Ratio, proportion and rates of change worksheet — GCSE Higher

1.A tap fills a tank at a rate of 15 litres per minute. Given that 1 litre = 1000 cm³, work out the rate at which the tank fills in cm³ per second.

2.A conversion graph between kilometres and miles passes through the origin and the point (50, 31), with the number of kilometres on the horizontal axis and the number of miles on the vertical axis. Work out the number of miles equivalent to 1 kilometre.

3.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.

4.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.

5.A firework rocket's height above the ground, in metres, t seconds after launch, is modelled by h = 30t − 5t². Use a chord between t = 1 second and t = 3 seconds to estimate the instantaneous rate of change of the height at t = 2 seconds, in m/s.

6.A cyclist's distance travelled, in metres, is recorded against time, in seconds. From t = 3 to t = 8 the distance increases from 12 m to 32 m. A tangent to the distance–time graph at t = 6 has gradient 3. Work out the average speed of the cyclist over the interval from t = 3 to t = 8.

7.A coach travels the 54 miles from London to Brighton in 1 hour 30 minutes. Work out the average speed of the coach, in mph.

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

9.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.

10.A laptop costs £800 when new. Its value decreases by 25% of its value at the start of each year. Work out how much value the laptop loses in the second year.

11.A model railway is built at a scale where the ratio of model length to real length is 1 : 76. Given that a real carriage is 20.6 metres long, work out the length of the model carriage in centimetres, to 1 decimal place.

12.A metal alloy is made from copper and tin in the ratio 9:1. Write the mass of tin as a fraction of the mass of copper, in its simplest form.

13.A runner's speed is 8 m/s. Given that there are 3600 seconds in an hour and 1000 metres in a kilometre, work out the runner's speed in km/h.

14.A kettle uses 2.1 kWh of energy. A toaster uses 0.9 kWh of energy. Write the energy used by the kettle as a fraction of the energy used by the toaster, giving your answer in its simplest form.

15.A scale model of a bridge is built at a scale of 1 : 120. The real bridge is 84 m long. Work out the length of the model, in centimetres.