Ratio, proportion and rates of change worksheet — GCSE Higher

1.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.

2.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.

3.A cyclist rides 17.5 km on Saturday and 12.25 km on Sunday. Write the distance ridden on Saturday as a fraction of the distance ridden on Sunday, giving your answer in its simplest form.

4.A mobile phone tariff is shown on a straight-line graph with the monthly cost, C pounds, on the vertical axis and the amount of data used, g gigabytes, on the horizontal axis. The line passes through (0, 10) and (8, 26). Work out the gradient and say what it represents.

5.6 identical taps fill a paddling pool in 20 minutes. Each tap fills at the same steady rate. Work out how long 3 of these taps would take to fill the same pool.

6.y is directly proportional to x², and x is positive. When x = 4, y = 32. Construct the equation connecting x and y, then work out the value of x when y = 200.

7.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.

8.A map has a scale of 2 cm : 5 km. A footpath measures 8 cm on the map. Work out the real length of the footpath, in kilometres.

9.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.

10.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.

11.The height of a candle, in cm, is measured as it burns: t = 0 min, height = 20.0; t = 3 min, height = 18.7; t = 5 min, height = 17.5; t = 6 min, height = 16.6; t = 7 min, height = 15.4; t = 9 min, height = 13.4. Which pair of readings gives the best estimate of the instantaneous rate of change of the height at t = 6 minutes, and why?

12.A tangent to a curve at the point where x = 3 passes through the points (1, 4) and (5, 20). Work out the gradient of the tangent at x = 3, and hence the instantaneous rate of change of y with respect to x at that point.

13.A rectangular garden has its length and width in the ratio 5:3. Given that the perimeter of the garden is 64 m, work out the width of the garden.

14.A graph shows y plotted against x. The graph is a curve that gets closer to both axes but never touches them, and y decreases as x increases. Write down whether this graph could show direct proportion, inverse proportion, or neither.

15.y is directly proportional to x. When x = 5, y = 18. Work out the value of y when x = 15.