Question 1

LEVEL 4

The time T (hours), required to build a brick wall is inversely proportional to the number of men M laying bricks.

When 6 men are laying bricks the wall takes 4 hours to build.

If it took \dfrac{3}{4} of an hour to build the wall how many men would there be?

Select the correct answer from the list below:

A: 12

B: 32

C: 40

D: 24

 

CORRECT ANSWER:   B: 32

WORKED SOLUTION:

As it took 6 men a total of 4 hours to complete the wall that is a total of 6\times4=24 work hours.

To complete the wall in 0.75 hours that would require 24\div0.75=32 men working.

Question 2

LEVEL 4

5 friends are planing a camping trip.

They pack enough food to last all 5 friends 3 days.

2 of the friends decide not to go on the camping trip.

How long will the food last the remaining friends?

Select the correct answer from the list below:

A: 4 days

B: 6 days

C: 3 days

D: 5 days

 

CORRECT ANSWER:  D: 5 days

WORKED SOLUTION:

As they took 3 days worth of food for a total of 5 people, that is a total of 5\times3=15 days worth of food for a single person.

If now only three friends are going camping that means there is 15\div3=5 days worth of food between them.

Question 3

LEVEL 4

5 friends want to go on a camping trip.

They are planning to bring 10 litres of water for all 5 friends for the trip.

A sixth person joins the trip.

How much water do they need for all 6 people?

Select the correct answer from the list below:

A: 8 litres

B: 16 litres

C: 10 litres

D: [12 litres

 

CORRECT ANSWER:  D: 12 litres

WORKED SOLUTION:

As they took 10 litres of water for a total of 5 people, that is  10\div5=2 litres per person.

If now only another friend is going camping that means there needs to be 6\times2=12 litres of water in total.

Question 4

LEVEL 4

The time taken to check-in for a flight is inversely proportional to the number of airport staff working.

It takes 20 minutes for passengers to be checked-in when 8 staff are working.

How long will it take if 10 staff are working?

Select the correct answer from the list below:

A: 12 minutes

B: 14 minutes

C: 16 minutes

D: 18 minutes

CORRECT ANSWER: C: 16 minutes

WORKED SOLUTION:

As it took 8 staff a total of 20 minutes to complete the check in,  that is a total of 8\times20=160 minuets of work.

If 10 staff are working, check in that would take 160\div10=16 minutes.

Question 5

LEVEL 4

At an archaeological dig site, the time it takes to cover an area of 1 square metre of area is inversely proportional to the number of scientists working on the site.

It takes 0.5 days to cover 1 square metre with 5 people working on it.

The total area of the dig is 24 metres squared.

Find how many people are needed to complete the dig in 3 days?

Select the correct answer from the list below:

A: 20

B: 15

C: 30

D: 25

 

CORRECT ANSWER:  A: 20

WORKED SOLUTION:

As it took 5 people, half a day to cover 1 metre squared, that is a total of 5\times0.5=2.5 work days for an individual.

To complete total dig site of 24 metres squared days that would require a total 24\times2.5=60 work days.

Hence for this to be completed in 3 days, that would require 60\div3=20 people working.