NCERT Solutions for Class 5th Maths Chapter 2 Sixteen ants in a line — Try This
Book page 31 Updated on2026-09-19
Q1.
If the length of an ant is 1/4 cm — then what is the total length of 16 such ants walking in a line? Use the number line given below.
The number line printed on page 31, with 16 ants walking one behind the other. One ant is 1/4 cm long.
Answer
The 16 ants together are 4 cm long.
Name the quantity first: we need a total length in centimetres. Each ant adds 1/4 cm.
One ant is 1/4 cm long.
16 ants together = 16 pieces of 1/4 cm = 16/4 cm.
4 quarters make 1 cm, so group the 16 quarters into fours: 4 groups.
16 ÷ 4 = 4. The line of ants is 4 cm long.
16 × 1/4 cm = 16/4 cm 16 ÷ 4 = 4 cm
The small ticks are quarter-centimetres. Sixteen of them reach the 4 cm mark.
Why it happens: Four ants standing nose to tail are 1/4 + 1/4 + 1/4 + 1/4 = 4/4 = 1 cm. There are 4 such groups of 4 ants in 16, so the line is 4 × 1 cm = 4 cm.
Check it yourself: Work backwards. 4 cm has 4 × 4 = 16 quarter-centimetres, and each ant fills one of them. That is exactly 16 ants ✓.