IGCSE Cambridge (CIE) Maths 2 hours 52 questions

Exam Questions

Surds
Simplifying Surds / Rationalising Denominators

Medium (20 questions) /47

Hard (17 questions) /49

Very Hard (15 questions) /50

Total Marks /146

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Medium Questions
1 Simplify.

32 + 98

(2 marks)

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 12
2 (a) Rationalise the denominator of .
3

(2 marks)

(b) Work out the value of ( 2 + 8 2.)

(2 marks)

3 Work out the value of ( 12 − 3 2.

)

(2 marks)

10
4 Rationalise the denominator of . Give your answer in its simplest form.
5

(2 marks)

10
5 Rationalise the denominator of
6

Give your answer in its simplest form

(2 marks)

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 6 Show that 20 = 2 5 .

(2 marks)

12
7 Show that
3+2

can be written in the form a b where a is a simplified fraction and b is an integer.

(2 marks)

8 Write 1
( + 3 )
2
in the form a +b 3.

(3 marks)

9 Simplify 6× 3.

(2 marks)

10 Show that 6
( +2 12 )
2
= 12 7 + 4
( 3 )

Show each stage of your working.

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 (3 marks)

11 Simplify fully by rationalising the denominator.

20
5

(3 marks)

20 + 80
12 Show that can be expressed in the form a where a is an integer.
3

Show your working clearly.

(3 marks)

13 Show that 45 + 20 = 5 5

Show your working clearly.

(2 marks)

14 Simplify fully.

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 200

(2 marks)

15 Write 12 + 75 in the form k 3 .

(3 marks)

16 Simplify fully.

50 + 2

(2 marks)

17 Work out 2 10 × 80 × 18

Give your answer as an integer.

(3 marks)

10
18 Rationalise the denominator and simplify
3 5

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 (2 marks)

19 8300 = 100 × 83
Circle the number that is closest in value to 8300

19 90 830 900

(1 mark)

14
20 Show that can be written in the form a b where a and b are integers.
7

(2 marks)

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Hard Questions
1 You are given that 7 = 2 . 65 and 70 = 8 . 37, each correct to 2 decimal places.

Use this information to find the value of

(i) 700

[1]

(ii) 280

[1]

(2 marks)

2 Rationalise the denominator.

1
2 +1

(2 marks)

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 5
3 (a) Rationalise the denominator of .
2

(2 marks)

(b) Expand and simplify (2 + 3 )

2
− 2−( 3 2.
)

(2 marks)

4 Expand 1+ 2 3− 2
( ) ( )

Give your answer in the form a +b 2 where a and b are integers.

(2 marks)

6− 5 6+ 5
( ) ( )

5 Simplify fully
31

You must show your working.

(3 marks)

6 5 ( 8 + 18 ) can be written in the form a 10 where a is an integer.

Find the value of a .

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 (3 marks)

4− 3 4+ 3
( ) ( )

7 Show that simplifies to 13 .

13

(2 marks)

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8 (a) Martin did this question.

14
Rationalise the denominator of
2 + 3

Here is how he answered the question.

14 14 × 2 − 3
=
( )

2 + 3 2
( + 3 2 ) ( − 3 )

28 − 14 3
=
4 +2 3 −2 3 +3
28 − 14 3
= 7
= 4− 2 3

Martin's answer is wrong.

Find Martin's mistake.

(1 mark)

(b) Sian did this question.

5
Rationalise the denominator of
12

Here is how she answered the question.

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 5 5 12
=
12 12 × 12

5 ×3 2
= 12
5 2
= 4

Sian's answer is wrong.

Find Sian's mistake.

(1 mark)

4
9 Rationalise the denominator of
7 − 5

Show each stage of your working.

Give your answer in the form a +b 5 where a and b are fractions in their simplest
forms.

(3 marks)

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10 (a) Express 3+ 12 in the form a 3 where a is an integer.

(2 marks)

⎛ 1 ⎞
7 b
(b) Express in the form where b and c are integers.
⎜ ⎟
⎜ ⎟
⎜

⎝
3
⎟

⎠
c

(3 marks)

11 Given that y is a prime number,

3 a +b y
express in the form where a , b and c are integers.
2 − y c−y

(2 marks)

14
12 Show that can be written in the form a +b 2.
3 − 2

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 (5 marks)

6
13 Without using a calculator, rationalise the denominator of
3 − 7

Simplify your answer.

You must show each stage of your working.

(3 marks)

150 − 6
14 Show that simplifies to an integer.
2× 3

(3 marks)

8
15 Show that can be written in the form n + n , where n is an integer.
8 −2
Show your working clearly.

(3 marks)

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 2
16 Express in the form p + q
3 −1

where p and q are integers. Show your working clearly.

(2 marks)

17 Show that 5 3−
( 12 )
2
simplifies to an integer.

(3 marks)

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Very Hard Questions
a = 8 +2
1 b = 8 −2
T = a2 − b 2

Work out the value of T .

Give your answer in the form c 2 where c is an integer.

(4 marks)

6 − 8
2 Show that can be written in the form a +b 2 where a and b are
2 −1
integers.

(3 marks)

1
3 Show that
1
can be written as 2 − 2
1+
2

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 (3 marks)

4 a= 8 +4
b = 8 −4

( a–b a
) ( +b ) can be written in the form y 4y

Find the value of y

Show your working clearly.

(3 marks)

a+ 4b
5 Rationalise the denominator of where a is an integer and b is a prime
a− 4b
number.

Simplify your answer.

(3 marks)

2 a+ a
6 Show that can be written in the form
6−3 2 b

where a and b are integers.

Show your working clearly.

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 (3 marks)

8
7 Express in the form a +b where a and b are integers.
5 −1

Show each stage of your working clearly.

(3 marks)

8 The area of a rectangle is 18 cm2

The length of the rectangle is ( 7 +1 ) cm.

Without using a calculator and showing each stage of your working, find the width of the
rectangle.

Give your answer in the form a b +c where a , b and c are integers.

..................... cm

(3 marks)

4 + 8
9 Show that can be written in the form a +b 2 , where a and b are integers.
2 −1
Show each stage of your working clearly and give the value of a and the value of b .

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 (3 marks)

10 In the following equation, n is an integer greater than 1.

( 2 )
n
=k 2

i) Find k when n = 7.

k = ...................... [2]

ii) Find n when k = 64.

n = ..................... [2]

(4 marks)

(4 +2 5 ) 3 5 +7
11 Show that can be simplified to
5 −1 2

(4 marks)

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12 (a) Here is a sequence.

5 5 3 15 15 3

Work out the next term.

(1 mark)

(b) Find the n th term.

(3 marks)

2
13 Simplify 80 + 2
9

a 5
Give your answer in the form where a and b are integers.
b

(3 marks)

28
14 Work out 18 −
50

a
Give your answer in the form where a and b are integers.
b

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 (4 marks)

2 6 3 c d
15 Show that − can be written in the form
10
5 10

where c and d are integers.

(3 marks)

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