Ratio, proportion and rates of change worksheet — GCSE Higher

1.A coach journey of 240 km takes 3 hours. For this fixed distance the average speed needed is inversely proportional to the time taken. Work out the average speed needed to complete the same journey in 2 hours.

2.The total cost, in pounds, of manufacturing a batch of components is plotted against the number of components produced. A tangent to this graph at a particular point has gradient 3.60. What does the value 3.60 represent?

3.A straight-line graph shows the number of pages printed, p, plotted against the time in minutes, t, since a printer started a print job. The line passes through the points (2, 30) and (5, 90). Work out the gradient of the line.

4.Two mathematically similar rectangles have widths 5 cm and 10 cm. The perimeter of the smaller rectangle is 18 cm. Work out the perimeter of the larger rectangle.

5.y is directly proportional to x. When x = 7, the value of y is 21. Work out the value of x when y = 12.

6.In a fruit bowl, the number of bananas is 3/4 of the number of apples. There are 16 apples in the bowl. Write the number of apples as a fraction of the number of bananas. Give your answer in its simplest form.

7.The density of a type of wood is 0.8 g/cm³. Work out the mass of a piece of this wood with a volume of 150 cm³.

8.A delivery driver travels 45 km in the first 30 minutes of a journey, and then a further 75 km in the next 1 hour. Work out her average speed for the whole journey, in km/h.

9.Two quantities, P and Q, are in inverse proportion. A graph is drawn with P on the vertical axis and Q on the horizontal axis. Write down which description fits the shape of this graph.

10.Two mathematically similar cubes have edge lengths 2 cm and 6 cm. Write the ratio of the volume of the smaller cube to the volume of the larger cube in its simplest form.

11.A company's turnover was £128 000 in 2023 and £176 000 in 2024. Work out the multiplier that changes the 2023 turnover into the 2024 turnover.

12.A garden centre has 90 rose bushes in stock. It receives a delivery that increases its stock of rose bushes by 20%. In the same week it sells 150 lavender bushes. Work out the new number of rose bushes, then write it as a fraction of the number of lavender bushes sold, giving your answer in its simplest form.

13.A recipe for 8 people needs 320 g of rice. Sanjay scales the recipe down to serve 5 people, then wants to scale his new amount back up to serve 8 people again. Work out the multiplier he should use to scale his amount for 5 people back up to the amount for 8 people.

14.A scale model of a shipping container is built at a scale of 1 : 30, using material with the same density as the real container. The model has a mass of 400 g. Work out the mass of the real container, giving your answer in kilograms.

15.A map has a scale of 1:25000. A road on the map is 6 cm long. Work out the real-life length of the road, giving your answer in kilometres.