Ratio, proportion and rates of change worksheet — GCSE Higher

1.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 Each year, 4% interest is added, and then £30 is withdrawn from the account.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?

2.The concentration of a pollutant in a lake, in arbitrary units, follows the recurrence C_{n+1} = 0.75C_n + 40, with C_0 = 500: each week, 25% of the pollutant breaks down naturally, and then a further 40 units enter the lake from run-off. An ecologist classifies the lake as safe once C_n first drops below 300. Find the first whole number of weeks after which the lake is safe.

3.In a choir of 30 singers, 40% are altos and the rest are sopranos. Write the number of sopranos as a fraction of the number of altos. Give your answer in its simplest form.

4.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.

5.y is directly proportional to x². When x = 3, y = 45. Construct the equation connecting x and y, then work out the value of y when x = 5.

6.A tangent to a distance–time graph, with distance in kilometres and time in minutes, has gradient 0.78 kilometres per minute at a particular point. Work out the instantaneous rate of change of distance with time, in kilometres per hour.

7.A coach journey of 240 km takes 3 hours. For this fixed distance the average speed needed is inversely proportional to the time taken. Work out the average speed needed to complete the same journey in 2 hours.

8.A beaker holds 500 g of a salt solution of concentration 12%. Pure water is added until the concentration falls to 8%. Work out the mass of water added.

9.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.

10.A scale model of a shipping container is built at a scale of 1 : 30, using material with the same density as the real container. The model has a mass of 400 g. Work out the mass of the real container, giving your answer in kilograms.

11.A shop's takings were £4500 in May. In June the takings fell by £900. Write the June takings as a fraction of the May takings, in its simplest form.

12.A rope of length A is 1.5 times as long as a rope of length B. Write the ratio A : B in its simplest form.

13.Two cars travel at constant speeds. Car A travels 150 km in 3 hours. Car B travels 180 km in 4 hours. Which car is faster, and what is its speed?

14.Two mathematically similar rectangles have lengths in the ratio 3 : 5. The area of the smaller rectangle is 27 cm². Work out the area of the larger rectangle.

15.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.