NCERT Solutions for Class 5th Maths Chapter 13 The cobbled road to the food, and Mowgli's forest trail — Let Us Do (Questions 2–3)
Book page 167 Updated on2026-09-19
Q1.
2. Food is available at the end of a cobbled road. Robby, the rabbit, takes a jump of 4 each time. Deeku, the deer, takes a jump of 6 each time. They both start at 0. Will both Robby and Deeku reach the food? Who will reach first? How do you know? Explain your answer.
Answer
No — only Robby reaches the food. Deeku never lands on it. The cobbled road in the book runs from 0 to 64, and the food is at the last stone, 64.
Red dots are Robby's landing stones, blue dots are Deeku's. A red dot sits on 64. The blue dots jump straight over it, from 60 to 66.
Step by step:
Check Robby. Divide 64 by his jump size. 64 ÷ 4 = 16, with nothing left over. So Robby lands exactly on 64, on his 16th jump.
Check Deeku. 64 ÷ 6 = 10 with 4 left over. So Deeku lands on 60, and his next jump takes him to 66 — right over the food.
Answer both parts. Robby reaches the food. Deeku does not. So Robby reaches first, and in fact he is the only one who gets there.
Why it happens: An animal can only land on a number that its jump size divides exactly. 64 is a multiple of 4, so 4-jumps reach it. 64 is not a multiple of 6, so 6-jumps must skip over it.
Check it yourself: 4 × 16 = 64 ✓. Now try 6 × 10 = 60 and 6 × 11 = 66. There is no whole number that gives 64 when multiplied by 6.
Q2.
3. Mowgli's friends live along the trail on the marked places below. Which of his friends will he be able to visit, if he jumps by 2 steps starting from 0?
Answer
He can visit the friends standing on even numbers: the ant at 4, the frog at 12, the bird at 14, the tiger at 26, Baloo the bear at 30 and the rabbit at 50.
Jumping 2 at a time from 0, Mowgli lands only on even numbers. The grey friends stand on odd numbers, so he passes them by.
Friend
Stands on
Even or odd?
Does Mowgli meet him?
Ant
4
Even
Yes
Spider
9
Odd
No
Frog
12
Even
Yes
Bird
14
Even
Yes
Kaa the snake
21
Odd
No
Sher Khan the tiger
26
Even
Yes
Baloo the bear
30
Even
Yes
Akela the wolf
35
Odd
No
Deer
39
Odd
No
Rabbit
50
Even
Yes
Monkey
57
Odd
No
Mowgli's landing spots: 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20 … 56, 58 These are the multiples of 2 — all the even numbers
Why it happens: Starting at 0 and adding 2 each time can only ever give an even number. An odd number is one more than an even number, so a 2-jump can never stop on it.
What your book says: On the next page the book names four of these friends — the ant, the frog, the bird and the rabbit, at 4, 12, 14 and 50 — and says that 2 is a common factor of those numbers. The tiger at 26 and Baloo at 30 are on even numbers too, so Mowgli passes them as well.