Ratio, proportion and rates of change worksheet — GCSE Higher

1.A curve has equation y = x² + 2x. Work out the average rate of change of y with respect to x over the interval from x = 1 to x = 4.

2.A company's turnover was £128 000 in 2023 and £176 000 in 2024. Work out the multiplier that changes the 2023 turnover into the 2024 turnover.

3.A rectangular room is drawn on a plan with a scale of 1 : 50. On the plan, the room measures 8 cm by 6 cm. Work out the real area of the room, in square metres.

4.A force of 250 N acts on an area of 0.5 m². Using pressure = force ÷ area, work out the pressure, in pascals.

5.A shop's takings were £4500 in May. In June the takings fell by £900. Write the June takings as a fraction of the May takings, in its simplest form.

6.A force of 126 N acts on an area of 3.5 m². Work out the pressure on the area, in N/m².

7.A cyclist's speed, in metres per second, is plotted against time, in seconds, since she sets off. Which statement correctly pairs the gradient of a tangent to this graph, and the area between the graph and the time-axis, with what each one represents?

8.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.

9.A greenhouse's temperature, in °C, is recorded every hour during the day: 09:00, 15.0; 10:00, 18.4; 11:00, 20.1; 12:00, 19.8; 13:00, 17.2. Work out between which two consecutive readings the instantaneous rate of change of the temperature is most likely to have been zero.

10.A recipe needs 1.2 kg of flour. Dan has 750 g of flour in his cupboard. Write the mass of flour the recipe needs as a fraction of the mass of flour Dan has. Give your answer in its simplest form.

11.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.

12.A cyclist travels 18 km in 45 minutes. Work out the average speed, in km/h.

13.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.

14.A map has a scale of 1 : 25 000. Two towns are 5 km apart in real life. Work out the distance between the towns on the map, in centimetres.

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