Ratio, proportion and rates of change worksheet — GCSE Higher

1.A sculptor makes two mathematically similar statues. The smaller statue is 20 cm tall and 80 ml of varnish covers its surface. The larger statue is 50 cm tall. Work out how much varnish is needed to cover the surface of the larger statue.

2.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.

3.The volume of fuel remaining in a storage tank, in thousands of litres, is plotted against time, in hours, since a leak was detected. A tangent to the graph at t = 2 hours has gradient −8.75 thousand litres per hour. A tangent at t = 8 hours has gradient −3.5 thousand litres per hour. Work out by what factor the instantaneous rate of change is greater in size at t = 2 hours than at t = 8 hours.

4.A recipe for 6 muffins needs 150 g of flour. Aisha wants to make 15 muffins using the same recipe. Work out how much flour she needs.

5.y is always the same multiple of x. When x = 6, y = 15. Work out the value of y when x = 10.

6.6 identical printers can print a batch of exam papers in 40 minutes, all working at the same rate. Working at the same rate, work out how many minutes 4 of these printers would take to print the same batch.

7.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.

8.A jumper costs £45 at Shop A, where it is reduced by 20%. The same jumper costs £34 at Shop B, where a further 10% reduction is then applied. Work out the difference between the two reduced prices.

9.Two mathematically similar picture frames have perimeters 30 cm and 45 cm. The area of the smaller frame is 40 cm². Work out the area of the larger frame.

10.A printer prints pages at a constant rate. It prints 45 pages in 6 minutes. Work out how many pages it prints in 10 minutes.

11.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.

12.A charity receives £360 in donations in January and £480 in donations in February. Write the amount received in January as a fraction of the amount received in February, giving your answer in its simplest form.

13.Two quantities x and y are in the ratio x : y = 2 : 5, and y = kx for a constant k. Work out the value of k.

14.Grace's mean mark in her maths tests rises from 70 to 84. Work out the percentage increase in her mean mark.

15.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.