Ratio, proportion and rates of change worksheet — GCSE Higher

1.A candidate wants to estimate the instantaneous rate of change of a reservoir's water level, in metres, at t = 5 days after heavy rain began. The reservoir's water level is plotted against time, in days, since the rain began. The candidate uses the chord joining the points at t = 0 days and t = 20 days to estimate the rate of change at t = 5 days. Give a reason why this is likely to be a poor estimate.

2.A shade of paint is made by mixing blue paint and white paint. To make 5 litres of the shade, 2 litres of blue paint is used and the rest is white paint. Write the ratio of blue paint to white paint in its simplest form.

3.A map has a scale of 1:25000. A road on the map is 6 cm long. Work out the real-life length of the road, giving your answer in kilometres.

4.In a box of pens, 3/7 of the pens are blue and the rest are black. Write down the ratio of the number of blue pens to the number of black pens, in its simplest form.

5.A straight-line graph shows the number of pages printed, p, plotted against the time in minutes, t, since a printer started a print job. The line passes through the points (2, 30) and (5, 90). Work out the gradient of the line.

6.Write £3.60 : £2.40 as a ratio in its simplest form.

7.A straight-line graph shows the cost, C pounds, of hiring a bike for h hours. The line passes through the points (1, 12) and (4, 27). Which of these statements about the line is true?

8.Simplify the ratio 45 : 30 : 75 to its simplest form.

9.Write 2 m : 150 cm : 50 cm as a ratio of whole numbers in its simplest form.

10.Line P passes through the origin and the point (3, 21). Line Q passes through the origin and the point (5, 45). Both lines represent the distance, in metres, run by an athlete against the time, in seconds. Work out the gradient of the steeper line.

11.A cyclist rides at an average speed of 24 km/h for 1 hour 15 minutes. Work out the distance travelled, in km.

12.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.

13.The price of a jacket increases by 50% and then decreases by 50%. Describe the overall change from the original price.

14.A recipe for pastry uses flour and butter in the ratio 3:2. A baker has 180 g of butter and wants to make pastry using all of it. Work out the total mass of pastry the baker can make.

15.A curve has equation y = 2x² + 5. Work out an estimate for the gradient of the curve at x = 3, using a chord between the points where x = 2 and x = 4.