The cost of 5 pencils is equal to the cost of 2 ballpoints. Write a linear equation in two variables to represent this statement. ( Take the cost of a pencil to be Rs. x and that of a ballpoint to be Rs. y).

Answer

To solve the problem, we need to express the given information in the form of a linear equation in two variables.

1. **Identify the variables**:
- Let the cost of one pencil be Rs. x.
- Let the cost of one ballpoint be Rs. y.

2. **Express the total cost of pencils and ballpoints**:
- The cost of 5 pencils can be expressed as \(5x\) (since each pencil costs Rs. x).
- The cost of 2 ballpoints can be expressed as \(2y\) (since each ballpoint costs Rs. y).

3. **Set up the equation**:
- According to the problem, the cost of 5 pencils is equal to the cost of 2 ballpoints. Therefore, we can write the equation as:
\[ 5x = 2y \]

4. **Rearranging the equation (optional)**:
- If necessary, we can rearrange the equation to express it in a standard form:
\[ 5x - 2y = 0 \]

Thus, the linear equation representing the statement is \(5x - 2y = 0\).