Algebra worksheet — GCSE Foundation

1.A taxi firm charges a fixed fee of £3.50 plus £2.20 per mile. Work out the total cost of a journey of 6 miles.

2.A cyclist's distance-time graph shows the following: she travels 12 km in the first 30 minutes at a steady speed, then rests for 30 minutes, then travels a further 8 km in the next 15 minutes. Work out her average speed, in km/h, for the whole journey.

3.A number, n, is tripled and then 4.5 is added. The result is 22.5. Form an equation and solve it to find n.

4.The formula connecting distance (d), speed (s) and time (t) is d = st. Make s the subject of the formula.

5.Solve the inequality 2(3x − 1) ≥ 4x + 8.

6.The braking distance of a car, in metres, is estimated using the formula d = 0.4v² + 6, where v is the speed in mph. A car travelling at 35 mph brakes. Work out the estimated braking distance.

7.The diagram shows a distance–time graph for a cyclist travelling at a constant speed, for the first 6 minutes of a journey. Distance is in kilometres and time is in minutes. Work out how far the cyclist would travel in 20 minutes at the same speed.

8.Four sequences are shown below. Sequence P: 4, 8, 16, 32, ... Sequence Q: 4, 8, 12, 16, ... Sequence R: 4, 7, 12, 19, ... Sequence S: 4, 9, 16, 25, ... Work out which of the sequences P, Q, R and S is geometric.

9.A mobile phone tariff charges a fixed £15 plus 20p for every minute of calls made, so the total monthly charge, £C, for m minutes of calls is given by C = 15 + 0.2m. In a month where Ali's charge was £46.60, work out how many minutes of calls he made.

10.A school trip costs a £15 deposit plus £9 per student for the coach. The total cost for a class is £186. Work out how many students went on the trip.

11.Six years ago Harry was three times as old as his brother Leo. Harry is now 24 years old. Work out Leo's age now.

12.Point R has coordinates (3, −5). Point R is reflected in the line y = 2 to point S. Write down the coordinates of S.

13.Solve 5x² − 15x = 0.

14.The formula for the perimeter of a rectangle is P = 2(l + w). One rectangle has l = 9 cm and w = 4 cm. A second rectangle has l = 6 cm and w = 5 cm. Work out how many cm greater the perimeter of the first rectangle is than the perimeter of the second.

15.The graph of y = x² − 2x − 8 takes these values: when x = −2, y = 0; when x = −1, y = −5; when x = 0, y = −8; when x = 3, y = −5; when x = 4, y = 0. Use these values to write down the two solutions of x² − 2x − 8 = 0.