Ratio, proportion and rates of change worksheet — GCSE Higher

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

2.Before a charity campaign, donations were £6400 per month. Donations grew by 8% in the first year after the campaign, and then fell by 3% in the second year as interest faded. Work out the amount donated per month at the end of the second year, to the nearest pound.

3.An architect builds a scale model of a staircase before construction. The model is mathematically similar to the real staircase, at a scale of 1 : 10. The model covers a floor area of 0.4 m² on the plan. Work out the floor area the real staircase will cover, giving your answer in m².

4.5 decorators paint 3 rooms in 6 hours. All the decorators work at the same rate. Work out how long it takes 10 decorators to paint 5 rooms.

5.A cyclist rides 30 km in 1 hour 30 minutes. Work out the average speed of the cyclist in km/h.

6.Two cars leave the same point at the same time and travel in opposite directions. One travels at 80 km/h and the other at 60 km/h. Work out how long it takes until the cars are 350 km apart.

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 scale model of a bridge is built at a scale of 1 : 120. The real bridge is 84 m long. Work out the length of the model, in centimetres.

9.The strength of a radio signal, in units, is inversely proportional to the square of the distance from the transmitter, in km. At a distance of 2 km the signal strength is 20 units. Construct the equation connecting signal strength S and distance d, then work out the distance at which the signal strength is 5 units.

10.Triangle ABC is mathematically similar to triangle PQR, with AB corresponding to PQ and BC corresponding to QR. AB = 6 cm, BC = 8 cm and PQ = 12 cm. Work out the length of QR.

11.y is always the same multiple of x. When x = 6, y = 15. Work out the value of y when x = 10.

12.Two mathematically similar hexagonal tiles have areas 18 cm² and 50 cm². Work out the ratio of the side length of the smaller tile to the side length of the larger tile, in simplest form.

13.A jumper normally costs £45. In a sale it is reduced by 20%. Work out the sale price, then write the sale price as a fraction of the normal price. Give your answer in its simplest form.

14.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.

15.40% of a number is 12 more than 25% of the same number. Work out the number.