Algebra worksheet — GCSE Foundation

1.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.

2.A colony of bacteria doubles in number every hour. At 9am there are 5 bacteria in the colony. Work out how many bacteria there will be at 12 noon.

3.A phone plan costs a fixed £15 per month plus 8p per minute of calls. In one month, Jamal's bill was £23.80. Form an equation using m for the number of minutes, and solve it to find how many minutes Jamal used that month.

4.Amelia's mother is three times as old as Amelia. Four years ago her mother was five times as old as Amelia was then. Work out Amelia's age now.

5.A car's speed-time graph shows the following: its speed increases steadily from 0 m/s to 20 m/s over the first 10 seconds, then stays constant at 20 m/s for the next 15 seconds. Work out the total distance travelled in the first 25 seconds.

6.A plumber charges a call-out fee of £30 plus £25 per hour worked. Work out the total charge for a job that takes 3 hours.

7.Work out the value of 3b − 4 when b = 6

8.Which expression means the same as a × a × a?

9.The formula for converting a distance in miles, m, to kilometres, k, is k = 8m ÷ 5. Work out k when m = 10.

10.A stack of firewood has 3 logs in the top layer. Each layer below has 4 more logs than the layer above it. Work out the number of logs in the 6th layer from the top.

11.A taxi fare in pounds is given by F = 2.50 + 1.20m, where m is the number of miles travelled. Sam takes a taxi for a journey of 6 miles. Work out the fare.

12.A recipe gives the cooking time, in minutes, for a chicken as T = 40m + 20, where m is the mass in kg. A chicken has a mass of 1.8 kg. Work out the cooking time in hours and minutes.

13.A gas company charges a standing charge plus a rate per unit used. The total cost, y in pounds, for using x units is given by y = 0.15x + 20. Work out the cost of using 200 units.

14.Harry is 14 years old and Mia is 8 years old. Will Harry ever be exactly twice as old as Mia? Give a reason for your answer.

15.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.