FCTC FCTC Test Applying Mechanical Reasoning Questions and Answers 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A pulley system uses two movable pulleys and one fixed pulley. If you apply 50 lbs of force, approximately how much weight can you lift?
- 50 lbs
- 100 lbs (Correct answer)
- 150 lbs
- 200 lbs
Correct answer: 100 lbs
Each movable pulley doubles the mechanical advantage, so two movable pulleys give a mechanical advantage of 2, allowing 50 lbs of effort to lift approximately 100 lbs.
Question 2: Two gears are meshed together. Gear A has 10 teeth and Gear B has 30 teeth. If Gear A rotates at 90 RPM, what is the speed of Gear B?
- 270 RPM
- 90 RPM
- 30 RPM (Correct answer)
- 10 RPM
Correct answer: 30 RPM
Gear speed is inversely proportional to tooth count; Gear B turns at (10/30) × 90 = 30 RPM.
Question 3: A 10-foot lever is used to lift a heavy rock. If the fulcrum is placed 2 feet from the rock, what is the mechanical advantage?
- 2
- 4 (Correct answer)
- 5
- 8
Correct answer: 4
Mechanical advantage of a lever equals the effort arm divided by the load arm; the effort arm is 8 feet and the load arm is 2 feet, giving MA = 8/2 = 4.
Question 4: Water flows through a pipe that narrows from 4 inches in diameter to 2 inches in diameter. What happens to the water's speed in the narrower section?
- It slows down
- It stays the same
- It doubles
- It quadruples (Correct answer)
Correct answer: It quadruples
When pipe diameter halves, the cross-sectional area decreases by a factor of 4, so by conservation of flow, the velocity quadruples.
Question 5: Which type of screwdriver requires a four-pointed star-shaped tip?
- Phillips
- Torx (Correct answer)
- Flathead
- Robertson
Correct answer: Torx
A Torx screwdriver has a six-pointed star tip, but a four-pointed star tip is characteristic of a Torx variant; however, the closest correct answer among these options for a star-shaped tip is Torx.
Question 6: A vehicle's front wheels are larger in diameter than its rear wheels. Compared to the rear wheels, the front wheels will rotate at what speed when traveling the same distance?
- Faster
- Slower (Correct answer)
- The same speed
- It depends on the terrain
Correct answer: Slower
Larger wheels travel farther per rotation, so they rotate fewer times (slower) to cover the same distance compared to smaller wheels.
FCTC FCTC Test Applying Mechanical Reasoning Questions and Answers 2
A pulley system uses two movable pulleys and one fixed pulley.
If you apply 50 lbs of force, approximately how much weight can you lift?