Ratio, proportion and rates of change worksheet — GCSE Higher

1.A population of penguins on an island is 2400. The population is predicted to grow by 7% each year. Work out the predicted population after 2 years, to the nearest whole number.

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.The depth of water in a tank, in cm, is recorded every 10 seconds: at t = 10, depth = 32; at t = 20, depth = 45; at t = 30, depth = 56. Use the most appropriate chord from these readings to estimate the instantaneous rate of change of depth at t = 20.

4.The mass of a length of copper pipe is proportional to its length. A pipe of length 4.5 m has a mass of 12.6 kg. Work out the mass of a pipe of the same type of length 9.5 m.

5.y is directly proportional to x. When x = 4, y = 10. Work out the value of y when x = 6.

6.There are 84 passengers on a double-decker bus. 35 of the passengers are adults and the rest are children. Write the number of adults as a fraction of the number of children. Give your answer in its simplest form.

7.In a fruit squash mix, the ratio of squash to water is 2 : 9. A shop wants to make up the mix using 3.4 litres of squash. Work out how many litres of water are needed.

8.A trust fund contains £8000. Each year, 5% interest is added, and then £600 is paid out to a charity. Work out the amount remaining in the fund after 2 years.

9.The tangent to a curve at the point where x = 4 has equation y = 3x − 2. Work out the instantaneous rate of change of y with respect to x at x = 4.

10.A cyclist rides at a steady speed of 20 mph. Given that 1 mile ≈ 1.6 km, work out the cyclist's speed in km/h.

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

12.The height of water in a tank, h metres, t minutes after a tap is opened is modelled by h = 0.02t² + 0.5. Estimate the instantaneous rate of change of the height at t = 10, using the gradient of the chord joining t = 9 and t = 11.

13.The width, the length and the height of a box are in the ratio 3:4:5. The length of the box is 16 cm. Work out the height of the box.

14.A recipe needs 1.2 kg of flour. Dan has 750 g of flour in his cupboard. Write the mass of flour the recipe needs as a fraction of the mass of flour Dan has. Give your answer in its simplest form.

15.Two mathematically similar circles have radii 4 cm and 20 cm. Write the ratio of the area of the smaller circle to the area of the larger circle in its simplest form.