Mathematics Variations

2010
1. The braking distance, d , of a car is directly proportional to the square of its speed, v .
When d=2, v=5.
Find d when v=40 . [3]

2. A spray can is used to paint a wall.

The thickness of the paint on the wall is t .
The distance of the spray can from the wall is d .
t is inversely proportional to the square of d .

t=0.4 when d=5

find t when d=4 . [3]

3. The quantity p varies inversely as the square of (q +2).

p=4 when q=2.
Find p when q=8. [3]

4. M is proportional to the cube of r .

When r =3, M =21.6 .
When r =5, find the value of M . [3]

5. The quantity p varies as the cube of ( x +2).

y=32 when x=0 .
Find y when x=1. [3]

6. The force of attraction ( F ) between two objects is inversely proportional to the square
of the distance (d ) between them.
When d=4 , F=30.
Calculate F when d=8. [3]

7. The wavelength, w , of a radio signal is inversely proportional to its frequency, f .

Mathematics Variations
2010
When f =200, w=1500 .
(a) Find an equation connecting f and w . [2]
(b) Find the value of f when w=600 . [1]

8. The air resistance ( R ) to a car is proportional to the square of its speed ( v ).

When R=1800, v=30.
Calculate R when v=40 . [3]

9. When cars go round a bend there is a force, F , between the tyres and the ground.
F varies directly as the square of the speed, v .
When v=40 , F=18.
Find F when v=32. [3]

10. In an electrical circuit the current, I amperes, is directly proportional to the square root
of the power, P watts.
I =4 and P=100 .
(a) Find an equation connecting I and P. [2]
(b) Calculate I when P=144 . [1]

11. The brightness ( B) of an object varies inversely as the square of the distance (d ) of the
object from a light.
When d=12, B=2.
(a) Find an equation connecting B and d . [2]
(b) Find the value of B when d=3. [1]

12. F is proportional to the square of v .

When F=180, v=6.
Calculate F when v=3. [3]
13.
Mathematics Variations
2010

NOT TO
SCALE

A set of Russian dolls is made so that the volume, V , of each of them varies directly as
the cube of its height, h.
The doll with a height of 3 cm has a volume of 6.75 cm³ .
(a) Find an equation for V in terms of h. [2]
(b) Find the volume of a doll with a height of 2.5 cm. [1]

14. Richard is climbing a mountain. The temperature (T ℃ ) is directly proportional to the

height (h metres) above the base camp.
When he is 500 m above the base camp, the temperature is −5 ℃.
(a) Find an equation connecting T and h. [2]
(b) The base camp is 2500 m above sea level.
(i) The temperature at the top of the mountain is −18 ℃.
Find the height of the top of the mountain above sea level. [1]
(ii) Find the temperature at sea level. [1]

15. The height, h centimetres, reached by a ball thrown vertically upwards is proportional
to the square of the speed, V metres per second, with which it is thrown.
When V =4 , h=80.
(a) Explain why the formula connecting h and V is h=5 V 2. [2]
(b) Find
(i) the height reached by a ball thrown upwards at 6 metres per second, [1]
(ii) the speed with which a ball is thrown if it reaches a height of 20 metres. [2]

16.
Mathematics Variations
2010

SAG

An engineer tests iron rods.

He measures the sag for different lengths of rods.
The results are as follows.
Length of rod ( x metres) 0 1 2 3 4
Sag ( y millimetres) 0 0.5 4 13.5 32

He knows that y ∝ x n, where n is a positive integer.

Find the value of n . [2]

17. A particle moving in a circle has an acceleration a which is inversely proportional to the
radius r of the circle.
When r =24, a=2.
(a) Find an equation connecting a and r . [2]
(b) Calculate r when a=10. [1]

18. An electric current, I , flows through a resistance, R .

I is inversely proportional to R .
When R=2, I =6 .
1
Find the value of I when R= . [3]
2

19. A given amount of gas has volume v and pressure p.

It is known that p varies inversely as v .
When v=0.5, p=70 .
Calculate the volume of the gas when the pressure is 28. [3]

20. y varies directly as x 2.

Mathematics Variations
2010
y=96 when x=4.
Obtain an expression for y in terms x . [3]

21. y varies inversely as x .

(a) Write this statement as an equation in x , y and k , where k is constant. [1]
(b) If x increases by 25 % , find the percentage change in y . [3]

22. The amount of sag, S cm, when a beam is carrying a load at its mid-point, is
proportional to the cube of its length, L m. The amount o sag is 2.4 cm for a beam of
length 4 m.

Lm
S cm

(a) Find a formula for S in terms of L. [2]

(b) What is the amount of sag for beam of length 6 m? [1]
(c) For another beam the amount of sag is 0.3 .
What is the length of this beam? [2]

23. P is inversely proportional to the square root of Q .

When P=12 , Q=49.
Find an expression for P in terms of Q . [2]

24. The time of swing, T seconds, of pendulum is proportional to the square root of the
length, L centimeters, of the pendulum.
A pendulum of length 64 cm has a time of swing of 1.6 seconds.
Mathematics Variations
2010
Find the formula for T in terms of L. [2]

25. A bullet fired from a gun is slowed down by air resistance.

The resistance ( R ) is proportional to the square of the speed ( v ).
The resistance is 100 N when the speed is 300 m/s.
Find
(a) Find the equation connecting R and v . [2]
(b) The resistance when the speed is 600 m/s. [1]
(c) The speed if the resistance is 200 N.
Give your answer to 3 s.f. [1]

26. From a point h metres above sea level the distance, d kilometers, to the horizon is given
by d ∝ √ h.
When h=100 m, d=35 km.
Find d when h=25. [3]

27. The value of a car is inversely proportional to its age in years.

My three-year-old car is worth $ 9500.
What will it be worth in five years’ time? [3]

28. The distance travelled by a car after the brakes are applied is proportional to the square
of the initial speed.
If it takes 12.5 m to stop when travelling at 50 km/h, how far will a car travel if its initial
speed is 120 km/h? [3]

29. The number of cions, N , that can be made from a given volume of metal is given by
1
N ∝ 2 where d cm is the diameter.
d
Given that 8000 coins with a diameter of 2 cm can be made from the volume of metal,
how many coins with a diameter of 4 cm can be made from the same volume? [3]
Mathematics Variations
2010

30. The wavelength of sound-wave, W m, is inversely proportional to the frequency, F Hz.

A sound-wave with a frequency of 300 Hz has a wavelength of 1.1 m.
Calculate the wavelength of a sound-wave with a frequency of 660 Hz. [3]

31. y is inversely proportional to √ x .

y=1.2 when x=100 .
(a) Find the equation connecting y and x . [2]
(b) Calculate y when x=4. [1]
(c) Calculate x when y=3 . [1]

32. The volume V of a given mass of gas varies inversely as the pressure, P.
When V =2m³ , P=500 N/m² .
(a) Find the equation connecting V and P. [2]
(b) Find the volume when the pressure is 400 N/m² . [1]
(c) Find the pressure when the volume is 5m³ . [1]

33. y is inversely proportional to x 2, and y=4 when x=1.

Find y when x=2. [3]

34. The value, $ V of a diamond is proportional to the square of its mass W g. A diamond
weighing 14 g is worth $ 490 .
(a) Find the equation connecting V and W . [2]
(b) Find the value of a diamond weighing 40 g. [1]
(b) Find the mass of a diamond worth $ 6000. [1]

1
35. It is given that y is directly proportional to the square of x and that y=1 when x= .
2
Find
(a) the formula for y in terms x. [2]
(b) the values of x when y=9. [1]
Mathematics Variations
2010

36. (a) When an object is falling, the air resistance varies as the square of the speed.
At a certain speed, the resistance is 30 newtons.
What is the resistance at twice this speed? [2]

(b) y is inversely proportional to x .

Given that y=6 when x=4, find the value of y when x=3. [3]

12
37. It is given that p= .
√q
(a) Describe the relationship between p and q in words by completing the sentence
given below.
p is ………………………………… proportional to the square root of q . [1]

(b) Calculate q when p=4 . [1]

38. Sixteen workers can build a wall in 25 days.

How many workers are needed if the wall is to be built in 10 days? [2]

39. (a) p is proportional to q 3.

It is known that p=24 for a particular value of q .
Find the value of p when this value of q is halved. [1]

(b) y is inversely proportional to x 2.

y=4 when x=3 .
Find y when x=10 . [2]

40. (a) y is directly proportional to x 2.

It is known that y=10 for a particular value of x .
Find the value of y when this value of x is halved. [1]
Mathematics Variations
2010
(b) Seven men can paint a bridge in 15 days.
(i) How long would it take 3 men? [1]
(ii) The bridge was painted in t days.
Write down an expression, in terms of t , for the number of men needed to paint
the bridge. [1]

41. The force of attraction between two magnets is F Newtons.

This force is inversely proportional to the square of the distance, d centimetres,
between the magnets.
(a) When the magnets are a certain distance apart, the force is 10 Newtons.
What is the force when this distance is doubled? [1]

(b) (i) Write down a formula connecting F , d and a constant k . [2]

(ii) When the magnets are 3 cm apart, the force is 2 Newtons.
Find the force when they are 5 cm apart. [2]

42. Given that y is directly proportional to the cube root of x and that y=18 when x=27 ,
(a) express y in terms of x , [2]
(b) calculate the value of y when x=125 . [1]

43. V varies inversely as P.

When P=3 , V =1 .
(a) Express V in terms of P. [2]
(b) Complete the table given below. [2]

P 3 5 ……..

V 1 …….. 9

44. y is inversely proportional to ( x +2).

(a) Write down an expression for y in terms of x and a constant k . [1]
(b) It is given that y=4 when x=3 .
Find y when x=8 . [2]
Mathematics Variations
2010

45. At a height h metres above the bottom of a river, the water flows at a speed of v m/s.
Brain suggests that v is directly proportional to the square of h .
On the surface of the river, h=2 and v=0.24 .
(a) Using Brain’s suggestion,
(i) form the equation that expression v in terms of h , [2]
(ii) find the speed of the water 1 m above the bottom of the river. [1]

(b) Brain later notices that at the bottom of the river the water is flowing with a speed of
0.06 m/s.
Use this extra information to comment briefly on the equation obtained in (a)(i).

[2]

46. Given that p is directly proportional to q 3 and that p=500 when q=5,
(a) express p in terms of q . [1]
(b) find the value of p when q=−3 . [1]

47. A car skids to a halt in an accident.

Investigators measure the length, l metres, of the skid to estimate the speed, v metre
per seconds, at which it had been travelling before the accident.
The speed is proportional to the square root of the length of the skid.
(a) Write down a formula for v in terms of l and a constant k . [1]

(b) Given that a car travelling at 20 m/s skids 25 m, use your formula to find
(i) the value of k , [1]
(ii) the speed of a car which skids 100 m. [1]

48. (a) Given that y varies directly as x 2 and that y=48 when x=4, find the equation
connecting y and x . [2]
(b) A holiday is planned for a group of 20 children and food is bought to last for 15 days.
Mathematics Variations
2010
If the number of children were to increase to 25, how long would you expect the
same amount of food to last? [2]

49. y is directly proportional to x .

If y=6 when x=2,
Find
(a) the constant of proportionality, [2]
(b) the value of y when x=9 . [1]

50. The length, y , of a solid is inversely proportional to the square of its height, x .
(a) Write down a general equation for x and y .
Show that when x=5 and y=4.8 the equation becomes x 2 y =120. [2]
(b) Find y when x=2. [1]
(c) Find x when y=10 . [2]
(d) Find x when y=x . [2]
(e) Describe exactly what happens to y when x is doubled. [2]
(f) Describe exactly what happens to x when y is decreased by 36 % . [2]
(g) Make x the subject of the formula x 2 y =120. [2]

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