Ramsay Test Mechanical Reasoning 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Gear A has 20 teeth and drives Gear B which has 40 teeth. If Gear A rotates at 100 RPM, how fast does Gear B rotate?
- 200 RPM
- 50 RPM (Correct answer)
- 100 RPM
- 40 RPM
Correct answer: 50 RPM
When a smaller gear drives a larger gear, speed is reduced by the gear ratio: 100 × (20/40) = 50 RPM.
Question 2: A movable pulley system uses 3 pulleys to lift a 300 lb load. Ignoring friction, how much force must you pull with?
- 300 lb
- 150 lb
- 100 lb (Correct answer)
- 75 lb
Correct answer: 100 lb
A 3-pulley movable block and tackle has a mechanical advantage of 3, so required force = 300 ÷ 3 = 100 lb.
Question 3: Two springs are connected in series. Spring 1 has a constant of 20 lb/in and Spring 2 has a constant of 20 lb/in. What is the combined spring constant?
- 40 lb/in
- 20 lb/in
- 10 lb/in (Correct answer)
- 5 lb/in
Correct answer: 10 lb/in
Springs in series have a combined constant of 1/(1/k1 + 1/k2), so 1/(1/20 + 1/20) = 10 lb/in.
Question 4: In a hydraulic press, the input piston has an area of 2 sq in and the output piston has an area of 20 sq in. A 50 lb force on the input produces how much output force?
- 50 lb
- 100 lb
- 250 lb
- 500 lb (Correct answer)
Correct answer: 500 lb
By Pascal's principle, output force = input force × (output area / input area) = 50 × (20/2) = 500 lb.
Question 5: Water flows through a pipe that narrows from a 4-inch diameter to a 2-inch diameter. What happens to the water's velocity in the narrow section?
- It stays the same
- It decreases by half
- It doubles
- It quadruples (Correct answer)
Correct answer: It quadruples
The cross-sectional area decreases by a factor of 4 (area ∝ diameter²), so velocity must increase by 4 to maintain flow continuity.
Question 6: A second-class lever has the load between the fulcrum and the effort. Which tool is an example of a second-class lever?
- Scissors
- Tweezers
- Wheelbarrow (Correct answer)
- Shovel
Correct answer: Wheelbarrow
A wheelbarrow has the wheel (fulcrum) at one end, the load in the middle, and effort at the handles — a classic second-class lever.
Question 7: A compressed spring releases 50 ft-lb of energy to push a 10 lb block. Ignoring friction, how high can the block rise?
- 0.5 ft
- 2 ft
- 5 ft (Correct answer)
- 500 ft
Correct answer: 5 ft
Setting spring energy equal to potential energy: 50 = 10 × h, so h = 5 ft.
Ramsay Test Mechanical Reasoning 3
Gear A has 20 teeth and drives Gear B which has 40 teeth.
If Gear A rotates at 100 RPM, how fast does Gear B rotate?