Class 6 Maths Ganita Prakash Chapter 8 Solutions (NCERT 2026–27) – Playing with Constructions
These Class 6 Maths Ganita Prakash Chapter 8 solutions cover Playing with Constructions from the new NCF textbook (Reprint 2026–27). Every Figure it Out, Math Talk and Try This task is solved step by step, with the construction steps written clearly in words and all measurements verified, so you can master the ruler-and-compass work and revise it quickly.
- Chapter overview
- Key concepts & definitions
- Important construction ideas
- Figure it Out (Wavy Wave & the Circle)
- Squares, Rectangles & their Construction
- Exploration, Diagonals & the House
- Math Talk, Think & Try This (answered)
- Common mistakes to avoid
- Practice MCQs & Assertion–Reason
- Quick revision summary
- FAQs
Chapter 8 Overview
Chapter 8 of Ganita Prakash, Playing with Constructions, teaches you to draw accurate figures using just a ruler and a compass. It begins with freehand artwork (a person, a wavy wave, eyes), then introduces the circle — the set of all points at a fixed distance (the radius) from a centre. You learn the defining properties of squares and rectangles, how to construct them using perpendiculars and a compass, how to explore points moving along their sides, and how a diagonal divides the corner angles. The chapter closes with the ‘House’ construction, which uses the idea of points equidistant from two given points. The Class 6 Maths Ganita Prakash Chapter 8 solutions below work through every Figure it Out, Math Talk, Think and Try This task step by step.
Key Concepts & Definitions
Curve: any shape that can be drawn on paper with a pencil — this includes straight lines, circles and other figures.
Circle: the set of all points that are the same distance from a fixed point. If you mark every point that is 4 cm from a point P, they together form a circle.
Centre & radius: the fixed point P is the centre of the circle; the equal distance from the centre to any point on the circle is the radius.
Compass: the tool used to draw circles and arcs. Open it against a ruler so the gap between its tip and the pencil equals the radius, keep the tip fixed and rotate the pencil.
Rectangle: a 4-sided figure with corners, sides and angles, where (R1) opposite sides are equal in length and (R2) all angles are 90°.
Square: a 4-sided figure where (S1) all sides are equal and (S2) all angles are 90°. Rotating a square (or rectangle) does not change its sides or angles, so it stays a square (or rectangle).
Diagonal: a line joining two opposite corners of a rectangle, e.g. PR and QS in rectangle PQRS.
Important Construction Ideas (Chapter 8)
Drawing a circle: fix the compass tip at the centre, open the radius against a ruler, and rotate the pencil all the way round.
Valid name of a figure: the corners must be listed in the order you travel around the figure (e.g. PQRS, QRSP, RSPQ, SPQR), starting from any corner — not jumping across, like PQSR.
Constructing a square/rectangle: draw one side, raise a perpendicular (90°) at each end, mark the second side’s length with a ruler or compass, then join.
Side and diagonal given: draw the side, raise a perpendicular at one end, then with the other end as centre draw an arc of radius = diagonal; where it cuts the perpendicular is the next corner.
Equidistant point: a point at distance r from two points B and C is found where two arcs of radius r (centred at B and at C) intersect.
Rectangle that splits into k squares: make its length = k × its breadth (e.g. length = 3 × breadth for 3 identical squares).
Figure it Out — Wavy Wave & the Circle (Section 8.1, Page 188–191)
Questions are reproduced verbatim from the NCERT Ganita Prakash textbook; the worked solutions are original and verified against the answers given in the book. Figure-only tasks are answered in words.
Think (p. 188): Imagine marking all the points of 4 cm distance from the point P. How would they look?
Wavy Wave — Figure it Out (p. 191) 1. What radius should be taken in the compass to get this half circle? What should be the length of AX?
2. Take a central line of a different length and try to draw the wave on it.
3. Try to recreate the figure where the waves are smaller than a half circle (as appearing in the neck of the figure, ‘A Person’). The challenge here is to get both the waves to be identical. This may be tricky!
Squares, Rectangles & their Construction (Sections 8.2–8.3, Page 193–201)
Q (p. 193): Which of the following is not a name for this square? 1. PQSR 2. SPQR 3. RSPQ 4. QRSP
Figure it Out (p. 194) 1. Draw the rectangle and four squares configuration (shown in Fig. 8.3) on a dot paper. What did you do to recreate this figure so that the four squares are placed symmetrically around the rectangle? Discuss with your classmates.
2. Identify if there are any squares in this collection. Use measurements if needed. (figures A, B, C, D on a dot grid)
3. Draw at least 3 rotated squares and rectangles on a dot grid. Draw them such that their corners are on the dots. Verify if the squares and rectangles that you have drawn satisfy their respective properties.
Construct (p. 197) — checking rectangle properties
1. Draw a rectangle with sides of length 4 cm and 6 cm. After drawing, check if it satisfies both the rectangle properties.
2. Draw a rectangle of sides 2 cm and 10 cm. After drawing, check if it satisfies both the rectangle properties.
3. Is it possible to construct a 4-sided figure in which— • all the angles are equal to 90º but • opposite sides are not equal?
Exploration, Diagonals & the House (Sections 8.4–8.6, Page 197–215)
Q (p. 198, Section 8.4): Is there a shorthand way of writing it down? Record the length XY for the given positions of X (from A) and Y (from B) on rectangle ABCD with AB = 7 cm, BC = 4 cm.
| Distance of X from A | Distance of Y from B | Length of XY |
|---|---|---|
| 5 mm | 3 cm | 7.4 cm |
| 1 cm | 1 cm | 7 cm |
| 2 cm | 4 cm | 7.3 cm |
Q (p. 199): Have you checked what happens to the length XY when X and Y are placed at the same distance away from A and B, respectively?
| Distance of X from A | Distance of Y from B | Length of XY |
|---|---|---|
| 5 mm | 5 mm | 7 cm |
| 1 cm | 1 cm | 7 cm |
| 1 cm 5 mm | 1 cm 5 mm | 7 cm |
Q (p. 199): In each of these cases, observe (i) how the length XY compares to that of AB, and (ii) the shape of the 4-sided figure ABYX.
Q (p. 199): How does the farthest distance between X and Y compare with the length of AC? BD?
Construct (p. 199–201) — Breaking Rectangles & more
Construct (p. 199): Construct a rectangle that can be divided into 3 identical squares as shown in the figure.
Give the lengths of the sides of a rectangle that cannot be divided into — • two identical squares; • three identical squares.
Construct (p. 201) 4. Square with a Hole. (The circular hole is the same as the centre of the square. Hint: think where the centre of the circle should be.)
Section 8.5 — Diagonals; Construct (p. 204–211)
Explore (p. 204): How should the rectangle be constructed so that the diagonal divides the opposite angles into equal parts?
Construct (p. 211) 1. Construct a rectangle in which one of the diagonals divides the opposite angles into 50° and 40°.
2. Construct a rectangle in which one of the diagonals divides the opposite angles into 45° and 45°. What do you observe about the sides?
3. Construct a rectangle one of whose sides is 4 cm and the diagonal is of length 8 cm.
4. Construct a rectangle one of whose sides is 3 cm and the diagonal is of length 7 cm.
Section 8.6 — The House (Construct, p. 215)
1. Construct a bigger house in which all the sides are of length 7 cm.
2. Try to recreate ‘A Person’, ‘Wavy Wave’, and ‘Eyes’ from the section ‘Artwork’, using ideas involved in the ‘House’ construction.
3. Is there a 4-sided figure in which all the sides are equal in length but is not a square? If such a figure exists, can you construct it?
Math Talk, Think & Try This — Answered
These are the in-text reflective and short tasks in the chapter; the determinate ones are answered, the open ones are guided.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Watch out for these
- Naming a figure by jumping across corners (like PQSR) — a valid name follows the order of travel around the figure.
- Forgetting that a perfect 90° angle is needed at each corner; a slightly slanted ‘perpendicular’ spoils the square/rectangle.
- Confusing the half-circle’s radius with its diameter — for AX = 4 cm the radius is 2 cm, not 4 cm.
- Changing the compass radius between two waves or two eyes — keep it constant so the parts are identical.
- Thinking a 4-sided figure can have all 90° angles with unequal opposite sides — it cannot; that always makes a rectangle.
- Drawing whole circles when only short arcs are needed to find an intersection point — arcs are quicker and cleaner.
- Assuming a diagonal always splits a right angle into two equal halves — that happens only in a square.
Practice MCQs & Assertion–Reason
1. All the points that are exactly 4 cm from a point P together form a:
(a) straight line (b) square (c) circle (d) triangle
2. The distance from the centre of a circle to any point on the circle is called its:
(a) diameter (b) radius (c) chord (d) arc
3. Which of the following is NOT a valid name for the square PQRS?
(a) QRSP (b) RSPQ (c) PQSR (d) SPQR
4. In a rectangle, all the angles are:
(a) 45° (b) 60° (c) 90° (d) 120°
5. For a wave drawn as a half circle on a part AX of length 4 cm, the compass radius should be:
(a) 1 cm (b) 2 cm (c) 4 cm (d) 8 cm
6. A rectangle can be divided into 3 identical squares when its length is:
(a) equal to its breadth (b) 2 × breadth (c) 3 × breadth (d) 4 × breadth
7. A diagonal of a rectangle divides a corner angle into two equal parts only when the figure is a:
(a) square (b) long rectangle (c) triangle (d) circle
8. To construct a rectangle with side 4 cm and diagonal 8 cm, after drawing the side and a perpendicular you draw an arc of radius:
(a) 4 cm (b) 6 cm (c) 8 cm (d) 12 cm
9. A point that is 5 cm from both B and C is found at the intersection of:
(a) one circle (b) two arcs of radius 5 cm centred at B and C (c) two perpendiculars (d) a single straight line
10. A 4-sided figure with all sides equal but angles not 90° is a:
(a) square (b) rectangle (c) rhombus (d) circle
For each Assertion–Reason question, choose: (A) Both Assertion and Reason are true and the Reason is the correct explanation of the Assertion; (B) Both are true but the Reason is not the correct explanation; (C) Assertion is true but Reason is false; (D) Assertion is false but Reason is true.
A-R 1. Assertion: All the points of a circle are at the same distance from its centre.
Reason: That equal distance is called the radius of the circle.
A-R 2. Assertion: PQSR is not a valid name for the square PQRS.
Reason: A valid name lists the corners in the order of travel around the figure.
A-R 3. Assertion: A 4-sided figure can have all angles 90° while its opposite sides are unequal.
Reason: In a rectangle the opposite sides are equal in length.
A-R 4. Assertion: A rotated square is still a square.
Reason: Rotating a figure does not change its side lengths or its angles.
A-R 5. Assertion: When a diagonal of a rectangle divides the opposite angles into 45° and 45°, all its sides are equal.
Reason: A diagonal splits a right angle into two equal parts only when the two adjacent sides are equal, making the rectangle a square.
Quick Revision Summary
- All points at a fixed distance from a centre form a circle; that distance is the radius, drawn with a compass.
- A rectangle has equal opposite sides (R1) and all angles 90° (R2); a square has all sides equal (S1) and all angles 90° (S2).
- A figure’s name must follow the order of travel around its corners; rotating a square or rectangle keeps its sides and angles.
- Construct squares/rectangles by drawing a side, raising perpendiculars, marking the other side and joining; transfer lengths with a compass.
- Given a side and a diagonal, draw the side, a perpendicular, then an arc of radius = diagonal to fix the next corner.
- A point equidistant from two points is found where two equal arcs cross (used in the ‘House’).
- A diagonal splits a corner into two equal angles only in a square; the farthest two points along the sides are a diagonal apart.
How to score full marks in this chapter
Always start a construction with a neat rough diagram and mark the known lengths and angles on it. Draw genuine 90° perpendiculars, keep the compass radius unchanged when parts must be identical, and use short arcs instead of full circles to locate a point. After finishing, write the verification line — “all angles 90°, opposite sides equal” — to show the figure satisfies properties R1 and R2 (or S1 and S2).
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Class 6 Maths Ganita Prakash Chapter 8 about?
Chapter 8, Playing with Constructions, teaches drawing accurate figures with a ruler and compass: circles and their radius, the properties of squares and rectangles, constructing them, exploring diagonals, and finding points equidistant from two given points (the ‘House’ construction).
What tools do I need for Chapter 8 constructions?
You mainly need a ruler (to draw and measure straight lines) and a compass (to draw circles and arcs and to transfer lengths). A pencil and an eraser complete the set; some figures also use a set-square for perpendiculars.
Why does a circle form when you mark all points 4 cm from a point P?
Every point that is exactly 4 cm from P lies on one curve at the same distance from P. The set of all such equidistant points is, by definition, a circle with centre P and radius 4 cm.
Are these Class 6 Maths Ganita Prakash Chapter 8 solutions free?
Yes. All solutions are free and follow the official NCERT Ganita Prakash textbook for the 2026–27 session, with all measurements verified against the book’s answer key.
