Algebra worksheet — GCSE Foundation

1.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.

2.On Monday, a runner covers 15 km in 2.5 hours. On Tuesday, she covers 12 km in 1.5 hours. Using the formula speed = distance ÷ time, work out on which day she ran faster, and by how much.

3.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.

4.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.

5.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.

6.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.

7.A tree is 2 metres tall. Each year its height increases by 10% of its height at the start of that year. Work out the height of the tree after 3 years, giving your answer to 1 decimal place.

8.A rectangle has width x cm. Its length is 3 cm more than its width. The perimeter of the rectangle is 38 cm. Form an equation and solve it to find x.

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

10.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.

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

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

13.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.

14.Two numbers have a sum of 45. The larger number is 9 more than the smaller number. Form an equation using n for the smaller number, and solve it to find the larger number.

15.Mia buys 3 identical notebooks and a pen costing £1.50. She pays a total of £9.90. Form an equation using n for the cost of one notebook, and solve it to find n.