Ratio, proportion and rates of change worksheet — GCSE Higher

1.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.

2.On a straight-line graph the volume of water, V litres, in a tank is plotted on the vertical axis and the time, t minutes, on the horizontal axis. The line passes through (2, 50) and (6, 130). Work out the gradient of the line and give its units.

3.A cyclist rides 17.5 km on Saturday and 12.25 km on Sunday. Write the distance ridden on Saturday as a fraction of the distance ridden on Sunday, giving your answer in its simplest form.

4.A fixed job of fitting a solar array is shared between installers, and the time taken is inversely proportional to the number of installers working on it at once. With 4 installers the job takes 18 hours. Construct the equation connecting time T and number of installers n, then work out how long it would take with 6 installers.

5.Before a charity campaign, donations were £6400 per month. Donations grew by 8% in the first year after the campaign, and then fell by 3% in the second year as interest faded. Work out the amount donated per month at the end of the second year, to the nearest pound.

6.A lorry is carrying a load of mass m tonnes. Given that 1 tonne = 1000 kg, write down an expression for the mass of the load in kilograms.

7.In a fruit bowl, the ratio of apples to oranges is 5 : 3. Work out what percentage of the fruit in the bowl is apples.

8.The amount of fuel left in a car's tank, F litres, is plotted against the distance travelled, d miles, and the points lie on a straight line. The line passes through (0, 45) and (150, 15). Work out the gradient of the line and say what it tells you.

9.The density of a type of solid plastic is 0.9 g/cm³. Work out the mass of 0.5 m³ of the plastic, in kilograms.

10.y is directly proportional to √x. When x = 25, y = 20. Construct the equation connecting x and y, then work out the value of x when y = 32.

11.The mass of a length of copper pipe is proportional to its length. A pipe of length 4.5 m has a mass of 12.6 kg. Work out the mass of a pipe of the same type of length 9.5 m.

12.The concentration of a pollutant in a lake, in arbitrary units, follows the recurrence C_{n+1} = 0.75C_n + 40, with C_0 = 500: each week, 25% of the pollutant breaks down naturally, and then a further 40 units enter the lake from run-off. An ecologist classifies the lake as safe once C_n first drops below 300. Find the first whole number of weeks after which the lake is safe.

13.A straight line passes through the points (1, 20) and (5, 8). Work out the gradient of the line.

14.Maya is paid £105.30 for working 9 hours. Work out her rate of pay, in £ per hour.

15.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.