Ratio, proportion and rates of change worksheet — GCSE Higher

1.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.

2.A company's turnover this year is £180,000. Last year's turnover was £120,000. Write down this year's turnover as a percentage of last year's turnover.

3.A recipe uses flour, sugar and butter in the ratio 8 : 3 : 5. Write the ratio of flour to the rest of the mixture (sugar and butter combined) in its simplest form.

4.The exchange rate is £1 = 1.28 US dollars. Convert £350 into US dollars.

5.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.

6.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.

7.In a fruit squash mix, the ratio of squash to water is 2 : 9. A shop wants to make up the mix using 3.4 litres of squash. Work out how many litres of water are needed.

8.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.

9.The density of a type of wood is 0.8 g/cm³. Work out the mass of a piece of this wood with a volume of 150 cm³.

10.Two taxi firms show their charges on straight-line graphs, with the cost in pounds on the vertical axis and the distance in miles on the horizontal axis. Firm A's line passes through (0, 4) and (5, 14). Firm B's line passes through (0, 6) and (5, 21). Work out which firm charges more per mile.

11.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.

12.Two mathematically similar jugs have heights 8 cm and 12 cm. The smaller jug holds 200 ml when it is full. Work out how much the larger jug holds when it is full.

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

14.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.

15.A savings account pays 3.5% compound interest each year. Bilal invests £1200. Work out how much interest, in total, he earns after 2 years, to the nearest penny.