Geometry and measures worksheet — GCSE Higher

1.A parallelogram has a base of 20 cm and a sloping side of 13 cm. The perpendicular drawn from the top of that sloping side down to the base meets the base 5 cm from the foot of the sloping side, so the perpendicular, the 5 cm and the 13 cm sloping side form a right-angled triangle. Work out the area of the parallelogram.

2.Two similar triangles have lengths in the ratio 2 : 5. The sides of the smaller triangle are 4 cm, 6 cm and 8 cm. Work out the length of the longest side of the larger triangle.

3.A treasure map has a scale of 1 cm to 4 m. A path from the start to a rock is drawn as two straight sections, measuring 3 cm and 2.5 cm. Work out the total real distance from the start to the rock, in metres.

4.Lines GH and JK are parallel. A straight line crosses GH at point M and crosses JK at point N. Angle HMN = 71°. Angle HMN and angle MNK are alternate angles. Work out angle MNK.

5.A cube has edges of length 5 cm. Work out the length of the diagonal that runs from one corner of the cube to the opposite corner. Give your answer as a surd in its simplest form.

6.Point P(2, 5) is enlarged with centre (2, 1) to give image point P′(2, −7). Work out the scale factor of the enlargement.

7.AB is a diameter of a circle with centre O, and C is a point on the circle. A student writes four statements to prove that angle ACB = 90°. Statement 1: OA = OC, since both are radii, so triangle OAC is isosceles with angle OAC = angle OCA. Statement 2: OB = OC, since both are radii, so triangle OBC is isosceles with angle OBC = angle OCB. Statement 3: in triangle ABC, the three angles sum to 360°, so angle OAC + angle OBC + angle ACB = 360°, meaning 2 × angle ACB = 360° and angle ACB = 180°. Statement 4: A, O and B lie on a straight line, since AB is a diameter through the centre O. Which one of these four statements is mathematically incorrect?

8.A chocolate bar is a prism. Its cross-section is a triangle with a base of 6 cm and a perpendicular height of 5 cm, and the bar is 12 cm long. Work out the volume of the bar.

9.Point P has coordinates (1, 3). P is reflected in the line x = 4, then the image is reflected in the line y = 1, and then that image is translated by the vector (2, −3). Work out the coordinates of the final image of P.

10.Each of these has an exact value. Write down the one whose value is the greatest.

11.A rectangle has vertices at (2, 1), (9, 1), (9, 5) and (2, 5). Work out the area of the rectangle.

12.Two similar triangular tiles have lengths in the ratio 3 : 5. The longest side of the smaller tile is 9 cm. Work out the length of the longest side of the larger tile.

13.A cyclist's journey from her house to the shop is represented by the column vector with top number 2 and bottom number 5, where each unit is 1 km east and 1 km north. She then cycles from the shop to the park, represented by the column vector with top number 4 and bottom number −3. What single column vector represents her journey from her house directly to the park?

14.Point B is at (3, 5). It is reflected in the line y = 2. Work out the coordinates of the image of point B.

15.A circle with centre O has radius 17 cm. A chord AB is drawn so that the perpendicular distance from O to AB is 8 cm. Work out the length of the chord AB.