Ratio, proportion and rates of change worksheet — GCSE Higher

1.Paint costs £14.40 for every 20 m² of wall it covers. Assuming the same rate, work out the cost of the paint needed to cover 56 m² of wall.

2.A water butt is being filled from a hosepipe at a constant rate while a small leak drains water out at a constant rate, giving a constant net rate of change. The volume of water in the butt, V litres, is shown on a straight-line graph against time, t minutes. The line passes through the points (5, 20) and (15, 60). The butt is empty at t = 0. Work out how many minutes it takes to reach a volume of 100 litres.

3.A printer's ink cartridge level, I millilitres, is plotted against the number of pages printed, p, and the points lie on a straight line. The line passes through (0, 24) and (300, 9). The printer has now printed 300 pages. Work out how many more pages it can print before the cartridge is empty.

4.The time taken for a train journey is inversely proportional to the average speed of the train. At an average speed of 60 km/h the journey takes 2 hours. Work out the time taken at an average speed of 40 km/h.

5.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.

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.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.

8.A car is bought for £9000. Its value decreases by 8% each year. Work out its value after 2 years.

9.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.

10.Water flows into a tank at a constant rate. After 8 minutes the tank holds 200 litres. Write the ratio of time in minutes to volume in litres, in its simplest form.

11.x × y is used to test whether two quantities are in inverse proportion. For the pairs x = 4, y = 15 and x = 6, y = 10, which statement is correct?

12.A savings account starts with £500. Each year, 4% interest is added, and then £30 is withdrawn from the account. Which recurrence correctly models the balance, £S_n, after n years, with S_0 = 500?

13.A map has a scale of 1 : 20 000. A different map of the same area has a scale of 1 : 80 000. A lake's shoreline is drawn 5 cm long on the first map. Work out the length of the same shoreline on the second map, in centimetres.

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

15.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.