Algebra worksheet — GCSE Foundation

1.A cafe sells coffees at £c each and pastries at £p each. Three coffees and two pastries cost £9.60. Two coffees and two pastries cost £7.60. Work out the price of one coffee.

2.A quadratic graph y = ax² + bx + c has its turning point on the y-axis. Which statement about its roots must be true?

3.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.

4.Solve 2x² − 32 = 0.

5.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.

6.Which expression means the same as 3 × a × b?

7.Two brothers have ages that add up to 30. The elder brother is 6 years older than the younger brother. Work out the age of the younger brother.

8.A graph shows the total monthly cost of a mobile phone tariff against the number of minutes of calls. The line starts at £12 and stays level until 200 minutes, then rises by 5p for each further minute of calls. Use the graph to work out the total cost of a month in which 250 minutes of calls are made.

9.Priya buys b balloons for a party. Each balloon costs 15p. Write down an expression for the total cost, in pence.

10.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.

11.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.

12.A model rocket's height is given by h = −5t² + 20t, where h is in metres and t is in seconds. A student says the graph of h against t is n-shaped. Which statement gives the correct verdict on the SHAPE and the reason that settles it from the equation?

13.A ferry's distance-time graph is a straight line from (0 minutes, 0 km) to (25 minutes, 15 km). Work out the ferry's speed in kilometres per hour.

14.A gym charges a joining fee plus a monthly fee. Anna paid £100 in total after 3 months of membership. Ben paid £160 in total after 6 months of membership (same joining fee and monthly fee as Anna). Work out the monthly fee.

15.A car park charges by the hour. Parking for 1 hour costs £5, 2 hours costs £9, 3 hours costs £13 and 4 hours costs £17, with the cost increasing by the same amount for each extra hour. Work out an expression, in terms of n, for the cost, in pounds, of parking for n hours.