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S5 Geography | Industry and Manufacturing Paper 1 (Location Factors)
S5 Geography | Industry and Manufacturing Paper 1 (Location Factors)
The line between material-oriented and market-oriented plants is drawn with two calculable measures: the material index and a comparison of freight bills. Labour, land and agglomeration come after.
Attempt first, mark afterwards Allow about twenty-five minutes; write the formula before substituting numbers, and show the denominator for every percentage.
01 Paper details (check answers afterwards)
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Questions | 10 items |
| Suggested time | About 25 minutes |
| Difficulty mix | Foundation 4 · Intermediate 3 · Challenge 2 · Error redo 1 |
| Chapter | Chapter: S5 Geography | Industry and Manufacturing |
| Level | S5 (Secondary 5) Geography |
02 Questions (10 items)
- FoundationA factory uses 120 tonnes of raw material but the finished product weighs only 40 tonnes. What is the material index, and should the plant locate near the material or the market?
- FoundationThe material weighs 300 tonnes and travels 200 km; the product weighs 100 tonnes and travels 300 km. Freight costs 2 dollars per tonne-kilometre. How much cheaper is one option?
- FoundationA plant pays 480,000 in wages out of total costs of 1,600,000. What share of cost is labour, and is this a labour-intensive industry?
- Foundation40 workers produce 24,000 units a month. What is output per worker, and by what percentage does it fall if the workforce rises to 48 with output unchanged?
- IntermediateA plant covers 8,000 square metres and is built to 4 storeys. What are the gross floor area and the plot ratio?
- IntermediateA plant has annual output worth 96,000,000 and spends 60,000,000 on raw materials. What are value added and the value-added ratio?
- IntermediateA plant uses 2,400,000 kilowatt-hours a year for 24,000 units. How much electricity is used per unit, and how much is saved if that falls to 85?
- ChallengePlant A has a material index of 0.4 and a fragile product; plant B triples in bulk after processing. Where should each locate?
- ChallengeTwo plants would each pay 4,000,000 for a treatment works, or 6,000,000 for a shared one. How much does each save, and what percentage is that?
- Error redoA student writes that a material index above 1 means locating near the raw material. What is wrong, and give an example.
03 Answers and one-line notes
| # | Answer | One-line note |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0.33, so it should locate near the raw material. | The material index is product weight over raw material weight: 40 divided by 120 gives 0.33. Below 1 means the product loses weight, so shipping the product is cheaper than shipping the material. |
| 2 | Material freight 120,000, product freight 60,000, a difference of 60,000 in favour of the material site. | Freight equals weight times distance times rate: 300 times 200 times 2 gives 120,000, against 100 times 300 times 2 giving 60,000. |
| 3 | 30 per cent, so it is labour-intensive. | Wages divided by total cost times 100 gives 480,000 divided by 1,600,000, which is 30 per cent; a high share means labour dominates costs. |
| 4 | 600 units per worker; with 48 workers it falls to 500, a drop of 16.67 per cent. | 24,000 divided by 40 gives 600; 24,000 divided by 48 gives 500; the fall is 100 over 600, which is 16.67 per cent. |
| 5 | Gross floor area 32,000 square metres; plot ratio 4. | Gross floor area is site area times storeys, 8,000 times 4 giving 32,000; the plot ratio is that divided by the site area, namely 4. |
| 6 | Value added 36,000,000; the ratio is 37.5 per cent. | Value added is output minus materials, 96,000,000 less 60,000,000 giving 36,000,000; the ratio is 36,000,000 over 96,000,000, which is 37.5 per cent. |
| 7 | 100 kilowatt-hours per unit; cutting 15 per unit saves 360,000 a year. | 2,400,000 divided by 24,000 gives 100; saving 15 per unit over 24,000 units saves 360,000 kilowatt-hours. |
| 8 | Plant A near the material, plant B near the market. | Plant A loses weight, so shipping the product is cheaper, and a fragile product should not travel far; plant B gains bulk, so freight on the product is heavy and the market wins. |
| 9 | Together they save 2,000,000, which is 1,000,000 each, or 25 per cent. | Separately the works cost 8,000,000; sharing costs 6,000,000, a saving of 2,000,000, so each pays 3,000,000 instead of 4,000,000, a saving of 25 per cent. This is an economy of agglomeration. |
| 10 | Wrong: above 1 the product is heavier than the material, so locate near the market. | An index above 1 occurs when water or cement is added, so the product is heavier and shipping it costs more, which puts the plant near the market. |
04 What to do after marking
- After marking, redo only the wrong items and write down which step went wrong (formula, unit, or misread number).
- Repeat the same item two days later; move to the next paper only when both attempts are correct.
- Parents only need the answer and note columns; there is no need to explain every item.
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