Solutions to NCERT Class 6 Science Curiosity Chapter 6 Materials Around Us

We have prepared excellent solutions to NCERT Class 6 Science Chapter 6 Materials Around Us. In this complete solutions package we have solved all textbook exercise questions and even included extra questions, according to the new syllabus, to help you prepare. We advise that you take your time to study all of them as you will see similar questions in your exams.

Solutions to ‘Let us enhance our learning’ (Page No 119) of NCERT Class 6 Science Curiosity Chapter 6 Materials Around Us

1. Visit your kitchen and observe how your parents have organised various edibles. Can you suggest a better sorting method? Write it in your notebook.

Solution:

I observed that my parents have organised various edibles according to size of the packages or vessels in which they are kept.

A better sorting method would be grouping similar edibles together:

• Grains and pulses in one section.
• Fruits and vegetables in one section.
• Meat and fish in one section.
• Spices and condiments in one section.
• Oils and sauces in one section.

2. Unscramble the letters (Column I) and match with their properties (Column II).

Column I	Column II
(i) T R E M A T	(a) Objects can be seen clearly through it
(ii) U L S B E L O	(b) Occupies space and has mass
(iii) T N E R P A S N A R T	(c) Shiny surface
iv) E R U S T L	(d) Mixes completely in water

Solution:

Column I	Column II
(i) MATTER	(b) Occupies space and has mass
(ii) SOLUBLE	(d) Mixes completely in water
(iii) TRANSPARENT	(a) Objects can be seen clearly through it
iv) LUSTRE	(c) Shiny surface

3. The containers which are used to store materials in shops and at home are usually transparent. Give your reasons for this.
Solution:
The containers which are used to store materials in shops and at home are usually transparent so that customers can easily see the items through the transparent material of the container. This would enable them to identify and buy the correct items quickly.

4. State whether the statements given below are True [T] or False [F]. Correct the False statement(s).

(i) Wood is translucent while glass is opaque. [ ]

(ii) Aluminium foil has lustre while an eraser does not. [ ]

(iii) Sugar dissolves in water whereas sawdust does not. [ ]

(iv) An apple is a matter because it occupies no space and has mass. [ ]

Solution:

(i) Wood is translucent while glass is opaque. [ ]

False [F]. Correct Statement: Wood is opaque while glass is transparent.

(ii) Aluminium foil has lustre while an eraser does not. [ ]

True [T]. Aluminium is a metal and hence has lustre. The eraser is not a metal and does not have lustre.

(iii) Sugar dissolves in water whereas sawdust does not. [ ]

True [T]. Sugar is soluble is water whereas sawdust is insoluble in water.

(iv) An apple is a matter because it occupies no space and has mass. [ ]

False [F]. Correct Statement: An apple is a matter because it occupies space (or volume) and has mass.

5. We see chairs made up of various materials, such as wood, iron, plastic, bamboo, cement and stones. Following are some desirable properties of materials which can be used to make chairs. Which materials used to make chairs fulfil these properties the most?

(i) Hardness (does not bend or shake on sitting even after long use).

(ii) Lightweight (easy to lift or to take from one place to another).

(iii) Does not feel very cold when sitting during winters.

(iv) Can be cleaned regularly and made to look new even after long use.

Solution:

(i) Hardness – Wood, iron

(ii) Lightweight – Plastic, bamboo

(iii) Does not feel very cold when sitting during winters – Wood, bamboo

(iv) Can be cleaned regularly and made to look new even after long use – Plastic

6. You need to have containers for collection of (i) food waste, (ii) broken glass and (iii) wastepaper. Which materials will you choose for containers of these types of waste? What properties of materials do you need to think of?

Solution:

(i) Food waste

Materials: Metal, plastic containers would be suitable.

Properties of materials to consider:

• Hard and durable
• Easy to clean
• Non-porous

(ii) Broken glass

Materials:Metal, plastic

Properties of materials to consider:

• Hard, durable and damage-proof

(iii) Wastepaper

Materials: Plastic, cane, bamboo

Properties of materials to consider:

• Lightweight

7. Air is all around us but does not hinder us from seeing each other. Whereas, if a wooden door comes in between, we cannot see each other. It is because air is _________ and the wooden door is _________. Choose the most appropriate option:

(i) transparent, opaque

(ii) translucent, transparent

(iii) opaque, translucent

(iv) transparent, translucent

Solution:

(i) transparent, opaque

8. Imagine you have two mysterious materials, X and Y. When you try to press material X, it feels rigid and does not change its shape easily. On the other hand, material Y easily changes its shape when you press it. Now, when you mix both materials in water, only material X dissolves completely, while material Y remains unchanged. What can materials X and Y be? Can you identify whether material X is hard or soft? What about material Y? Justify your answer.

Solution:

Material X could be sugar because it is rigid and dissolves in water.

Material Y could be rubber because it easily changes shapes when pressed and is insoluble in water.

Material X is hard because it is rigid and does not change its shape easily.

Material Y is soft because it changes shape easily.

9 (i) Who am I? Identify me on the basis of the given properties.

(a) I have lustre.                                                                     __________

(b) I can be easily compressed.                                            __________

(c) I am hard and soluble in water.                                      __________

(d) You cannot see clearly through me.                             __________

(e) I have mass and volume but you cannot see me.  __________

(ii) Make your own ‘Who am I?’

Solution:

(a) Metal

(b) Sponge

(c) Sugar

(d) Frosted glass (translucent material)

(e) Air

Make your own ‘Who am I?’

(a) I am hard, precious and start with G.                                         __________

(b) I am powdery, made of wood and not soluble in water.       __________

(c) I am a liquid and am sweet and soluble in water.                   _________

(d) I am used in furniture and you cannot see through me.        __________

(e) You can easily see through me.                                                   __________

The answer-key is below:

(a) Gold

(b) Sawdust

(c) Honey

(d) Wood (Opaque substance)

(e) Glass (Transparent substance)

10. You are provided with the following materials—vinegar, honey, mustard oil, water, glucose and wheat flour.

Make any two pairs of materials where one material is soluble in the other. Now, make two pairs of materials where one material remains insoluble in the other material.

Solution:

Pairs of materials where one material is soluble in the other:

(i) Vinegar, water

(ii) Glucose, water

Pairs of materials where one material remains insoluble in the other material:

(i) Mustard oil, water

(ii) Wheat flour, water

Solutions to In Text Questions of NCERT Class 6 Science Curiosity Chapter 6 Materials Around Us

1. (Page 104) Would it be a good idea to use paper-like materials for making cooking utensils?
Solution:
No, it is not a goodidea to use paper-like materials for making cooking utensils because paper is a flammable material, so it can catch fire on contact with the cooking stove.

2. (Page 104) Why cannot a tumbler made of cloth be used for storing water?
Solution:
Cloth is a soft material, so it would be impossible to hold and drink from a tumbler made of cloth. Also, cloth contains a lot of pores and is a porous material, so the water inside would seep out.

3. (Page 105) Why are different materials used for making balls for various sports?
Solution:
Different materials are used for making sports balls depending on each sport’s specific requirements, such as durability, weight, bounce, grip. For example, cork and leather together provide the right amount of hardness for cricket balls. Basketball is made of rubber and synthetic materials which provide good bounce which is a requirement of the sport.

4. (Page 105) Can a cricket ball be used to play tennis?
Solution:
No, a cricket ball cannot be used to play tennis because it is too hard, heavy, and does not bounce that high.

5. (Page 107) Are all lustrous materials metals?
Solution:
No, all lustrous materials are not metals. Surfaces of some materials are made shiny by polishing or coating them with thin layers of plastic, wax or any other material. These materials are not necessarily metals.

6. (Page 110) Is water transparent? Can it be made opaque?
Solution:
Yes, water is transparent. It can be made opaque by freezing it into ice.

7. (Page 111) Does everything you put in water disappear?
Solution:
No, everything put in water does not disappear because these materials are not soluble in water. For example, chalk powder, sawdust when put in water, do not disappear.

8. (Page 112) Do liquids like oil, vinegar and honey dissolve in water? Explore.
Solution:
Oil does not dissolve in water and floats as a layer above the water. Vinegar and honey dissolve in water.

9. (Page 112) What about the gases present in water?
Solution:
The gases present in water dissolve in water. For example, oxygen dissolves in water, which is essential for the survival of aquatic life.

10. (Page 114) Why was I not able to transfer water from the jug into an empty water bottle completely?
Solution:
The reason the water from the jug could not be completely transferred into the empty bottle is that the volume of the jug was greater than the volume of the water bottle. Hence, some water was left over in the jug after pouring.

11. (Page 115) Are there any properties which can be shown by all materials? If yes, what are those?
Solution:
Yes, mass and volume are two properties which can be shown by all materials.

12. (Page 116) Is air matter?
Answer:
Yes, although we cannot see air, it has mass and occupies space. Hence, air is matter.

Extra Questions to Complement Solutions to NCERT Class 6 Science Curiosity Chapter 6 Materials Around Us

Very Short Answer Type Questions:

1. How can you group objects?
Answer:
Objects can be grouped based on shape, materials they are made from etc.

2. Is an object be made up of only one material?
Answer:
No, an object can be made from many materials.

3. Can a tumbler be made from cloth store liquid?
Answer:
No, a tumbler made from cloth cannot store liquid, because the cloth will get soaked and liquid will leak out from inside. Also, the cloth tumbler will be difficult to grasp.

4. What is lustre?
Answer:
Materials (usually metals) which have shiny surfaces are said to have lustre.

5. Name two soft materials.
Answer:
Two soft materials are cotton and sponge.

6. Name two hard materials.
Answer:
Two hard materials are iron and copper.

7. Do substances dissolve in liquid in the same amount?
Answer:
Substances dissolve in a given amount of liquid in different amounts – some substances dissolve in water in greater amount than others.

8. Does wood dissolve in water? Does it dissolve in oil?
Answer:
Wood does not dissolve in either water or oil.

9. Can you see through a block of iron?
Answer:
No, because iron is an opaque substance.

10. Name another substance except than solids that dissolves in liquids.
Answer:
Gas is another substance that dissolves in liquids.

11. Which of the following is not a metal?

Aluminium, copper, oxygen, iron

Answer:
Oxygen is not a metal – it is a gas.

12. What is the advantage of grouping materials?
Answer:
The advantage of grouping similar materials together is to increase the ease of finding them and also to study their properties.

Short Answer Type Questions:

1. Name three substances that are insoluble in water?
Answer:
Mustard oil, kerosene and coconut oil are insoluble in water.

2. What happens when oil and water are mixed together?
Answer:
Oil is insoluble in water. Therefore, oil does not mix with water. It forms a separate layer on top of the water sometime after being mixed.

3. What happens if you hold a block of wood inside a beaker of water for a long time? Will it dissolve? What happens when you let go of the wood?
Answer:
Wood is insoluble in water, therefore even after a long time it will not dissolve. Also, wood floats in water, so when you let go it will rise to the surface.

4. What is an easy way to test if a material is hard?
Answer:
An easy way to test this is to scratch the material with a sharp object. If the material cannot be scratched so easily then it is a hard material.

5. Is ice a translucent material?
Answer:
It is easy to observe that you can see through ice but not clearly. Therefore, it is a translucent material. If the block of ice is thick enough, then it is opaque.

6. Is there a limit to how much of a substance is soluble in a liquid? How can you test this?
Answer:
Yes, there is a limit to how much of a substance is soluble in a given amount of liquid. You test this by keeping on adding the substance to the liquid until the point when the substance does not dissolve any more.

7. Wood is insoluble in water. What about small pieces of wood?
Answer:
Small pieces of wood are still made from wood. Since wood is insoluble in water, small pieces of wood will also be insoluble in water – size will not matter.

Long Answer Type Questions:

1. What are some properties of materials?
Answer:
Some properties of materials are as follows:

(i) Appearance: Materials look different from each other in appearance.

(ii) Hardness: Materials which can be moulded or scratched easily are called soft and the materials which cannot be deformed easily are called hard.

(iii) Solubility: Some materials are soluble in water, others are not.

(iv) Floatation: Objects may float or sink in water – objects made up of some materials float and others sink.

(v) Transparency: Some substances are transparent because you can see through them, others are not. The substances which you cannot see through are called opaque. Also, if you can only partially see through a substance it is called translucent.

(vi) Weight: Some materials are heavier than others.

(vii) Space and volume: Materials occupy both space and volume.

2. How do you test if a material is soluble in water?
Answer:
Here is how you test if a material is soluble in water:

(i) Fill a beaker with water.

(ii) Add a small amount of a substance to the beaker.

(iii) Stir the contents of the beaker with a spoon.

(iv) Wait for a few minutes and observe what happens.

(v) If the substance has completely disappeared, we can say that it is soluble in water.

3. How can you test whether the palm of your hand is opaque, transparent or translucent?
Answer:
You can test this by following these steps:

(i) Cover the glass of a torch with your palm at a dark place.

(ii) Switch on the torch and observe the other side of the palm.

(iii) You will see a faint glow of light on the other side – which means the light passes through the palm, but not completely.

(iv) Therefore, we can conclude that our hand is translucent.

Fill in the blanks:

insoluble, properties, translucent, sponge, metal

(a) When you can only partially see through a material it is called _________.

(b) Iron is harder than _________.

(c) _________ differ from material to material.

(d) Gold is an expensive _________.

(e) Leather is _________ in water.


Answers:


(a) When you can only partially see through a material it is called translucent.

(b) Iron is harder than sponge.

(c) Properties differ from material to material.

(d) Gold is an expensive metal.

(e) Leather is insoluble in water.

Match and pair:

Column A	Column B
(i) Sponge	(a) Mixes well in water
(ii) Coin	(b) Transparent
(iii) Shiny surface	(c) Opaque
(iv) Glass containers	(d) Lustre
(v) Soluble substance	(e) Soft

Answer: Find the correct table below:

Column A	Column B
(i) Sponge	(e) Soft
(ii) Coin	(c) Opaque
(iii) Shiny surface	(d) Lustre
(iv) Glass containers	(b) Transparent
(v) Soluble substance	(a) Mixes well in water

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