Ratio, proportion and rates of change worksheet — GCSE Higher

1.An ice-cream van's daily takings, in £, are modelled by a curve plotted against the average temperature that day, in °C. At a temperature of 22°C, the gradient of the tangent to this curve is 14. What does this gradient tell you about the takings at 22°C?

2.y is inversely proportional to x. When x = 5, y = 8. Work out the value of y when x = 10.

3.An architect builds a scale model of a staircase before construction. The model is mathematically similar to the real staircase, at a scale of 1 : 10. The model covers a floor area of 0.4 m² on the plan. Work out the floor area the real staircase will cover, giving your answer in m².

4.A sequence is defined by the iterative rule x_{n+1} = 0.5x_n + 20, with x_0 = 0. By working out x_1, x_2 and x_3, find the value that the sequence is approaching.

5.6 identical taps fill a paddling pool in 20 minutes. Each tap fills at the same steady rate. Work out how long 3 of these taps would take to fill the same pool.

6.Two mathematically similar hexagonal tiles have areas 18 cm² and 50 cm². Work out the ratio of the side length of the smaller tile to the side length of the larger tile, in simplest form.

7.A furniture designer makes a scale model of a wardrobe using a scale of 1 : 8. The real wardrobe is 2.4 m tall and 1.2 m wide. Work out the perimeter of the front face of the model wardrobe, in centimetres.

8.A cyclist rides 19.3 km in 47 minutes. Work out her average speed, in km/h, to 1 decimal place.

9.Last week Priya worked 5 shifts of 7 hours. This week she worked 4 shifts of 8 hours. Write the number of hours she worked last week as a fraction of the number of hours she worked this week.

10.The volume of fuel remaining in a storage tank, in thousands of litres, is plotted against time, in hours, since a leak was detected. A tangent to the graph at t = 2 hours has gradient −8.75 thousand litres per hour. A tangent at t = 8 hours has gradient −3.5 thousand litres per hour. Work out by what factor the instantaneous rate of change is greater in size at t = 2 hours than at t = 8 hours.

11.A spring's extension is directly proportional to the force applied to it. A force of 5 N produces an extension of 12 mm. Work out the extension produced by a force of 20 N.

12.A tank is filled at a rate of 3 litres every 2 minutes. Given that 1 litre = 1000 cm³, work out the flow rate in cm³ per minute.

13.y is directly proportional to x. When x = 4, y = 10. Work out the value of y when x = 6.

14.The height of a ball, in metres, above the ground is plotted against time, in seconds, after it is thrown. The tangent to the graph at t = 1.5 seconds has gradient 2. Which of these four statements about the ball at t = 1.5 seconds is correct?

15.A shade of paint is made by mixing blue paint and white paint. To make 5 litres of the shade, 2 litres of blue paint is used and the rest is white paint. Write the ratio of blue paint to white paint in its simplest form.