Difficulty: Rating: GCSE Marks:

GCSE Text:
Two rooms are rectangular in shape and are mathematically similar.

a)  What area of carpet is needed to cover the floor of room B?

The carpet costs £22 per m² excluding VAT.

b)  What is the total cost of the carpet for room B including VAT at 20%?

Suggestions:
This is a common type of GCSE question where multiple skills are required to solve a problem.  Students will need to be comfortable with similar shapes, area and percentage to score full marks.  It is useful to stress to students that even if they cannot answer question a), marks can be awarded just by calculating the cost per m² including VAT, which is a simple percentage calculation.

Extension Ideas:
Teachers could extend the learning by considering:

• The volume of room A is 160m³.  Calculate the volume of room B (this could lead onto learning regarding the relationship between the side scale factor and area/volume).