Multiplication and Division

If one box contains 12 items, how many items are in 5 boxes?

• A50
• B55
• C60✓
• D65

Answer: 12 × 5 = 60 items.

A shop sells 15 items per hour for 8 hours. How many items are sold?

• A100
• B110
• C120✓
• D130

Answer: 15 × 8 = 120 items.

A worker earns £12 per hour. How much do they earn in 8 hours?

• A£104
• B£80
• C£88
• D£96✓

Answer: £12 × 8 = £96.

What is 144 ÷ 12?

• A10
• B11
• C12✓
• D13

Answer: 144 ÷ 12 = 12.

72 items are shared equally among 6 people. How many does each get?

• A10
• B11
• C12✓
• D13

Answer: 72 ÷ 6 = 12 items per person.

What is 234 ÷ 3?

• A68
• B72
• C78✓
• D82

Answer: 234 ÷ 3 = 78.

A factory produces 45 items per day. How many in 7 days?

• A305
• B275
• C315✓
• D295

Answer: 45 × 7 = 315 items.

A packet contains 24 sweets. How many sweets in 5 packets?

• A100
• B110
• C120✓
• D130

Answer: 24 × 5 = 120 sweets.

What is 120 ÷ 10?

• A10
• B12✓
• C15
• D20

Answer: 120 ÷ 10 = 12.

200 books are divided into 8 equal groups. How many in each group?

• A20
• B22
• C24
• D25✓

Answer: 200 ÷ 8 = 25 books per group.

What is 6 × 7 × 2?

• A72
• B80
• C84✓
• D90

Answer: 6 × 7 = 42, then 42 × 2 = 84.

What is 360 ÷ 6?

• A50
• B55
• C60✓
• D65

Answer: 360 ÷ 6 = 60.

A nursery has 24 children and 6 members of staff. Written in its simplest form, what is the ratio of staff to children?

• A4:1
• B1:6
• C1:4✓
• D1:18

Answer: Both parts of 6:24 divide by 6, which gives a simplest form of 1:4.

Two colleagues share a £60 taxi fare in the ratio 2:3, based on how far each of them travels. How much does the colleague with the smaller share pay?

• A£24✓
• B£36
• C£30
• D£12

Answer: The parts add up to 5, so the smaller share is 2/5 of the fare: 2/5 of £60 = £24.

A £4,500 payment for a building job is split between three workers in the ratio 2:3:4, based on the hours each one worked. How much does the worker with the largest share receive?

• A£1,500
• B£1,000
• C£1,125
• D£2,000✓

Answer: The parts add up to 9, so the largest share is 4/9 of the payment: 4/9 of £4,500 = £2,000.

A soup recipe for 4 people uses 600 g of potatoes. How many grams of potatoes are needed to make the same soup for 6 people?

• A800 g
• B900 g✓
• C1,200 g
• D450 g

Answer: 600 g shared between 4 people is 150 g each, so 6 people need 6 × 150 g = 900 g.

A playgroup must have at least 1 adult for every 6 children. How many adults are needed for 27 children?

• A5✓
• B4
• C6
• D9

Answer: 27 ÷ 6 = 4.5, and staffing cannot be a fraction of a person, so the number must be rounded up to 5 adults.

Orange squash is mixed with water in the ratio 1 part squash to 5 parts water. How much water is needed for 200 ml of squash?

• A1,200 ml
• B800 ml
• C1,000 ml✓
• D400 ml

Answer: The water is 5 times the amount of squash, so 5 × 200 ml = 1,000 ml of water.

A decorator mixes white and blue paint in the ratio 3:1. She uses 12 litres of white paint. How much blue paint does she need?

• A3 litres
• B4 litres✓
• C9 litres
• D36 litres

Answer: There is 1 part of blue for every 3 parts of white, so the blue is 12 ÷ 3 = 4 litres.

A café sells 45 cups of tea for every 15 cups of coffee. Written in the form n : 1, what is the ratio of tea to coffee?

• A1:3
• B15:1
• C30:1
• D3:1✓

Answer: Dividing both parts by 15 makes the second part 1, and 45 ÷ 15 = 3, giving 3:1.

A recipe for 12 flapjacks uses 180 g of oats. How many grams of oats are needed to make 8 flapjacks?

• A90 g
• B135 g
• C120 g✓
• D270 g

Answer: One flapjack uses 180 g ÷ 12 = 15 g of oats, so 8 flapjacks use 8 × 15 g = 120 g.

A van uses 45 litres of diesel to travel 360 miles. How many miles does it travel per litre?

• A8 miles✓
• B0.125 miles
• C9 miles
• D15 miles

Answer: Miles per litre means the miles divided by the litres: 360 ÷ 45 = 8 miles per litre.

A concrete mix uses cement, sand and gravel in the ratio 1:2:4. A builder puts in 3 buckets of cement. How many buckets of gravel does he need?

• A4
• B6
• C9
• D12✓

Answer: The gravel is 4 times the amount of cement, so 3 × 4 = 12 buckets of gravel.

Two sisters share 45 hours of caring each month in the ratio 4:5. How many more hours does the sister with the larger share do?

• A1 hour
• B5 hours✓
• C9 hours
• D20 hours

Answer: The parts add up to 9 and the shares differ by 1 part, so the difference is 1/9 of 45 hours = 5 hours.

A square patio slab measures 3 feet on each side. Its area is 3² square feet. What is the value of 3²?

• A12
• B3
• C6
• D9✓

Answer: 3² means 3 × 3 = 9. It is not 3 × 2, which is 6.

A recipe for 4 people uses 300 g of flour. How much flour is needed for 10 people?

• A700 g
• B600 g
• C750 g✓
• D1,200 g

Answer: Find the amount for one person: 300 ÷ 4 = 75 g. Then multiply by 10: 75 × 10 = 750 g.

Paint is mixed using 1 part blue to 3 parts white. How much blue is needed to make 12 litres of the mix?

• A9 litres
• B4 litres
• C6 litres
• D3 litres✓

Answer: The ratio 1:3 has 1 + 3 = 4 parts in total. One part is 12 ÷ 4 = 3 litres, and blue is one part, so 3 litres. The white is 9 litres.

A delivery has 24 boxes. Each box holds 36 tins. How many tins are delivered?

• A844
• B764
• C60
• D864✓

Answer: Multiply the number of boxes by the tins in each: 24 × 36 = 864 tins.

Six friends share a holiday bill of £1,950 equally. How much does each person pay?

• A£325✓
• B£335
• C£225
• D£315

Answer: Divide the bill by the number of people: £1,950 ÷ 6 = £325 each.

Weekly pay is worked out as hours worked × hourly rate + bonus. Jo works 35 hours at £12 an hour and gets a £40 bonus. What is her pay?

• A£420
• B£1,820
• C£460✓
• D£87

Answer: Multiply first: 35 × £12 = £420. Then add the bonus: £420 + £40 = £460.

Leaflets are sold in packs of 250. A charity needs 3,400 leaflets. How many packs must it buy?

• A13
• B15
• C136
• D14✓

Answer: 3,400 ÷ 250 = 13.6. You cannot buy part of a pack, and 13 packs would give only 3,250 leaflets, so round up to 14 packs.

A car uses 6 litres of fuel for every 100 km. How much fuel does it use on a 350 km journey?

• A21 litres✓
• B210 litres
• C58 litres
• D18 litres

Answer: 350 km is 3.5 lots of 100 km. 6 × 3.5 = 21 litres.

A nursery must have 1 member of staff for every 8 children. How many staff are needed for 40 children?

• A5✓
• B32
• C4
• D8

Answer: Divide the number of children by 8: 40 ÷ 8 = 5 members of staff.