NCERT Solutions for Class 4th Maths Chapter 7 Four children and the orange seller — A Strange Puzzle!
Book page 99 Updated on2026-09-19
Q1.
Four naughty kids on a walk come across a fresh orange crop. They ask the farmer the price of one. The farmer says, “Each costs ₹21”. Two oranges each they buy. Each one pays a different note, Krishna a ₹50 and Sudama a ₹100, Mala a ₹200 and Neela a ₹500. What is the balance that they each got?
Answer
The picture and the poem on page 99: four children — Krishna,
Sudama, Mala and Neela — stand beside a farmer who is selling oranges from wooden crates under an
orange tree. One orange in the farmer’s hand carries a tag that reads ₹21. The poem says
each child buys two oranges, and that Krishna gives a ₹50 note, Sudama a ₹100 note,
Mala a ₹200 note and Neela a ₹500 note.
What the puzzle page shows.
Every child buys 2 oranges, so every child spends the same amount.
Cost for one child = ₹21 + ₹21 = ₹42
The working, written in columns.
Now take ₹42 away from the note each child gave.
Child
Paid
Working
Balance
Krishna
₹50
50 − 42
₹8
Sudama
₹100
100 − 42
₹58
Mala
₹200
200 − 42
₹158
Neela
₹500
500 − 42
₹458
Sudama’s balance, worked in columns.Neela’s balance, worked in columns.
Why it happens: All four buy the same two oranges, so the bigger the note, the bigger the balance.
Check it yourself: ₹458 + ₹42 = ₹500. Every balance plus ₹42 gives the note back.