Learn by Novus · Open practice pack v1

Mechanical comprehension: applied practice: open practice pack: learner worksheet

20 untimed questions across 4 authored sections.

This is untimed educational practice for one applied skill. It is not a clinical, diagnostic, employment, or professionally recognized assessment, it does not produce a score or credential, and for the judgement and safety families it is not a substitute for your employer's own policies, training, or legal duties.

Learner worksheet

Each item describes a machine or an arrangement of forces in words. Nothing needs to be drawn, and no formula sheet is required: the relationships you need (moments balance, gear ratios, pressure transmitted equally through a fluid) are the ones the lesson works through. Take as long as you like; nothing here is timed.

Choose one answer for each item. On a judgement item, more than one option is often defensible. Pick the one you would rate most effective, then check the worked explanation for why the runner-up is weaker.

Levers, gears, and simple machines

Start with the two ideas that most mechanical items are built from: turning moments balance about a pivot, and a gear ratio trades speed against turning force.

1. mechanical-comprehension-applied-s01-q01

A plank pivots on a fulcrum. A 60 kg load sits 1 m from the fulcrum on one side. A person pushes down 3 m from the fulcrum on the other side. Ignoring the plank's own weight, what downward force must the person apply to just balance the load?

  1. The equivalent of 180 kg
  2. The equivalent of 60 kg
  3. The equivalent of 20 kg
  4. The equivalent of 30 kg

Answer:

2. mechanical-comprehension-applied-s01-q02

A 30-tooth spur gear meshes directly with a 15-tooth spur gear. The 30-tooth gear turns clockwise at 60 rpm. How does the 15-tooth gear turn?

  1. 120 rpm, counter-clockwise
  2. 120 rpm, clockwise
  3. 30 rpm, counter-clockwise
  4. 30 rpm, clockwise

Answer:

3. mechanical-comprehension-applied-s01-q03

A wheelbarrow is lifted by its handles. Its wheel is the pivot, the bricks sit over the tray, and the hands lift at the handles. Which arrangement does this describe?

  1. The effort is between the pivot and the load
  2. The pivot is between the effort and the load
  3. The load and the effort act at the same point on opposite sides of the pivot
  4. The load is between the pivot and the effort

Answer:

4. mechanical-comprehension-applied-s01-q04

Gear A (20 teeth) meshes with gear B (40 teeth), and gear B meshes with gear C (10 teeth). Gear A is driven clockwise. How does gear C turn?

  1. Counter-clockwise, at twice gear A's speed
  2. Clockwise, at twice gear A's speed
  3. Clockwise, at half gear A's speed
  4. Counter-clockwise, at half gear A's speed

Answer:

5. mechanical-comprehension-applied-s01-q05

A straight ramp 6 m long is used to raise a drum 1.5 m onto a loading bay. Ignoring friction, what is the ideal mechanical advantage of the ramp?

  1. 4
  2. 4.5
  3. 7.5
  4. 9

Answer:

Pulleys, belts, and mechanical advantage

Work through rope and belt systems. The recurring trap is assuming that mechanical advantage creates energy: it always trades distance for force.

6. mechanical-comprehension-applied-s02-q01

A rope runs over a single pulley bolted to a ceiling beam. The load hangs on one end and a worker pulls down on the other. What does this pulley achieve?

  1. It halves the force needed to raise the load
  2. It changes the direction of the pull without reducing the force needed
  3. It doubles the height the load rises for each metre of rope pulled
  4. It reduces the weight of the load

Answer:

7. mechanical-comprehension-applied-s02-q02

A 200 N load hangs from a movable pulley, supported by two sections of the same rope. Ignoring friction and the pulley's weight, what effort is needed and how much rope must be pulled to raise the load 1 m?

  1. 400 N, and 0.5 m of rope
  2. 200 N, and 1 m of rope
  3. 100 N, and 1 m of rope
  4. 100 N, and 2 m of rope

Answer:

8. mechanical-comprehension-applied-s02-q03

A block and tackle is rigged so that four sections of rope support the movable block. Ignoring friction, roughly what effort raises a 600 N load?

  1. 2400 N
  2. 600 N
  3. 150 N
  4. 300 N

Answer:

9. mechanical-comprehension-applied-s02-q04

Rigging extra pulleys into a hoist reduces the effort needed. Which statement about that system is correct?

  1. The effort moves farther than the load, so the total work done is not reduced
  2. The total work done is reduced in proportion to the pulley count
  3. The load's weight is reduced by each added pulley
  4. Rope tension rises with each added pulley

Answer:

10. mechanical-comprehension-applied-s02-q05

An open (uncrossed) belt connects a 200 mm driver pulley to a 50 mm driven pulley. The driver turns at 300 rpm. How does the driven pulley turn?

  1. 75 rpm, in the same direction
  2. 1200 rpm, in the same direction
  3. 1200 rpm, in the opposite direction
  4. 75 rpm, in the opposite direction

Answer:

Fluids, pressure, and hydraulics

Pressure in a confined fluid is transmitted equally in all directions. These items apply that to presses, pipework, and floating loads.

11. mechanical-comprehension-applied-s03-q01

In a hydraulic press, the input piston has an area of 2 cm squared and the output piston an area of 50 cm squared. A force of 40 N is applied to the input piston. What force appears at the output piston?

  1. 40 N
  2. 80 N
  3. 500 N
  4. 1000 N

Answer:

12. mechanical-comprehension-applied-s03-q02

Two open tanks hold water to the same depth. One is a narrow cylinder, the other a wide rectangular tank. What determines the pressure on the base of each?

  1. The total volume of water each tank holds
  2. The surface area of the tank's base
  3. The depth of water and the density of the liquid
  4. The shape of the tank walls

Answer:

13. mechanical-comprehension-applied-s03-q03

In a sealed hydraulic jack the output piston has five times the area of the input piston. The input piston is pushed in 20 cm. How far does the output piston move?

  1. 4 cm
  2. 20 cm
  3. 100 cm
  4. 25 cm

Answer:

14. mechanical-comprehension-applied-s03-q04

Water flows steadily along a full pipe that narrows from 100 mm to 50 mm diameter. What happens to the speed of the water in the narrow section?

  1. It slows down
  2. It speeds up
  3. It is unchanged
  4. It stops until pressure builds

Answer:

15. mechanical-comprehension-applied-s03-q05

A rectangular block floats in fresh water with one quarter of its height above the surface. What is the block's density relative to water?

  1. 0.25
  2. 0.5
  3. 0.75
  4. 1.33

Answer:

Forces, friction, and stability

Finish with loads in motion and at rest: how a beam shares a load, why friction and momentum matter, and what makes something tip.

16. mechanical-comprehension-applied-s04-q01

A uniform 4 m beam weighing 200 N rests on a support at each end. A 400 N crate sits 1 m from the left support. What load does the left support carry?

  1. 400 N
  2. 300 N
  3. 500 N
  4. 200 N

Answer:

17. mechanical-comprehension-applied-s04-q02

A heavy crate must be slid across a concrete floor. Which change most reduces the force needed to move it?

  1. Adding ballast so the crate is heavier and more stable
  2. Putting rollers underneath so sliding friction becomes rolling friction
  3. Pushing at a steeper downward angle
  4. Standing the crate on its narrow end to reduce contact area

Answer:

18. mechanical-comprehension-applied-s04-q03

An empty van and a fully loaded van of the same model travel at the same speed and brake with the same braking force. Which takes longer to stop, and why?

  1. Neither; stopping distance depends only on speed
  2. The empty van, because it has less grip
  3. Neither; the extra weight increases grip in proportion
  4. The loaded van, because more mass at the same speed means more momentum to remove

Answer:

19. mechanical-comprehension-applied-s04-q04

What is the purpose of a flywheel on a single-cylinder engine?

  1. To raise the engine's maximum speed
  2. To reduce the engine's total mass
  3. To store rotational energy and even out the variation in speed between power strokes
  4. To reverse the direction of rotation on the exhaust stroke

Answer:

20. mechanical-comprehension-applied-s04-q05

A tall shelving unit is being tilted onto a trolley. At what point does it topple rather than settle back?

  1. When its total weight exceeds the trolley's rated capacity
  2. As soon as it is tilted at all
  3. When the top shelf is loaded more heavily than the bottom shelf
  4. When the vertical line through its centre of gravity falls outside its base of support

Answer: