Printable · GCSE Higher · ages 14-16
Geometry and measures worksheet — GCSE Higher
Fifteen questions across the geometry and measures statements at Higher tier. Choose the non-calculator filter to rehearse Paper 1, which counts for a third of the marks.
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Geometry and measures worksheet — GCSE Higher
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- 1.Work out the gradient of the line segment joining A(2, 3) and B(6, 11).
- 2.A ladder rests against a wall, making an angle of 60° with the ground. The ladder is 2 m long. Using the exact value of sin 60°, work out how high up the wall the ladder reaches, giving your answer in centimetres.
- 3.Triangle DEF is isosceles, with DE = DF. Angle E = 58°. Give a reason why angle F = 58°.
- 4.An engineer models a technical drawing on a coordinate grid. A component is reflected in the line x = 2, and the image is then reflected in the line x = 6. Which single transformation has the same overall effect as these two reflections, for every point on the drawing?
- 5.The point R(−6, 9) is translated by the vector . Write down the coordinates of the image of R.
- 6.The diagram shows the plan of the base layer of a solid built from identical cubes. A second layer of cubes is added on top, filling the entire base layer to a height of 2 cubes everywhere. Work out how many squares are visible in the plan view of this solid.
- 7.Triangle ABC is isosceles, with AB = AC. Angle B = 70°. Which reason correctly explains why angle C = 70°?
- 8.Two sides of a triangle are 9 cm and 15 cm long. Write down which one of these lengths is possible for the third side.
- 9.A is the point (1, 3) and B is the point (7, 3). Work out the coordinates of the midpoint of AB.
- 10.A garden shed is shaped like a triangular prism: two identical vertical triangular end walls (the gable ends), joined by a sloping rectangular roof and a vertical rectangular back wall. Looking at the shed from directly above (the plan view), what shape is seen?
- 11.The vector describes a translation. A student writes it as by mistake. Write down what error the student has made.
- 12.Line 1 passes through (0, 1) and (2, 5). Line 2 passes through (3, 2) and (5, 6). Work out the gradient of each line. Then write down whether the two lines are parallel.
- 13.A roof truss has two horizontal parallel rafters, one above the other. A straight strut crosses both rafters. Where the strut crosses the lower rafter, the angle above the rafter and to the left of the strut is 65°. Work out the size of the angle above the upper rafter and to the right of the strut, where the strut crosses it.
- 14.In triangle ABC the angle at C is 90° and the hypotenuse AB is 12 cm. H is the point on AB for which CH is perpendicular to AB, and AH = 3 cm. Work out the length of AC.
- 15.A robot on a grid moves by the vector , then by the vector , then by the vector . Write down the single column vector that has the same overall effect as these three moves.
Answer key
- (a) 2 — Gradient = (change in y) ÷ (change in x) = (11 − 3) ÷ (6 − 2) = 8 ÷ 4 = 2. "0.5" comes from dividing the change in x by the change in y the wrong way round: 4 ÷ 8. "8" is only the change in y, forgetting to divide by the change in x at all. "−2" comes from a sign error, as if the y-coordinate had decreased rather than increased.
- (c) 100√3 cm — The height is opposite the 60° angle, so height = 2 × sin 60° = 2 × √3/2 = √3 m. Converting to centimetres: √3 m = 100√3 cm. '√3 cm' forgets to convert the answer from metres to centimetres. '200√3 cm' comes from mis-recalling sin 60° as √3 instead of √3/2, dropping the denominator of the exact value: 2 × √3 = 2√3 m = 200√3 cm. '50√3 cm' comes from halving the ladder's length before multiplying by sin 60°, instead of using the full 2 m.
- (d) Base angles of an isosceles triangle are equal — DE = DF, so triangle DEF is isosceles with DE and DF as the two equal sides. The base angles opposite those equal sides, angle E and angle F, are therefore equal to each other. Angle F = 58°. A student who instead quotes 'Angles in a triangle sum to 180°' has picked a true fact about triangles, but that fact finds a missing angle from the other two — it does not explain why two angles are equal to each other. A student who quotes 'Angles on a straight line sum to 180°' has confused this with a straight-line angle fact, but no straight line of angles is described in this triangle.
- (d) A translation by the vector (8, 0) — Method: two reflections in PARALLEL lines combine into a single translation, perpendicular to the lines, of size twice the distance between them; two reflections in lines that CROSS combine into a rotation instead, never a translation. Working: the lines x = 2 and x = 6 are parallel, a distance of 6 − 2 = 4 apart. Doubling this distance gives 2 × 4 = 8, and the translation runs in the direction from the first line towards the second, so the vector is (8, 0). Answer: a translation by the vector (8, 0). Double the distance between the lines rather than using it directly, keep the direction running from the FIRST line reflected to the SECOND, and remember that two reflections in lines that never meet can only give a translation, never a rotation.
- (b) (−1, −2) — To translate R(−6, 9) by $\binom{5}{−11}$, add 5 to the x-coordinate and −11 to the y-coordinate: (−6 + 5, 9 + (−11)) = (−1, −2). (−1, 9) applies only the x-component and leaves the y-coordinate unchanged. (−6, −2) applies only the y-component and leaves the x-coordinate unchanged. (−11, 20) comes from subtracting the vector instead of adding it.
- (c) 6 squares — Method: the plan view shows the footprint of the solid; a second layer stacked on top of floor positions that are already covered does not create any new squares in the plan. Working: the row of 4 cubes and the row of 2 cubes attached at the end do not overlap, so the footprint has 4 + 2 = 6 distinct squares. Answer: 6 squares. The distractors: 12 squares comes from counting the total number of cubes used, including the second layer (6 floor positions × 2 layers = 12), instead of the footprint. 4 squares comes from counting only the row of four and forgetting the attached row of two. 5 squares comes from wrongly treating the corner square as shared between the two rows (4 + 1 instead of 4 + 2).
- (c) base angles of an isosceles triangle are equal — Because AB = AC, triangle ABC is isosceles, and the base angles of an isosceles triangle — the two angles opposite the equal sides — are always equal, which is why angle C equals angle B, 70°. Angles in a triangle adding up to 180° is a true fact about the triangle as a whole, but it is not the reason two specific angles are equal to each other. Corresponding angles are equal is a fact about parallel lines cut by a transversal, which does not apply inside a single triangle like this. Vertically opposite angles are equal is a fact about two lines crossing, not about a triangle's base angles.
- (d) 10 cm — For a triangle to exist, any two sides must add up to more than the third side. 9 + 10 = 19 > 15, and 15 − 9 = 6 < 10, so 10 cm satisfies the triangle inequality. The other lengths fail: 6 cm gives 9 + 6 = 15, which is not more than 15; 24 cm and 26 cm are each at least as large as 9 + 15 = 24.
- (c) (4, 3) — Method: the midpoint of a segment is the mean of its two end points, so its x-coordinate is the mean of the two x-coordinates and its y-coordinate is the mean of the two y-coordinates. Working: for x, (1 + 7) ÷ 2 = 8 ÷ 2 = 4. For y, (3 + 3) ÷ 2 = 6 ÷ 2 = 3. The midpoint is therefore (4, 3). Answer: (4, 3). The distractors: (3, 3) comes from halving the difference of the x-coordinates, (7 − 1) ÷ 2 = 3, which measures half the distance instead of locating the point; (3.5, 3) comes from halving only the larger x-coordinate and leaving the smaller one out of the working; (4, 0) comes from averaging the x-coordinates correctly but then subtracting the y-coordinates, 3 − 3, rather than averaging them.
- (d) a rectangle — The shed is a prism, so its two triangular ends are identical and parallel, a fixed distance apart along the shed's length; the floor they stand on is therefore bounded by the base of one triangle, the base of the other, and the two straight edges joining them — a rectangle. Looking straight down, the sloping roof projects onto that same rectangle rather than outside it, so the plan view is a plain rectangle, as long as the shed and as wide as its gable end. "a triangle" is the shape of the END wall, seen from the front or back, not from above. "a triangle with a rectangle attached" wrongly combines a side-elevation feature with the plan — the plan does not show the triangular end wall at all, since looking down hides it completely. "two triangles joined at their bases" describes neither the plan nor any single elevation of this shed.
- (c) Swapped the x and y components — The student's vector has the same two numbers, 5 and −2, but in swapped positions, so the error is swapping the x and y components rather than an error with signs or size. 'Reversed both signs' is wrong because the numbers 5 and −2 have not changed sign, only position. 'Reversed only the y sign' is wrong for the same reason — no sign has actually changed. 'Doubled the x component' is wrong because neither number has changed in size.
- (a) Parallel, since both gradients are 2 — Gradient of line 1 = (5 − 1) ÷ (2 − 0) = 4 ÷ 2 = 2. Gradient of line 2 = (6 − 2) ÷ (5 − 3) = 4 ÷ 2 = 2. The two gradients are equal, so the lines are parallel. "Not parallel, since the gradients are 2 and 4" uses 4 for line 2, which comes from dividing the change in y, 4, by 1 rather than by the change in x, 5 − 3 = 2. "Not parallel, since the two lines cross the y-axis at different points" confuses parallel lines with the same line repeated — parallel lines are distinct lines, and where a line crosses the y-axis has no effect on its gradient. "Parallel, since both lines pass through positive coordinates" reaches the right conclusion for the wrong reason: lines are parallel because their gradients are equal, not because the coordinates given happen to be positive.
- (c) 115 — Method: use corresponding angles to carry the 65° angle from the lower rafter up to the upper rafter, then use angles on a straight line to move to the other side of the strut. Working: the angle above the upper rafter and to the left of the strut corresponds to the given angle, so it is 65°; the angle above the upper rafter and to the right of the strut lies on a straight line with it, so it is 180 − 65 = 115. Answer: 115°. A candidate who assumes the angle stays 65° without allowing for the move from the left of the strut to the right of it gives 65. A candidate who uses 90° instead of 180°, working out 90 − 65, gets 25. A candidate who adds instead of subtracting, working out 180 + 65, gets 245.
- (d) 6 cm — Method: CH cuts the triangle into two smaller right-angled triangles, so Pythagoras' theorem can be written in each of the three right-angled triangles and the results combined. Working: HB = 12 − 3 = 9 cm. In triangle ACH, CH² = AC² − 3² = AC² − 9; in triangle CHB, CH² = CB² − 9² = CB² − 81. Setting those equal gives AC² − 9 = CB² − 81. In triangle ABC, AC² + CB² = 12² = 144, so CB² = 144 − AC². Substituting gives AC² − 9 = 144 − AC² − 81, so 2 × AC² = 72 and AC² = 36, giving AC = 6. Answer: 6 cm. The distractors: 36 cm comes from stopping at AC² = 36 and never taking the square root; 9 cm is HB, the other part of the hypotenuse, written down in place of AC; 4 cm comes from working out 12 ÷ 3, treating AH as a scale factor between the two triangles rather than as a length.
- (d) $\binom{0}{4}$ — Add the three vectors component by component: x: 3 + (−7) + 4 = 0; y: −2 + 5 + 1 = 4, giving $\binom{0}{4}$. $\binom{−4}{3}$ comes from adding only the first two vectors and forgetting the third. $\binom{14}{−6}$ comes from reading the second vector as $\binom{7}{−5}$ instead of $\binom{−7}{5}$, flipping its signs. $\binom{4}{0}$ comes from swapping the final x-total and y-total.
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