Name________________________________

Teacher ______________________________

Date ___________
Period__________

Concepts of Engineering
Midterm Exam
Directions: You are allowed one sheet (8.5 x 11 inch) of paper with hand-written notes
on one side only. You have 45 minutes to answer the following 30 questions. Circle the
letter that best answers each question. Then, fill in the Part A answer sheet.
1. Which of the following engineering achievements occurred first?
A. Development of the catapult.
B. Development of stone bridges that incorporated wood
stringers.
C. Development of methods to create fire at will.
D. Development of the water wheel.
2. Compared to engineering technology, engineering ______________ at the college
level.
A.
B.
C.
D.

requires more electives

has a greater focus on teamwork
requires a co-op experience
has a greater focus on theory

3. _________________ is freehand drawing, which is done without the use of drafting

equipment.
A.
B.
C.
D.

CAD
Sketching
Dodging
Board drafting

4. Design is ____________.
A. a plan or process that is used as a guide in the development
of solutions to problems.
B. a tool that is used only by engineers.
C. a computer software program that is used by engineers to
generate 3- dimensional models of solutions.
D. a method of generating ideas through unrestrained
spontaneous group discussion.

5. A gear train consists of a 40-tooth (input), 20-tooth, and 30-tooth (output) gear.
6. If the input gear rotates 10 times, how many times will the output gear rotate?
A.
B.
C.
D.

7.5 times
15 times
13.3 times
20 times

7. In a third class lever, the distance from the effort to the fulcrum is ____________ the
distance from the load/resistance to the fulcrum.
A.
B.
C.
D.

less than
greater than
less than or equal to
greater than or equal to

8. The wheels on a bicycle have a 10 radius. If the bike must travel exactly 2000, how
many revolutions are required? Assume that no sliding or slipping occurs between the
wheel and the road.
A.
B.
C.
D.

31.8
314
62.8
31.4

9. If a simple machine requires an effort force that is less than the force of the load
being moved, then that simple machine exhibits ______________.
A.
B.
C.
D.

rotary motion.
mechanical advantage.
linear motion.
static equilibrium.

10. When used to pry open a can of paint, a screwdriver functions as __________.
A.
B.
C.
D.

a wheel and axle.

an inclined plane.
a screw.
a lever.

11. Which of the following methods of heat transfer explains why air near the ceiling is
warmer than the air near the floor in an enclosed room?

A.
B.
C.
D.

Convection
Radiation
Conduction
R-value

12. Oil is used in industrial hydraulic systems, because ______________.

A.
B.
C.
D.

it keeps the system cool.

it can be vented to the atmosphere.
it does not compress.
it is environmentally safe.

13. According to Pascals Law, a force that is exerted on a fluid will be transferred
___________ against the walls of that fluids container.
A.
B.
C.
D.

fluidly
partially
inversely
equally

14. Electromotive force is another term for ________.

A. current.
B. resistance.
C. RPMs.
D. voltage.
15. If the motor in Figure 6 draws 0.09 Amps and provides 100 Ohms of resistance, how
many Volts should the multimeter read?
A. 0.9
B. 90
C. 9
D. 900
16. Which of the following digital control devices processes the input information from
sensors?
A. Microprocessor
B. Algorithm
C. Variable Resistor
D. Flowchart Program
17. The difference between an open- and closed-loop system is open-loop systems do
not have ____________.

A.
B.
C.
D.

input.
feedback.
process.
output.

18. Which of the following input devices can be used to help a computer identify the
color of a glass marble?
A.
B.
C.
D.

Reed Switch
Electromagnet
Photoresistor
Lamp

19. Force and velocity are examples of _________.

A.
B.
C.
D.

vector quantities
mass properties.
scalar quantities.
moments.

20. When the sum of the forces and moments in a structural system equals zero, that
system is said to be in a state of __________ equilibrium.
A.
B.
C.
D.

stress
dynamic
strain
static

21. Moment of inertia is a cross-sectional property that gives the engineer an indication
of the stiffness of a particular shape. Its value can be used to _______________.
A. calculate the amount of deflection that occurs in structural
beams.
B. calculate the weight of a structural beam

C. locate the centroidal axis of a structural shape.

D. describe the linear relationship between stress and strain.
22. Which of the following materials is best known for its resistance to extreme heat?
A. Metals
B. Ceramics
C. Polymers
D. Organic

23. Which of the following manufacturing tools is used almost exclusively to machine
holes in parts?
A.
B.
C.
D.

Drill Press
Lathe
Injection Molder
Milling Machine

24. Which of the following manufacturing processes is used to form a piece of metal into
a predetermined shape through the application of pressure?
A.
B.
C.
D.

Turning
Annealing
Forging
Threading

25. As a COE teacher I keep statistics on the success rate of my students performance
with their marble sorter projects. The number of successfully sorted marbles from the
groups was: 1, 2, 7, 9, 8, 8, 10, 5, 9, and 9. Which of the following represents the
median of the data set?
A. 7
B. 8
C. 9
D. 10