Algebra worksheet — GCSE Foundation

1.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.

2.The mean of four numbers is 12.5. Three of the numbers are 8, 15 and 19. Form an equation using n for the fourth number, and solve it to find n.

3.A scout leader is 44 years old and one of the scouts is 16 years old. Work out how many years it will be until the leader is exactly twice as old as the scout.

4.Yuki is y years old. Her brother is 4 years younger than Yuki. Write down an expression, in terms of y, for the brother's age in 5 years' time.

5.A plumber charges a call-out fee plus an hourly rate. The total cost, y in pounds, of a job lasting x hours is given by y = 45x + 60. Work out the total cost of a job that lasts 3 hours.

6.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.

7.A hiker's distance-time graph shows the following: he walks 5 km in the first 1 hour at a steady speed, rests for 1 hour, then walks a further 9 km in the next 2 hours, also at a steady speed. Work out his average speed for the whole journey, in km/h.

8.A ball is thrown in the air. Its height, h metres, above the ground after t seconds is given in this table: when t = 0, h = 0; when t = 1, h = 15; when t = 2, h = 20; when t = 3, h = 15; when t = 4, h = 0. Use the table to find the two times, in seconds, at which the ball is at ground level.

9.A rectangle has length k cm and width 5 cm less than its length. Write down an expression for the width of the rectangle, in cm.

10.A cinema sells adult tickets for £10 and child tickets for £6. A family group buys 9 tickets in total, spending £74. Work out how many adult tickets were bought.

11.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.

12.The formula for converting a temperature in Fahrenheit, F, to Celsius, C, is C = 5(F − 32) ÷ 9. Work out C, to 1 decimal place, when F = 98.6.

13.The graph of P = 480 ÷ V shows how the pressure, P pascals, of a gas depends on its volume, V cm³, at constant temperature. Use the relationship to work out the volume when the pressure is 32 pascals, and then work out by how much the volume increases when the pressure drops to 24 pascals.

14.A regular hexagon has sides of length (x + 2) cm. Write down an expression, in terms of x, for the perimeter of the hexagon.

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.