Difficulty: Rating: GCSE Marks:

GCSE Text:
A patio consists of 92 porcelain tiles, each one measuring 600mm x 600mm. Each tile needs to have a primer painted to the underside before getting placed onto the cement bed.

The primer is supplied in tubs, each tub containing 2 packets of dry power and each packet covering 8m² when mixed with water.

How many tubs of primer are needed to complete the patio?

Suggestions:
This is a good question to test students’ understanding of area, particularly with mixed units. Students normally take 3-4 minutes to answer. The extension task works well for higher paper GCSE students too.

Teachers could extend the learning by considering:

• The tiles are 18mm thick and are supplied in packs of 2. Each pack weighs 25kg. What is the density of the porcelain? Give your answer in g/cm³.