Exchange Rates & Best Buys (Edexcel GCSE Maths: Higher): Exam Questions

Potatoes cost £9 for a 12.5 kg bag at a farm shop.
The same type of potatoes cost £1.83 for a 2.5 kg bag at a supermarket.

Where are the potatoes the better value, at the farm shop or at the supermarket?
You must show your working.

Milk is sold in two sizes of bottle.

A 4 pint bottle of milk costs £1 .18
A 6 pint bottle of milk costs £1 .74

Which bottle of milk is the best value for money?
You must show all your working.

Linda is going on holiday to the Czech Republic.
She needs to change some money into koruna.

She can only change her money into 100 koruna notes.

Linda only wants to change up to £200 into koruna.
She wants as many 100 koruna notes as possible.

The exchange rate is £1 = 25.82 koruna.

How many 100 koruna notes should she get?

Ben goes on holiday to Hong Kong.

In Hong Kong, Ben sees a camera costing HK$3179.55
In London, an identical camera costs £285

The exchange rate is £1 = HK$12.30

Ben buys the camera in Hong Kong.

How much cheaper is the camera in Hong Kong than in London?

Margaret is on holiday in France.

She buys an English newspaper.
The cost of the newspaper is 5 euros.
In England, the cost of the same newspaper is £2.50

The exchange rate is £1 = 1.16 euros.

Work out the difference between the cost of the newspaper in France and the cost of the newspaper in England.

Colin is on holiday in France.    He buys a wallet.    The wallet costs 31 euros.

   In London a wallet costs £23.50

   The exchange rate is £1 = 1.34 euros.

   Compare the cost of the wallet in France with the cost of the wallet in London.

Asif is going on holiday to Turkey.

The exchange rate is £1 = 3.5601 lira.

Asif changes £550 to lira.

Work out how many lira he should get.
Give your answer to the nearest lira.

Asif sees a pair of shoes in Turkey.
The shoes cost 210 lira.

Asif does not have a calculator.
He uses £2 = 7 lira to work out the approximate cost of the shoes in pounds.

Use £2 = 7 lira to show that the approximate cost of the shoes is £60

Is using £2 = 7 lira instead of using £1 = 3.5601 lira a sensible start to Asif's method to work out the cost of the shoes in pounds?

You must give a reason for your answer.

A tourist changes $500 to euros (€) when the exchange rate is €1 = $1.0697.  

Calculate how many euros he receives.  

€ ..................................................

A new model locomotive costs $64.

Calculate the cost of the locomotive in rupees when the exchange rate is 1 rupee = $0.0154.
Give your answer correct to the nearest 10 rupees.

...................................... rupees

Marianne sells photos.
The selling price of each photo is $6.

Calculate the selling price of a photo in euros (€) when the exchange rate is €1
= $1.091 .  

€ ..............................................

The Muller family are on holiday in New Zealand.

They change some euros (€) and receive $1962 (New Zealand dollars).
The exchange rate is €1 = $1.635 .

Calculate the number of euros they change.  

€ ..............................................

A shop sells soft drink in 500 ml bottles and in 1 litre bottles.

Each 500 ml bottle costs 92p.
Each 1 litre bottle costs £1.70.

John is buying soft drink for an after-school club meeting. The club has no soft drink on hand to begin with.

The club has 8 members, and John assumes that each member will drink, on average, of a litre of soft drink.

Work out the smallest amount of money that John needs to spend on soft drink.
You must show all your working.

In fact, the members of the club each drink more than of a litre of soft drink on average.

Explain how this might affect the amount of money that the club needs to spend on soft drink for a meeting.

A dressmaker charges $35 or 2300 rupees to make a dress.    Calculate the difference in price when the exchange rate is 1 rupee = $0.0153 .
Give your answer in rupees.  

 ..................................... rupees

Three jewellery shops in different cities sell the same designer watch.

The price of the watch from Esteem in Manchester is £850

The price of the watch from Voila! in Paris is €1090

The price of the watch from Starz in Houston is $1890

The exchange rates are

£1 = €1.28

€1 = $1.41

In which shop is the watch sold for the most expensive price?

You must show how you get your answer.

Two phone companies have two different price plans for purchasing the same phone.

Write an equation for the total cost after months for Plan A.

Which plan is the best value for money? Explain your answer.

Two shops, Mega Bathrooms and Bathroom Mart, each have a sale.

Sally wants to buy some bathroom units.
The units have a normal price of £1500.

Sally wants to buy the units as cheaply as possible.

Which shop should she buy the units from?
You must show all your working.

Henry is thinking of having a water meter.

These are the two ways he can pay for the water he uses.

Henry uses an average of 180 litres of water each day.

Use this information to determine whether or not Henry should have a water meter.

In the UK, petrol cost £1.24 per litre.
In the USA, petrol cost 3.15 dollars per US gallon.

1 US gallon = 3.79 litres
£1 = 1.47 dollars

Was petrol cheaper in the UK or in the USA?

Identical pairs of boots are sold in London, in Geneva and in Paris.

These boots have a price of

   £115 in London
   189 Swiss francs in Geneva
   174 euros in Paris

The exchange rates are

£1 = 1.39 Swiss francs
£1 = 1.27 euros

Are the boots the best value for money in London or in Geneva or in Paris?
You must show how you get your answer.

In London, 1 litre of petrol costs 108.9p In New York, 1 US gallon of petrol costs $2.83

   1 US gallon = 3.785 litres   
£1 = $1.46

In which city is petrol better value for money, London or New York?
You must show your working.

Three companies sell the same type of furniture.

The price of the furniture from Pooles of London is £1480
The price of the furniture from Jardins of Paris is €1980
The price of the furniture from Outways of New York is $2250

The exchange rates are

   £1 = €1.34
   £1 = $1.52

Which company sells this furniture at the lowest price?
You must show how you get your answer.

Tom is going to buy 25 plants to make a hedge. Here is information about the cost of buying the plants.

Tom wants to buy the 25 plants as cheaply as possible.

Should Tom buy the plants from Kirsty's Plants or from Hedge World?
You must show all your working.

Astrid wants to buy some oil.
She can buy the oil from either Dane Oil or Arctic Oil. Here is information about the price that each company will charge Astrid.

Astrid wants to get the better value for money for the oil.

From which company should she buy her oil, Dane Oil or Arctic Oil? You must show your working.

Bottles of drink are for sale at three shops.

The normal price of a bottle is the same at each shop.

What is the cheapest way to buy exactly 8 bottles?

You can buy from more than one shop.

You must show your working.

On holiday Maria paid 2.25 euros for a newspaper when the exchange rate was
$1 = 0.9416 euros.
At home Maria paid $1.13 for the newspaper.

Calculate the difference in price.
Give your answer in dollars, correct to the nearest cent.   

$ ..............................................