Direct & Inverse Proportion Practice Questions

Question 1

5 marks

Do not use a calculator for this question.

15 identical pens cost £23.40.

The cost of the pens is directly proportional to the number of pens bought.

(a)

Work out the cost of 8 of these pens.

(b)

Salma spends £35.88 on these pens.

Work out how many pens she buys.

(c)

Write down a formula for the total cost, £C£C, of nn of these pens.

Question 2

3 marks

Do not use a calculator for this question.

It takes 8 gardeners 15 hours to lay a new lawn at a school.

The time taken to lay the lawn is inversely proportional to the number of gardeners working.

(a)

Work out how long it would take 10 gardeners to lay the same lawn.

(b)

Write down one assumption you have made in working out your answer to part (a).

Question 3

4 marks

Do not use a calculator for this question.

Four graphs of yy against xx are shown below, for positive values of xx.

PQRS

(a)

Match each type of proportionality in the table to the correct graph.

Type of proportionality Graph letter
y∝x2y \propto x^2
y∝1xy \propto \frac{1}{x}
y∝xy \propto \sqrt{x}
(b)

One of the graphs does not show yy in proportion to xx or to any power of xx.

Write down the letter of this graph and give a reason for your answer.

(c)

Kaylee says,

"'WW is inversely proportional to VV' means the same as 'WW is proportional to 1V\frac{1}{V}'."

Is Kaylee correct? Give a reason for your answer.