Ratio, Proportion and Rates of Change - Short Problems

Marcus' atrium was a square with each side 50 pedes long. How many times did Marcus have to walk round his atrium to complete his daily exercise of 8 stadia?

How far away was the lightning if the flash and the thunderclap were 6 seconds apart?

Frank and Gabriel competed in a 200m race. Interpret the different units used for their times to work out who won.

Dean runs down the mountain at 12 km per hour. How long does it take him to run down the mountain?

The water is being drained from a pool. After how long will the depth of the pool be 144 cm?

How long is it between 5:55 and the next time all three digits on a digital clock are the same?

A small ink cartridge has enough ink to print 600 pages. How many pages can be printed using a large ink cartridge?

There are six more girls than boys in Miss Spelling's class of 24 pupils. What is the ratio of girls to boys in the class?

An athletics club has girl, boy and adult members. How many members does the club have?

If three brothers will get £20 more if they do not share their money with their sister, how much money is there?

The Bean family are very particular about beans. At every meal all Beans eat some beans... At their last meal they ate 23 beans altogether. How many beans did Pa Bean eat?

It is 225 minutes until midnight. What time is it on a 24-hour digital clock?

Fred flew to Melbourne, Australia. What time was it in Melbourne when Fred's flight arrived?

Harriet Hare and Turbo Tortoise want to cross the finish line together on their 12 mile race.... What time should Harriet set off?

Can you work out how many brothers and sisters are in the family?

How many minutes are there between 11:41 and 14:02?

How fast is the train travelling as it goes over the bridge?

A recipe for flapjacks calls for a certain quantity of butter, sugar and oats. Given the amount of these ingredients I have, how many flapjacks can I make?

How far from the finishing line should these runners start to make the race 'fair'?

Approximately how long is five hundred and twenty five thousand six hundred minutes?

Mary is driving to Birmingham Airport. Using her average speed for the entire journey, find how long her journey took.

How many adults would need to join this group of people to reverse this ratio?

Can you work out the ratio of shirt types made by a factory, if you know the ratio of button types used?

Can you work out the number of chairs at a cafe from the number of legs?

Albert Einstein could see two clocks which were out of sync. For what fraction of the day did they show the same time?

Use the relationship between the elephant and the rabbit to find out how many carrots the rabbit eats in a day

A decimal clock is started at midnight. What time would it show at 6 o'clock in the morning?

Maria and Lucy spun a coin 30 times, and gave each other sweets depending on the outcome of the spin. How many times was tails spun?

Given the ratios of junior to senior and senior to veteran members, can you work out what the smallest possible number of members in a swimming club is?

Three people run up stairs at different rates. If they each start from a different point - who will win, come second and come last?

From two ratios of apples and oranges in a fruit bowl, can you work out how many fruits there are?

A car with 5 tyres (four road tyres and a spare) travelled 30,000 km. All 5 tyres were used equally. How many kilometres' wear did each tyre receive?

How long will it take Mary and Nigel to wash an elephant if they work together?

Jack and Jill run at different speeds in opposite directions around the maypole. How many times do they pass in the first minute?

Timmy, Tammy and Tommy all go to the doctors. In what order do they arrive at the surgery?

Sarah's average speed for a journey was 2 mph, and her return average speed was 4 mph. What is her average speed for the whole journey?

The 80 spokes of The London Eye are made from 4 miles of cable. What is the approximate circumference of the wheel?

Can you estimate the mass of insects caught by spiders in the UK each year?

How many bees could fly 1000 miles if they had 10 gallons of honey?

Heidi and Peter pass two signs which say how far their destination is. How long will it take them to get there?

How many barleycorns are there in one inch?

Does Joseph have too many sheep in his flock...

Tom and Tim are travelling towards Glasgow, but leave at different times. If Tim overtakes Tom, how fast is he travelling?

If I walk to the bike shop, but then cycle back, what is my average speed?

Stephen stops at Darlington on his way to Durham. At what time does he arrive at Durham?

Can you find Dolly Dolphin's average speed as she swims with and against the current?

Andrew walks along a flat path, then up and down a hill, then back along the path. Is it possible to work out how far he has walked?

If the line on the right were 0.2mm thick, how long would it need to be to cover an area of one square metre?

When Andrew arrives at the end of the walkway, how far is he ahead of Bill?

Can you work out the ratio b:c given the ratios a:b and a:c?

Can you work out the average speed of the van?

Louise has noticed that the price of petrol has changed. Can you work out the percentage that it has increased by?

How much more antifreeze is needed to make the proportion 30%?

What is the approximate total volume of platinum that has ever been produced?

Can you work out how much time it will be before Katherine laps James around the pond?

If two friends run in opposite directions around a track, and they pass each other every 24 seconds, how long do they take to complete a lap?

From the information given, can you work out how long Roberto drove for after putting petrol in his car?

What is $W$ as a fraction of $Z?$

If a new and an old television have screens of the same area, what is the ratio of their widths?

What is the ratio of the lengths of the candles?

Emily's journey home took 25% longer than usual. By what percentage was her average speed reduced?

Minnie trained more for the London Marathon this year, so her speed increased. By what percentage did her time decrease?

Two trains started simultaneously, each travelling towards the other. How long did each train need to complete the journey?

How long will it take six gardeners to dig six circular flower beds?

What average speed should Ms Fanthorpe drive at to arrive at work on time?

Can you work out how long Aimee would take to get up the escalator if she walked?

Anna, Bridget and Carol run a race. Can you work out where Carol was when Anna finished?

Chris cycled faster than expected. Can you work out his average speed?

Can you find the total number of students in the school, given some information about ratios?

On which of the hare's laps will she first pass the tortoise?