Study Guide

Technology & Engineering
Sample Questions

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Competency 0001
Understand the nature of technology.

Use the diagram below to answer the question that follows.

1. A motor controller is designed to keep an electric motor running at a constant rpm. The system consists of a microcontroller, a variable power source, a speedometer, a motor, and a gear box. When the load on the motor changes, the speedometer measures the change in rotational speed and the microcontroller adjusts the electrical power accordingly. If the motor controller is modeled by the universal systems diagram shown, which of the following components is represented by the shaded box?

  1. the gear box
  2. the speedometer
  3. the motor
  4. the power source
Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Correct Response: B. The universal systems diagram is used to illustrate a closed-loop feedback system. The shaded box is used to indicate the feedback component of the system. Feedback helps maintain a system by taking information from the output and using it to adjust the input. In the motor controller described, the speedometer captures information from the output (the rotating shaft), which is used to control the input (the electrical power to the motor). Hence the shaded box is represented by the speedometer.

Competency 0003
Understand technological and engineering design.

2. Students in a technology engineering class are planning to create an electric generator powered by a wood stove. They will then use the waste heat from power generation to heat a home. The students have researched the project and brainstormed some ideas. In developing the design for the device, which of the following steps should the students take next?

  1. building a prototype to show how the product functions
  2. creating a detailed drawing of the various components of the system
  3. making a list of the parts needed to build the generating system
  4. identifying criteria, constraints, and specifications for the product
Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Correct Response: D. The iterative design process is a method for designing solutions to technological problems. It loosely follows a defined sequence of steps, often revisiting previous steps in the process. In this design problem, the students have defined the problem, conducted research, and generated some ideas. The next step would be to start defining the design specifications by identifying criteria the design must meet. These steps must be completed before any of the other steps listed can occur.

Competency 0004
Understand abilities for a technological world.

3. A technician knows that the pressure inside a hydraulic hose is 300 pounds per square inch. If 1 pound = 4.44 newtons and 1 inch = 0.0254 meters, which of the following expressions equals the pressure inside the hose in pascals?

  1. 300
  2. 300
  3. 300
  4. 300
Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Correct Response: B. The process of unit conversion depends on the property of equality of conversion factors and the fact that units follow rules of algebra. For example, the equation 1 pound = 4.44 newtons is equivalent to two equations: = 1 and = 1, since each equation can be derived from the conversion factor. Since any number can be multiplied by 1 without changing its value, these expressions can be arranged so that the common units appearing in both the numerator and denominator cancel, leaving only the desired units. Cancelling pounds and square inches (inch2 = inch•inch) shows that the correct response has units of , which are the units of the pascal, or pressure in the MKS system of measurement.

Competency 0005
Understand principles of information processing.

4. Most satellite reception dishes have a parabolic shape. Which of the following best describes why this geometry is used for this purpose?

  1. Noise is reduced by reflecting data packets that lay outside of a desired wavelength away from the receiver at the focus of the parabola.
  2. Frequency modulated waves striking the sides of the parabola are demodulated through a process of wave addition and subtraction.
  3. Waves reflected from any part of the surface of a parabola converge at a single focal point creating a stronger receiving signal.
  4. Analog waves reflected from the parabolic surface undergo constructive interference, producing binary pulses that can be easily digitized.
Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Correct Response: C. The parabola has the property that light rays, for example, striking the sides will always be reflected through a common point called the focus of the parabola. This property holds for all electromagnetic waves, including microwaves and radio waves. In a satellite dish, the receiver is located at the focal point where all the waves that strike the dish are collected and focused together, resulting in a stronger signal.

Competency 0006
Understand drafting and graphic communication.

Use the diagram below to answer the question that follows.

5. Which of the following is the top orthographic projection for this diagram?

Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Correct Response: C. The top view of the object shown is obtained by projecting the top surface of the object onto a horizontal plane above the surface. This projection will produce four solid lines, since they will be visible on the projection. The lines forming the edges of the cylindrical hole in the object are hidden lines, which are indicated by two dotted lines. All the lines on the projection should line up with the corresponding lines on the object.

Competency 0007
Understand principles of electronic communication.

Use the diagram below to answer the question that follows.

Graphs

6. The diagram shows the input and output of electrical signals for which of the following electronic circuit components?

  1. analog-to-digital converter
  2. RC timer network
  3. arithmetic logic unit
  4. linear operational amplifier
Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Correct Response: A. The process shown begins with a continuous wave, which is represented as a smooth curve. This wave is then sampled, as shown by the solid vertical lines intersecting the curve at the points along its graph. The sampled values are then converted to the digital signal shown in the output graph. This entire process is done by a circuit device called an analog-to-digital converter, so named because the device converts analog (continuous) signals to digital (discrete) signals.

Competency 0008
Understand principles of energy and power.

7. Workers are comparing how two different gasoline motors attached to the same pulley system lift a 100-pound bucket of bricks to a height of 20 feet. Motor A lifts the bucket in 18 seconds, while Motor B lifts the bucket in only 12 seconds. Compared with Motor A, Motor B:

  1. does more work.
  2. supplies more energy.
  3. is more efficient.
  4. provides more power.
Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Correct Response: D. Power is the rate at which energy is supplied or work is done. Power is equal to work divided by time. The work done in lifting an object vertically is found by multiplying the weight of the object and by the height to which the object is lifted. Since both machines lift the same weight to the same height, they both do the same amount of work. However, Motor B lifts the weight at a greater rate since it does it in less time. Hence Motor B generates more power than Motor A.

Competency 0009
Understand energy and power technologies.

8. Solar photovoltaic systems that are connected to the electrical grid use which of the following devices to convert DC current to AC current?

  1. trackers
  2. transformers
  3. inverters
  4. photodiodes
Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Correct Response: C. Many solar photovoltaic systems are connected to the power grid. Since the power grid is AC (alternating current) and solar photovoltaic panels generate DC (direct current), this current must be converted to AC. This is done by a device called an inverter.

Competency 0010
Understand transportation technologies.

9. Which of the following best describes the primary role of a CV joint in an automobile with front-wheel drive?

  1. controlling camber
  2. maintaining toe angle
  3. transmitting power
  4. absorbing vibrations
Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Correct Response: C. A CV joint, or constant-velocity joint, is similar to a universal joint in that it is able to transmit power through a variable angle—the drive shaft and the driven shaft do not need to lie in a straight line. The CV joint has the additional property of maintaining the same rotational speed on both the drive shaft and the driven shaft, something that the universal joint cannot accomplish. CV joints are used to transmit power from the transaxle to the wheels of an automobile with front-wheel drive.

Competency 0011
Understand properties of materials.

10. A material consists of long chains of molecules made up of a large number of repeating subunits. Which of the following describes an application of a material with these properties?

  1. steel walls for a nuclear reactor vessel
  2. thermoplastic for injecting molding
  3. glass for a compound lens in a camera
  4. semiconductor for a photovoltaic panel
Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Correct Response: B. Polymers are long chains of molecules made up of repeating subunits called monomers. There are natural polymers such as DNA, and synthetic polymers such as plastics. The thermoplastics, or plastics that become soft when heated, are examples of polymers.

Competency 0012
Understand manufacturing technologies.

11. A tap from a tap and die set would be used for which of the following metalworking tasks?

  1. punching a hole in a piece of sheet metal
  2. removing material from a rotating stock
  3. threading a hole drilled into a metal workpiece
  4. cutting a curved surface on a milling machine
Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Correct Response: C. Tap and die sets are cutting tools made out of hard steel. The tap is a cylindrical, threaded piece of metal that is used to cut threads in the walls of a hole. Hand taps generally come with a T-wrench that is used to twist the tap into the hole. The die is used to cut threads on a cylindrical shaft to make a threaded rod.

Competency 0013
Understand construction systems.

12. In a residential home, a truss structure is most often used as part of which of the following subsystems?

  1. foundation
  2. floor system
  3. wall system
  4. roof system
Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Correct Response: D. A truss is a structure comprising triangles. The triangle is one of the most stable geometric designs and the truss ties together multiple triangles to build a structure that can span a large distance while remaining stable. Trusses are most often used in roof systems.

Competency 0014
Understand fundamentals of agriculture and related biotechnologies.

13. In addition to tilling soil, a cultivator is often used in agriculture for which of the following purposes?

  1. fertilizer application
  2. seed row planting
  3. weed control
  4. plant harvesting
Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Correct Response: C. While cultivators can be used to till soil, they are also used for weed control. The same features that they use to till soil make them useful for weed control. Cultivators stir the soil close to crops and uproot and bury weeds. Cultivators perform the same function as the hoe—they kill weeds by disrupting the soil in which they grow while leaving the crop plants undisturbed.

Competency 0015
Understand fundamentals of medical technologies.

14. Defibrillators treat cardiac arrest and dangerous heart rhythms by applying a large dose of electrical energy. Which of the following electronic devices stores up the electric charge used by defibrillators?

  1. diodes
  2. transistors
  3. capacitors
  4. inductors
Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Correct Response: C. The beats of the human heart are muscle contractions controlled by electrical impulses generated in the heart. When the heart's rhythm becomes unstable (arrhythmia) or stops entirely (cardiac arrest), it can often be reestablished by administering a high-voltage electric shock across the chest. Since capacitors can store electric charge, they are used in defibrillators to store the energy needed to administer the electrical treatment to the patient.

Competency 0016
Understand careers and career development.

15. A technology education teacher is planning a unit on careers and career development. In planning the scope and sequence of the unit, the teacher should have the students engage in which of the following activities first?

  1. taking an online assessment in which students answer questions about their strengths, interests, and preferences
  2. using a Web-based résumé builder to explore the characteristics of chronological, functional, and combination résumés
  3. doing a Web-based search in which student explore the skills and educational requirements of various careers
  4. learning the multimedia tools needed to create a digital portfolio to highlight and showcase products developed in class
Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Correct Response: A. The lesson should follow the same process that is used in developing a career plan. The first step in developing a career plan is to conduct a self-assessment. The goal of a self-assessment is for an individual to determine what kind of work he or she is interested in doing; what type of skills, strengths, or traits he or she has; and how these traits are manifested in various careers. There are many online assessment tools that can be used for this purpose.

Competency 0017
Understand instruction and assessment in technology education.

Use the diagram below to answer the question that follows.

diagram

16. Middle school students are designing an artificial arm and have made a rough model from two boards, a nut and bolt, and a wire to research how the arm lifts objects. The students would like to analyze the forces involved as the arm lifts a load upward. Which of the following topics would be most appropriate for the students to research?

  1. coefficient of friction
  2. simple machines
  3. conservation of momentum
  4. angular acceleration
Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Correct Response: B. The human arm is an example of a lever. Levers are simple machines and are categorized by the relationships between the fulcrum, the load, and the applied force. In the diagram, the fulcrum is the elbow and the load is the rock. The tension in the wire is the applied force. Researching simple machines leads to concepts of force, lever arm, torque, and mechanical advantage.