Ratio, proportion and rates of change worksheet — GCSE Higher

1.A metal sample has a mass of 342.6 g and a volume of 18 cm³. Work out the density of the sample, in g/cm³, to 1 decimal place.

2.The total cost, in pounds, of manufacturing a batch of components is plotted against the number of components produced. A tangent to this graph at a particular point has gradient 3.60. What does the value 3.60 represent?

3.Priya invests £750 in a savings account that pays simple interest. After 3 years, the account contains £840. Work out the annual rate of simple interest.

4.The number of subscribers to a streaming app, in thousands, is plotted against time, in months since launch. A tangent to the graph at t = 6 months has gradient 4.8. A tangent at t = 18 months has gradient 1.1. A manager claims the app is growing faster at 18 months than it was at 6 months. Work out how the growth rate has changed, and decide whether the manager is correct.

5.An Ordnance Survey map has a scale of 1 : 50 000. A cycle route measures 9.4 cm on the map. Work out the real length of the route, in kilometres.

6.A shop's daily profit, in pounds, is plotted against the price charged for an item, in pounds. A tangent to the profit graph at a price of £15 passes through the points (12, 540) and (18, 480). Work out the instantaneous rate of change of profit with respect to price at £15, and state whether profit is increasing or decreasing there.

7.An online shop's total number of orders received is recorded at the end of each day for five consecutive days: Day 1, 1,284 orders; Day 2, 1,509 orders; Day 3, 1,830 orders; Day 4, 2,296 orders; Day 5, 2,510 orders. Work out between which two consecutive days the average rate of increase in orders was greatest.

8.Two mathematically similar water bottles have a volume scale factor of 8 from the smaller bottle to the larger bottle. Work out the surface area scale factor from the smaller bottle to the larger bottle.

9.A sequence is defined by the iterative rule x_{n+1} = 0.8x_n + 50, with x_0 = 200. Work out x_2, the value of the sequence after two iterations.

10.A car is bought for £12000. Its value falls by 15% in the first year and by 10% in each year after that. Work out the value of the car 3 years after it was bought.

11.A mobile phone tariff is shown on a straight-line graph with the monthly cost, C pounds, on the vertical axis and the amount of data used, g gigabytes, on the horizontal axis. The line passes through (0, 10) and (8, 26). Work out the gradient and say what it represents.

12.Two mathematically similar cylinders have heights in the ratio 3 : 4. Write the ratio of their volumes in its simplest form.

13.A car is bought for £17,500. Its value decreases by 12% in the first year, and by a further 10% of its reduced value in the second year. Work out the value of the car at the end of the second year, giving your answer to the nearest pound.

14.A train travels at a constant speed of 90 km/h. Work out the speed in m/s.

15.A coach journey is 372 miles in total. After a stop, the coach has travelled 217 miles. Write the distance still to travel as a fraction of the total journey. Give your answer in its simplest form.