NCERT Solutions for Class 5th Maths Chapter 15 Joseph Uncle's pictograph, and what a scale does — Stock-Taking in a Shop
Book page 180–181 Updated on2026-09-19
Q1.
He notices that there are too many items of each kind in his shop and it is not easy to make a picture for every item. “How can I show these with pictures?” Suggest some ways to him.
Answer
Let one picture stand for many items instead of just one. That is the whole idea, and it is called using a scale.
Here are ways Joseph Uncle can try.
Use one picture for 5 items. Draw one train for every 5 toys. 40 toys then need only 8 trains, not 40.
Use one picture for 10 items if the numbers are very big. 40 toys would need only 4 trains.
Use half a picture for half the scale. If one train is 10 toys, half a train is 5 toys. So 45 toys = 4 trains and half a train.
Write the key on the chart. Somewhere on the page he must write one train = 5 toys, or nobody can read his chart.
Use a different picture for each kind of item — a train for toys, a board for board games, a racket for sports items. Then the three rows never get mixed up.
Draw bars instead of pictures. One tall bar for toys, one for board games, one for sports items. That is a bar graph, and it is even quicker to draw.
Why it happens: A picture-chart is meant to be read at a glance. Forty little trains in a row cannot be counted at a glance — you lose your place. Eight trains can.
Q2.
(1) How many toys does Joseph Uncle have? __________
Answer
40 toys.
Dipesh's pictograph. Eight trains, ten boards, twelve rackets — each one worth 5 items.
Read the key first. It says one train = 5 toys.
Count the trains in the "Toys" row. There are 8.
Multiply. 8 groups of 5.
Number of trains = 8 Each train = 5 toys Toys = 8 × 5 = 40 toys
Why it happens: Every picture is a bundle of 5. Eight bundles of 5 is the same as 5 + 5 + 5 + 5 + 5 + 5 + 5 + 5, and that is 40.
Check it yourself: Count in fives along the row — 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40. You land on 40 at the eighth train ✓
Q3.
(2) How many board games does Joseph Uncle have? __________
Answer
50 board games.
Count the board pictures in the second row. There are 10.
Read the key. One board picture = 5 board games.
Multiply.
Number of board pictures = 10 Board games = 10 × 5 = 50 board games
Check it yourself: Count in fives — 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50. Ten steps, and you finish on 50 ✓
Why it happens: Ten pictures with 5 in each is ten fives. Ten fives make fifty, just like ten 5-rupee coins make ₹50.
Q4.
(3) How many total play items does Joseph Uncle have? __________
Answer
150 play items in all.
First find the sports items, then add up all three rows.
Count the rackets. There are 12 rackets in the last row.
Multiply by the scale. 12 × 5 = 60 sports items.
Write down all three numbers. Toys 40, board games 50, sports items 60.
Check it yourself another way: Count all the pictures first. 8 + 10 + 12 = 30 pictures. Each picture is 5 items. 30 × 5 = 150 ✓ The two ways agree, so the answer is right.
Item
Pictures
Scale
Number of items
Toys
8
× 5
40
Board games
10
× 5
50
Sports items
12
× 5
60
Total
30
× 5
150
Q5.
Is there any other scale that you can use to make the pictograph? Choose your scale and show the same data using a pictograph in your notebook.
Answer
Yes. A scale of 10 works very well here. All three numbers — 40, 50 and 60 — divide by 10 exactly.
The same 150 items shown with a scale of 10 instead of 5. Only 15 pictures now, instead of 30.
Other scales you could pick:
Scale
Toys (40)
Board games (50)
Sports items (60)
Good or not?
1 picture = 2
20
25
30
Too many pictures to draw
1 picture = 5
8
10
12
The book's choice — works well
1 picture = 10
4
5
6
Best — few pictures, no halves
1 picture = 20
2
2 1/2
3
Needs a half picture
Why it happens: A scale only works neatly if every number in the data divides by it. 40, 50 and 60 all divide by 10, so a scale of 10 gives whole pictures. They do not all divide by 20, so a scale of 20 forces you to draw half a picture.
Rule to remember: Whatever scale you choose, write the key on your pictograph. A pictograph without a key cannot be read by anybody.