Improver **
Answers: Tomorrow’s world
Task 1
1

a
3.3
8
 100 = 41.25%,
6.5
20
 100 = 32.5%,
8.7
10
 100 = 87%,
15.7
20
 100 = 78.5%
b Students should produce compound bar charts comparing maximum and minimum
broadband speeds with advertised speeds. They should analyse the charts to see which
suppliers dobest in regard to claimed
and actualspeeds.

New GCSE Maths Functional Skills
© HarperCollinsPublishers 2010
Improver **
2
a
75
30
b
200
250
 100 = 250 min = 4 hours 10 min
= 0.8 megabytes per minute
The actual time was 5 hours 15 min: 5  60 + 15 = 315 minutes,

200
315
= 0.63 megabytes per
minute
Task 2
1
a 5 Mbits: 5  32 = 160 seconds or 2 minutes 40 seconds
Dial-up: 10  32 = 320 minutes = 5 hours 20 minutes

b Dial-up because the download time is longer than the programme so it would keep freezing.
10000
4
10000
200
c


= 2500 songs,
10000
30
= 333 5-minute videos,
= 50  45-minute TV shows,
10000
600
10000
110
= 90 9-hour audio books,
= 16  45-minute HDTV shows,
10
= 6  2-hour movies, 4.5
= up to 2  2-hour HD movies, 10000
= 166 media player games.
60


a There is a linear relationship for distance from exchange to broadband speed for each type
 the connection the faster the speed drops off
of connection, but the faster

b Under 10 Mbit/s
10
1.5
2

c No more than 0.5 km away
Task 3
1
a For example, 3 21 floppy = 1.44 MB, zip disk = 100 MB, CD-Rom = 650 MB or 700 MB, DVDRom = 4.38 GB, 2 to 8 GB for pen drives
b Remembering 1 MB = 1000 kB, 1 GB = 1000  1000 kB

Media type
Floppy disk
13
Zip drive
925
CD-Rom (650 MB)
6018
DVD-Rom
40555
8 GB pen drive
74074
c 1.44 : 100 = 1 : 69, 1.44 : 650 = 1 : 451, 1.44 : 4380 = 1 : 3042, 1.44 : 8000 = 1 : 5556
2
a Students use the answer to their storage devices and divide by 4.7, 600 and 4 MB
Photos
Floppy disk
Film
Music
0
0
0
21
0
25
CD-Rom (650 MB)
138
1
162
DVD-Rom
931
7
1095
1702
13
2000
Zip drive
8 GB pen drive
New GCSE Maths Functional Skills
© HarperCollinsPublishers 2010
Improver **
b Answers in megabytes
Photos
Film
Music
Floppy disk
1.44
Zip drive
1.3
100
0
CD-Rom (650 MB)
1.4
50
2
DVD-Rom
4.3
180
0
8 GB pen drive
0.6
200
0
1.44
1.44
Note: Capacities of floppy disks are given for comparison only, as these devices are now largely
obsolete and are incompatible with modern systems.
3
a
Media player
Cost
Cost per gigabyte
Difference
8 GB
£189.00
£23.63
–
32 GB
£249.00
£7.78
£15.85
64 GB
£329.00
£5.14
£2.64
b The difference between the 32 GB and 64 GB could give a difference of £2 per gigabyte
between the 64 GB and 128 GB, £5.14 – £2 = £3.14 per gigabyte. So the price of a 128 GB
model is likely to be 128  £3.14 = £401.92
4
a 32  81% = 25.92 GB. Music 10.368 GB = 2692 tracks, photos = 6.48 GB = 1378 photos
b Space for podcasts = 9.072 GB, 9072 ÷ (45 minutes  0.5 + 45 minutes  4)
= 9072 ÷ 202.5 = 44.8 = 44 weeks
Task 4
•
Students should find a computer with large hard disk, HDTV interface, blu-ray, large screen,
and tabulate their results.
•
Students should find 10 external hard disks and divide the cost by the size, in gigabytes, for
each one and compare the data and choose a drive, based on their results.
•
Students should calculate reasonable percentages of the space on their hard disk drive and
allocate their choice of space for music, photos, videos, etc. They should find the number of
each type of file that can be saved on their hard disk. They should remember that they need
space for an operating system and computer programs.
•
Students should have drawn a pie chart to show the maximum number of each type of file on
their disk.
•
Students should find up-to-date costs of software products. They should also refer to an openoffice website to out find that their basic software is free. They should tabulate their results.
•
Students should investigate the features and compatibility of commercial and open-source
products, including help and support facilities. They should decide whether, after taking the
purchase price into account, it is better to pay for commercial office software or to take the
open-source route.
New GCSE Maths Functional Skills
© HarperCollinsPublishers 2010