Ratio, proportion and rates of change worksheet — GCSE Higher

1.A room is drawn on a plan with a scale of 1 : 200. On the plan the room has an area of 12 cm². Work out the real area of the room, in square metres.

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 ratio of the number of pages Mia has read to the number of pages Leo has read is 7 : 4. Mia has read 84 pages. Work out how many pages they have read altogether.

4.The price of a jacket increases by 50% and then decreases by 50%. Describe the overall change from the original price.

5.A shop sells identical pens. The total cost, C pence, of n pens is given by C = 12n. Write the ratio n : C in its simplest form.

6.An online shop's total number of orders received is recorded at the end of each day for five consecutive days: Day 1, 1,284 orders; Day 2, 1,509 orders; Day 3, 1,830 orders; Day 4, 2,296 orders; Day 5, 2,510 orders. Work out between which two consecutive days the average rate of increase in orders was greatest.

7.Two mathematically similar cylinders have volumes 64 cm³ and 216 cm³. Work out the ratio of the height of the smaller cylinder to the height of the larger cylinder, in simplest form.

8.On a straight-line graph the volume of water, V litres, in a tank is plotted on the vertical axis and the time, t minutes, on the horizontal axis. The line passes through (2, 50) and (6, 130). Work out the gradient of the line and give its units.

9.A recipe for pastry uses flour and butter in the ratio 3:2. A baker has 180 g of butter and wants to make pastry using all of it. Work out the total mass of pastry the baker can make.

10.Work out the value of x when 4/x = 2/5.

11.y is directly proportional to √x. When x = 25, y = 20. Construct the equation connecting x and y, then work out the value of x when y = 32.

12.Write the ratio 8 : 15 in the form 1 : n.

13.A car is bought for £12000. Its value falls by 15% in the first year and by 10% in each year after that. Work out the value of the car 3 years after it was bought.

14.Write the ratio 0.75 : 2 as a ratio of whole numbers in its simplest form.

15.To make orange paint, red and yellow paint are mixed in the ratio 6:15. Write the amount of red paint as a fraction of the amount of yellow paint, in its simplest form.