Algebra worksheet — GCSE Foundation

1.Sophie's mother is 34 years old. In x years' time she will be 50 years old. Work out the value of x.

2.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.

3.A phone company works out a monthly bill, £B, using the formula B = 18 + 0.05t, where £18 is the fixed monthly charge and t is the number of extra text messages sent beyond the free allowance, each charged at 5p. Farida's bill for one month is £24.50. Work out the number of extra text messages, t, she sent.

4.A runner's journey is shown on a distance-time graph: she runs 8 km in the first hour, rests for 30 minutes with no distance gained, then runs a further 4 km in the next 30 minutes. Work out her average speed for the whole journey, in kilometres per hour.

5.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.

6.A plumber charges a call-out fee of £30 plus £25 for each hour worked. The total bill for a job was £130. Work out how many hours the plumber worked.

7.Solve 2x² − 32 = 0.

8.A taxi company charges a £2.50 booking fee plus £1.80 per mile. A journey costs £15.10 in total. Work out the number of miles travelled.

9.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.

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

11.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.

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

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 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.

15.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.