Higher Applications of Maths practice questions by section
Original questions for every section, with worked answers, and paper-style questions where each answer you type is checked.
Quick checks
Multiple choice, worked or timed
Paper-style questions
Two for every section, with software output to read
Answers
Checked in any equivalent form, then the full working
Try 4 questions
Question 1Calculator or spreadsheet
Rainfall in cells B2 to B11, in mm: 12, 25, 31, 8, 27, 25, 40, 19, 26, 3.
Cell
Rainfall (mm)
B2
12
B3
25
B4
31
B5
8
B6
27
B7
25
B8
40
B9
19
B10
26
B11
3
Cells B2 to B11 of a spreadsheet hold the rainfall, in mm, on ten days. What value does the formula =COUNTIF(B2:B11,">25") return?
Question 2Calculator or spreadsheet
0.20.80.70.30.10.9Bus lateBus on timeMisses startMakes startMisses startMakes start
Ana takes a bus to her Saturday job. The probability that the bus is late is 0.2. When the bus is late, the probability that she misses the start of her shift is 0.7; when it is on time, the probability is 0.1. The tree diagram shows this. Find the probability that Ana misses the start of her shift on a given Saturday.
Question 3Calculator or spreadsheet
Chart values
Category
Sales (thousand pounds)
Y1 Q1
40.5
Y1 Q2
72
Y1 Q3
63.5
Y1 Q4
48
Y2 Q1
45.5
Y2 Q2
79
Y2 Q3
66.5
Y2 Q4
54
Y3 Q1
50.5
Y3 Q2
86
Y3 Q3
75.5
Y3 Q4
60
The line graph shows a garden centre's sales, in thousands of pounds, for each quarter of three years. Quarter 1 of year 1 is t=1. Software fitted the trend line Sales=52+1.5t. The mean seasonal deviations (actual sales minus trend) are: Quarter 1: −14, Quarter 2: +18, Quarter 3: +6, Quarter 4: −10. Forecast the sales for Quarter 2 of year 4.
Question 4Calculator or spreadsheet
Profit in pounds for an outdoor craft fair. Dry weather, probability 0.5: 3800 with the marquee, 5000 without. Showers, probability 0.3: 3600 with, 2500 without. Heavy rain, probability 0.2: 3000 with, a loss of 1000 without.
Weather
Probability
Profit with marquee (pounds)
Profit without marquee (pounds)
Dry
0.5
3800
5000
Showers
0.3
3600
2500
Heavy rain
0.2
3000
−1000
An outdoor craft fair can hire a marquee. The table shows the profit in pounds for each kind of weather, with and without the marquee, and the probability of each kind of weather. On expected value, which choice is better?