Ratio, proportion and rates of change worksheet — GCSE Higher

1.A garden centre sells two mathematically similar sacks of grass seed. The amount of lawn a sack can treat is proportional to the volume of seed inside it. The smaller sack is 20 cm tall and treats a lawn of area 30 m². The larger sack is 40 cm tall. A gardener needs to treat a lawn with an area of 500 m² using only the larger sacks. Work out the minimum number of larger sacks needed.

2.A cordial drink is made by mixing cordial concentrate and water in the ratio 1 : 6. Freya says that a 700 ml jug of this drink contains 100 ml of concentrate. Is she correct? Give a reason for your answer.

3.A map has a scale of 1 : 50 000. Two villages are 4 cm apart on the map. Work out the real distance between the villages, in kilometres.

4.y is inversely proportional to x², and x is positive. When x = 2, y = 45. Construct the equation connecting x and y, then work out the value of x when y = 5.

5.Two scale plans of the same football pitch are drawn: Plan A has a scale of 1 : 1000 and Plan B has a scale of 1 : 200. A pitch length is 8 cm on Plan A. Work out the length of the same pitch on Plan B, in centimetres.

6.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.

7.To make a shade of green paint, the amount of yellow paint used is always 0.75 times the amount of blue paint used. Write the amount of blue paint as a fraction of the amount of yellow paint, in its simplest form.

8.A cyclist's distance travelled, in metres, is recorded against time, in seconds. From t = 3 to t = 8 the distance increases from 12 m to 32 m. A tangent to the distance–time graph at t = 6 has gradient 3. Work out the average speed of the cyclist over the interval from t = 3 to t = 8.

9.A coach journey is 372 miles in total. After a stop, the coach has travelled 217 miles. Write the distance still to travel as a fraction of the total journey. Give your answer in its simplest form.

10.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.

11.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.

12.Jamal invests £600 in a savings account paying 3% simple interest per year. Work out the total amount in the account after 4 years.

13.The ratio of Josh's savings to Mia's savings is 4:7. Mia has £39 more than Josh. Work out Josh's savings.

14.A straight line passes through the points (1, 20) and (5, 8). Work out the gradient of the line.

15.A salt solution has a concentration of 10%. The solution contains 50 g of salt. Work out the total mass of the solution.