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Class 6 Maths: The Other Side of Zero, 8 practice questions with answers

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These are 8 practice questions on Chapter 10, The Other Side of Zero, of the new NCERT Class 6 Maths textbook, Ganita Prakash. Each has a worked answer and the textbook page it comes from. They cover keeping score with positive and negative points, combining and cancelling hops on a number line, putting integers in order, subtraction as the change between two totals, heights above and below sea level, adding and subtracting on the number line, a running total that dips below zero, and temperatures below zero. Try each one on paper before you open the answer.

These questions are our own, drafted with AI help. Every number was re-computed by a test script. Each question has its own setting: none retells the chapter's lift, mine, token or bank examples or its exercises. No practising teacher has reviewed them yet. If you find a mistake, please tell us.

What the chapter says you need

Facts from the NCERT textbook (Ganita Prakash, Grade 6, Chapter 10, printed pages 242 to 271):

Scores and hops

Question 1. In a school quiz, a right answer scores +5 and a wrong answer scores −3. (a) A team on +3 answers two questions wrong and then one right. What is its score now? Write it as one addition. (b) Another team on −4 answers three right and two wrong. What is its score?

Answer: (a) +2: (+3) + (−3) + (−3) + (+5) = +2; (b) +5. Starting score + changes = new score, just as starting floor + movement = target floor. (a) Two wrong answers take +3 down to 0 and then to −3; the right answer brings it up 5 to +2. (b) Three right answers add 3 × 5 = 15 and two wrong ones add 2 × (−3) = −6, so (−4) + (+15) + (−6) = +5. (Adding to keep track of movement, page 245.)

Question 2. A frog sits at 0 on a number line. It hops +4, then −6, then +3, then −2. (a) Where does it end up? (b) What single hop takes it straight back to 0? (c) If it left out one of its four hops, it would end at −5. Which hop?

Answer: (a) −1; (b) +1; (c) the +4 hop. (a) The hops to the right add up to +7 and the hops to the left to −8, so (+7) + (−8) = −1. (b) The inverse of −1 is +1, and (−1) + (+1) = 0. (c) Leaving out a hop changes the end point by the inverse of that hop. To go from −1 to −5 the end point must change by −4, so the hop left out is +4. Check: (−6) + (+3) + (−2) = −5. (Combining movements and inverses, pages 245 and 246; movement on the number line, pages 252 and 253.)

Question 3. Write these in increasing order: −9, 4, −15, 0, −3, 11.

Answer: −15 < −9 < −3 < 0 < 4 < 11. On a building or a number line, a lower floor or a point further left is smaller. Of the negative numbers, −15 is the lowest, then −9, then −3. Zero comes next, then the positive numbers 4 and 11. (Comparing numbers, pages 247 and 252.)

Subtraction as movement

Question 4. In the same quiz, a team's total score is −8 after round 1, −3 after round 2 and −11 after round 3. (a) How many points did it get in round 2? (b) In round 3? Check each by addition. (c) Every team starts on 0. What were its points in round 1?

Answer: (a) +5; (b) −8; (c) −8. The change in a round is the new total minus the old total, just as the movement is the target floor minus the starting floor. (a) (−3) − (−8) = (−3) + (+8) = +5. Check: (−8) + (+5) = −3. (b) (−11) − (−3) = (−11) + (+3) = −8. Check: (−3) + (−8) = −11. (c) (−8) − 0 = −8. The three rounds add up to the final total: (−8) + (+5) + (−8) = −11. (Subtraction to find the movement, pages 248 and 249.)

Question 5. Heights are measured from sea level: above is +, below is −. A hot-air balloon is at +35 m and a submarine is at −120 m, straight below it. (a) How far apart are they? (b) The balloon then rises 25 m and the submarine climbs 40 m. Where is each now, and how far apart are they?

Answer: (a) 155 m; (b) the balloon at +60 m and the submarine at −80 m, 140 m apart. (a) The distance is the higher height minus the lower one: (+35) − (−120) = 35 + 120 = 155 m: 35 m down to sea level and 120 m more. (b) The balloon is at 35 + 25 = +60 m; the submarine at (−120) + 40 = −80 m. They are now 60 − (−80) = 60 + 80 = 140 m apart. Check: the balloon went 25 m further from the submarine, and the submarine came 40 m nearer, so the gap changed by 25 − 40 = −15 m, and 155 − 15 = 140. (Heights above and below sea level, pages 260 and 261; subtracting a negative number, page 252.)

Comparing, money and temperature

Question 6. Without working them out first, which is bigger, (−2) − (+5) or (−2) + (+5)? By how much? Explain with a number line, then check by working them out.

Answer: (−2) + (+5) is bigger, by 10. Both start at −2 on the number line. Adding +5 moves 5 steps to the right; taking away +5 moves 5 steps to the left. So the two answers are 5 + 5 = 10 steps apart, and the one to the right, (−2) + (+5), is the bigger. Check: (−2) + (+5) = +3 and (−2) − (+5) = −7, and 3 − (−7) = 10. (Addition and subtraction on the number line, pages 252 and 253.)

Question 7. A small shop writes its profit as + and its loss as − each day. For five days it writes +₹45, +₹70, −₹25, −₹110 and +₹95. (a) What is the running total after each day? (b) After which day was it lowest, and was it ever below zero? (c) What would day 6 have to bring for the total to reach +₹100?

Answer: (a) ₹45, ₹115, ₹90, −₹20 and ₹75; (b) after day 4, at −₹20, so yes; (c) a profit of ₹25. (a) 0 + 45 = 45; 45 + 70 = 115; 115 + (−25) = 90; 90 + (−110) = −20; −20 + 95 = 75. (b) The lowest running total is −₹20, after day 4: the shop was ₹20 below zero then. (c) 100 − 75 = +₹25, a profit of ₹25. (Integers for money gained and lost, pages 259 and 260.)

Question 8. (a) On a winter night the temperature in a hill town is −6 °C, and at noon the next day it is 11 °C. By how many degrees did it rise? (b) Find two integers that are 7 apart and add up to −5.

Answer: (a) 17 degrees; (b) −6 and 1. (a) The rise is the movement from −6 to 11: 11 − (−6) = 11 + 6 = 17 °C: 6 degrees up to 0 °C and 11 more. (b) Try pairs 7 apart: −1 and 6 add to 5; −3 and 4 add to 1; −5 and 2 add to −3; −6 and 1 add to −5. Check: 1 − (−6) = 7 and (−6) + 1 = −5. (Temperature, page 262; adding and subtracting integers, pages 245 and 252 to 253.)

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Sources

All opened and read on 1 November 2026. Page numbers are the printed page numbers of the textbook; printed page = PDF page + 241 for this chapter.

The rules are from the textbook pages above. The questions, worked answers and checks are our own, and every number was re-computed by script. This guide is general information; follow your teacher and the textbook.

Practise with the worksheet: The Other Side of Zero, Class 6 worksheet. Printable, in English, Hindi and Marathi, with an answer key.