GCSE Maths – Geometry and Measures

Congruence – Lengths, Areas and Volumes

Worksheet

NOTES SOLUTIONS

This worksheet will show you how to work out different types of questions
relating to congruence. Each section contains a worked example, a question
with hints and then questions for you to work through on your own.

This work by PMT Education is licensed under https://bit.ly/pmt-cc

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 Section A

Worked Example

Given that the following rectangles are similar, calculate length 𝑥.

𝒙 cm

1.5 cm
4.5 cm
2 cm

Step 1: Calculate the scale factor between the two similar shapes.

Scale factor is found by comparing two matching sides of the two similar shapes. We
divide the short edge of the large rectangle by the short edge of the small rectangle:

4.5 ÷ 1.5 = 3

Scale factor is 3. This means the lengths of the larger rectangle are three times larger than
the lengths of the smaller rectangle.

Step 2: Calculate 𝑥 using the scale factor enlargement on the corresponding side of the similar
rectangle.
𝑥 = 2 𝑐𝑚 × 𝑠𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑒 𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟 = 2 𝑐𝑚 × 3 = 6 𝑐𝑚

Guided Example
Given that the following rectangles are similar, calculate length 𝑥.
5 cm

𝒙 cm
3.6 cm
2.5 cm

Step 1: Calculate the scale factor between the two similar shapes.

Step 2: Calculate 𝑥 using the scale factor enlargement on the corresponding side of the similar
rectangle.

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 Now it’s your turn!
If you get stuck, look back at the worked and guided examples.

1. Given that the rectangles are similar, calculate length 𝑥.

6.1 cm 𝑥 cm

3.5 cm

10.5 cm

2. Given that the triangles are similar, calculate length 𝑥.

8 cm
𝑥 cm

6.5 cm 1.3 cm

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3. Given that the rectangles are similar, calculate length 𝑥.

10 cm 𝑥 cm

6 cm

11 cm

4. Are these shapes similar?

15 cm
32 cm

10 cm

20 cm

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 Section B

Worked Example

Prove that the two triangles are similar.

14 cm
7 cm
𝟔𝟎° 18 cm
9 cm 𝟔𝟎°

Step 1: Check that the scale factor of the sides of the triangles are the same.

Comparing matching sides of triangles:

18 𝑐𝑚 ÷ 9 𝑐𝑚 = 2
14 𝑐𝑚 ÷ 7 𝑐𝑚 = 2

For both sets of matching sides, the scale factor is 2.

Step 2: Check that the angles in the triangles match the condition of similar triangles.

For similar triangles, their corresponding angles must be equal.

This is indeed the case:
60° = 60°
Step 3: Form a conclusion.

The triangles are similar as the lengths are enlarged by the same scale factor and the
angle between these sides is equal.

Guided Example

Are the triangles similar? 𝟑𝟏°

𝟏𝟐𝟑°

𝟏𝟐𝟑°

𝟐𝟕°

Step 1: Check if the angles in the triangles match the condition of similar triangles.

Step 2: Form a conclusion.

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 Now it’s your turn!
If you get stuck, look back at the worked and guided examples.

5. Prove that the triangles are similar.

70°

35° 75°
75°

6. Both triangles below are isosceles. Are they similar?

66°

51°

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7. Triangle ABC is similar to ADE. Calculate angle BED.

78°

64°

8. In the following diagram AB = 12 cm, EB = 8 cm and CB = 20 cm. Triangles ABC and

ADE are similar. Calculate the length of DE.

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 Section C

Worked Example
Calculate area of the larger rectangle given the rectangles are similar.

1.5 cm
4.5 cm
2 cm

Step 1: Calculate the scale factor between the two similar shapes.

Compare two corresponding sides to deduce the scale factor:

𝑆𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑒 𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟 = 4.5 𝑐𝑚 ÷ 1.5 𝑐𝑚 = 3

Step 2: Calculate the area of the smaller rectangle.

𝐴𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑚𝑎𝑙𝑙 = 2 𝑐𝑚 × 1.5 𝑐𝑚 = 3 𝑐𝑚2

Step 3: Calculate the area scale factor.

𝐴𝑟𝑒𝑎 𝑠𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑒 𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟 = (𝑆𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑒 𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟)2 = 32 = 9

Step 4: Calculate the area of the larger rectangle using the area scale factor.

Multiply the area scale factor by the area of the smaller rectangle:

𝐴𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑎𝑟𝑔𝑒 = 3 𝑐𝑚2 × 9 = 27 𝑐𝑚2

Guided Example

The area of the smaller rectangle and larger rectangle is 10 𝑐𝑚2 and
62.5 𝑐𝑚2 . Calculate length 𝑥.
𝒙 cm

5 cm

Step 1: Calculate the area scale factor between the two similar shapes.

Step 2: Calculate the linear scale factor between the two similar shapes.

Step 2: Calculate length 𝑥 using the linear scale factor.

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 Now it’s your turn!
If you get stuck, look back at the worked and guided examples.

9. Given that the rectangles are similar, calculate the area scale factor.

3.5 cm

10.5 cm

10. Given that the triangles are similar, calculate the area of the smaller triangle to
1 decimal place.

8 cm

6.5 cm 1.3 cm

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11. The linear scale factor is 4. Given that the rectangles are similar, calculate area of
the larger rectangle.

10 cm

6 cm

12. The area of the larger parallelogram is 900 𝑐𝑚2 . Given that the parallelograms are
similar, and the area scale factor is 100, find 𝑥 and 𝑦.

𝑥 cm

𝑦 cm

20 cm

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 Section D

Worked Example

Given that the cuboids are similar, calculate the volume of the larger cuboid.

3 cm

1 cm
8 cm
2 cm

Step 1: Calculate the linear scale factor between the cuboids.

Comparing the shortest sides of the two cuboids:

𝑆𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑒 𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟 = 2 𝑐𝑚 ÷ 1 𝑐𝑚 = 2

Step 2: Calculate the volume scale factor.

𝑉𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 𝑠𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑒 𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟 = (𝑆𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑒 𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟)3 = 23 = 8

Step 3: Calculate the volume of the smaller cuboid.

𝑉𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒𝑠𝑚𝑎𝑙𝑙 = 8 𝑐𝑚 × 1 𝑐𝑚 × 3 𝑐𝑚 = 24 𝑐𝑚3

Step 3: Calculate the volume of the larger cuboid using the volume scale factor.

Multiply the volume of the smaller cuboid by the volume scale factor:

𝑉𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒𝑙𝑎𝑟𝑔𝑒 = 24 𝑐𝑚2 × 8 = 192 𝑐𝑚3

The volume of the larger cuboid is 192 𝑐𝑚3 .

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 Guided Example

Given the cuboids are similar, calculate the volume of the smaller cuboid.

5 cm

2 cm

3 cm
10 cm

Step 1: Calculate the linear scale factor between the cuboids.

Step 2: Calculate the volume scale factor between the two cuboids.

Step 3: Calculate the volume of the larger cuboid.

Step 4: Calculate the volume of the smaller cuboid.

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 Now it’s your turn!
If you get stuck, look back at the worked and guided examples.

13. The volume scale factor is 27. Calculate length 𝑥 cm.

𝑥 cm
42 cm

14. Given that the square pyramids are similar, calculate the volume of the larger
pyramid. The vertical height of the pyramid is denoted by ℎ.

ℎ = 9 cm

1.8 cm
3 cm

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15. The surface area of cube A is 24 𝑐𝑚2 . The surface area of cube B is 54 𝑐𝑚2 and the
volume is 27 𝑐𝑚3 . Calculate the volume of cube A.

16. The volume of the smaller prism is 25 𝑐𝑚3 and the volume of the larger prism is
200 𝑐𝑚3 . Find the value of 𝑥

30 cm 𝑥 cm

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