Ratio, proportion and rates of change worksheet — GCSE Higher

1.A footpath is drawn 3 cm long on a map with a scale of 1 : 50 000. Work out the real length of the footpath, in metres.

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 train journey takes 2 hours 15 minutes. A bus journey to the same place takes 3 hours 45 minutes. Write the time for the train journey as a fraction of the time for the bus journey, giving your answer in its simplest form.

4.A population of fish in a lake is modelled by the recurrence P_{n+1} = 1.1P_n − 30, where P_n is the population after n years, 30 fish are removed by fishing each year, and P_0 = 400. After how many complete years does the population first exceed 460?

5.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.

6.Aisha invests £3200 in Account A, which pays 5% compound interest each year. She also invests £3200 in Account B, which pays 3% simple interest each year. Work out how much more Account A is worth than Account B after 2 years.

7.A runner's speed is 8 m/s. Given that there are 3600 seconds in an hour and 1000 metres in a kilometre, work out the runner's speed in km/h.

8.Write the ratio 2 : 1/4 as a ratio of whole numbers in its simplest form.

9.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.

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

11.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.

12.A fixed job of fitting a solar array is shared between installers, and the time taken is inversely proportional to the number of installers working on it at once. With 4 installers the job takes 18 hours. Construct the equation connecting time T and number of installers n, then work out how long it would take with 6 installers.

13.Two straight-line graphs represent y = 2x and y = 5x. For the same value of x, where x ≠ 0, write down the ratio of the y-value on the first graph to the y-value on the second graph, in its simplest form.

14.A gardener mixes 300 ml of plant feed concentrate with 1.2 litres of water to make a spray. Write the ratio of concentrate to water in its simplest form.

15.A pump fills a paddling pool at a rate of 130 litres per hour. Work out the rate in litres per minute, to 2 decimal places.