How many adults came?

🎟️ Tickets and money
In the exam this looks like: "100 tickets were sold for ₹3800. Adults ₹50, children ₹20. How many adult tickets?" → a + c = 100, 50a + 20c = 3800; subtract 20 × (first): 30a = 1800 ⇒ a = 60.

4. Coins in a piggy bank

A piggy bank holds only ₹2 and ₹5 coins. You count the coins and add up their value. If every coin were a ₹2 coin, the value would be 2 × (number of coins); each ₹5 coin adds ₹3 more.

🪙 Count and value
In the exam this looks like: "20 coins, ₹2 and ₹5, worth ₹70. How many ₹5 coins?" → x + y = 20, 2x + 5y = 70 ⇒ 3y = 70 − 40 = 30 ⇒ y = 10.

5. Blending tea

A shop mixes tea costing ₹200 a kilogram with tea costing ₹300 a kilogram to sell a blend at a chosen price. How much of each goes in?

🍵 The blend
In the exam this looks like: "10 kg of a blend at ₹240/kg is made from teas at ₹200 and ₹300." → x + y = 10, 200x + 300y = 2400 ⇒ 100y = 400 ⇒ 4 kg of the ₹300 tea and 6 kg of the ₹200 tea.

6. A boat on a river

Going downstream the current helps: speed = boat + current. Going upstream it hinders: speed = boat − current. If you know both speeds, you know a sum and a difference.

🚤 Down and up
In the exam this looks like: "A boat goes 15 km/h downstream and 9 km/h upstream. Find the speed of the current." → b + c = 15, b − c = 9 ⇒ b = 12, c = 3 km/h.

7. Auto-rickshaw fares

An auto charges a fixed starting fare plus a rate for every kilometre. Two rides of different lengths reveal both: the extra kilometres account for the whole difference in fare.

🛺 Two rides
In the exam this looks like: "A 3 km ride costs ₹55 and a 7 km ride costs ₹95." → F + 3r = 55, F + 7r = 95 ⇒ 4r = 40 ⇒ r = ₹10/km, F = ₹25.

8. Investing in two schemes

₹100000 is split between a scheme paying 8% a year and one paying 5%. The total interest (പലിശ) after a year tells how the money was split.

🏦 The split
In the exam this looks like: "₹100000 in two schemes at 7% and 6% earns ₹6750 in a year." → 0.07x + 0.06(100000 − x) = 6750 ⇒ x = ₹75000 at 7%, ₹25000 at 6% (textbook practice set 1, Q7).

9. Ages that keep their distance

A father and son: you are told the sum of their ages and the difference. Sum and difference give both ages at once – and the difference never changes as the years pass, because both grow older together.

👨‍👦 Timeline
In the exam this looks like: "Four years ago Rahim was 3 times as old as Ramu; in two years he will be twice as old." → R − 4 = 3(m − 4), R + 2 = 2(m + 2) ⇒ Ramu 10, Rahim 22 (practice set 3, Q3).

10. Fours and sixes

A batter hits only boundaries: fours and sixes. The scoreboard shows the number of boundaries and the runs from them. If all were fours, runs would be 4 × boundaries; every six adds 2 more.

🏏 The scorecard
In the exam this looks like: "12 boundaries brought 58 runs. How many sixes?" → x + y = 12, 4x + 6y = 58 ⇒ 2y = 58 − 48 = 10 ⇒ 5 sixes.

11. Try these word problems

🧭 What all these have in common

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