Engineering Fundamentals

Question 1

Lever

Answer 1

a type of simple machine consisting of a rigid beam pivoting around fulcrum that is used to transmit force

Question 2

fulcrum

Answer 2

a point of support and turning about which lever arms pivot

Question 3

mass

Answer 3

a measure of the amount of matter that an object contains; the unit of this within the SI system (International System of units) is the kilogram (kg)

Question 4

metals

Answer 4

solid materials, typically hard, opaque, ductile, malleable and shiny; they feature good electrical and thermal conductivity

Question 5

non-ferrous

Answer 5

a material containing no, or minimal iron

Question 6

pearlite

Answer 6

a phase of carbon steel and cast iron consisting of ferrite and cementite formed into distinct layers (or lamellae) on slow cooling from austenite

Question 7

ferrous

Answer 7

metals based on the metallic
element iron (Fe); the two most
common of these are steel and
cast iron, distinguished primarily by
the percentage of carbon present

Question 8

cementite

Answer 8

the name given to iron carbide with the general formula Fe3C

Question 9

austenite

Answer 9

the face centred cubic (FCC) phase of iron containing some dissolved carbon

Question 10

polymer

Answer 10

a giant molecule
based on carbon

Question 11

pulley

Answer 11

consists of a wheel and an axle arranged by itself or in conjunction with others to operate as a simple machine

Question 12

scalar

Answer 12

any measure that has a magnitude only

Question 13

screw

Answer 13

a form of simple machine used to translate rotary motion into linear motion

Question 14

steel

Answer 14

an alloy of iron and up to 2% carbon, often with additions of other alloying elements such as manganese, silicon, chromium, nickel and molybdenum

Question 15

stiffness

Answer 15

the resistance of an elastic body to deflation by an applied force

Question 16

thermoplastic

Answer 16

a polymer that can be softened by heating

Question 17

thermoset

Answer 17

a polymer that can be set by heating but cannot be softened by reheating

Question 18

timber

Answer 18

an organic material consisting of thin-walled tubes made of cellulose; the cellulose ‘tubes’ are bound together with a weak glue called lignin

Question 19

toughness

Answer 19

the ability of material to resist the propagation of cracks; it is often identified as the area under a stress-strain graph

Question 20

vector

Answer 20

any measure that has a magnitude and direction.

Question 21

amorphous

Answer 21

like crystalline solids, materials that are usually characterised by certain areas of short-range order; a longrange order, as in crystals does not exist in such substances

Question 22

atomic bonding

Answer 22

an electrostatic attractive force
within and between atoms that
allows the formation of
materials containing two or
more atoms

Question 23

brass

Answer 23

an alloy of copper and up to 43% zinc

Question 24

bronze

Answer 24

a term generally applied to an alloy of copper and up to 10% tin

Question 25

ceramic

Answer 25

a multi-phase material containing phase composed of compounds of metals and nonmetals; they are typically hard and good insulators

Question 26

composites

Answer 26

represents a class of material whose properties derive from the combination of two or more materials that are bonded together such that each of the constituent materials contributes to an improvement in mechanical, physical, chemical or electrical properties

Question 27

concrete

Answer 27

a mixture of aggregate embedded in a cement binding matrix composed of sand, water and cement

Question 28

crystal

Answer 28

a material whose atoms or molecules are arranged in a predictable or ordered pattern based around all threedimensional axes

Question 29

density

Answer 29

a measure of the quantity of mass per unit volume

Question 30

ductility

Answer 30

the ability of a material to undergo plastic deformation by extrusion or the application of tensile forces

Question 31

hardness

Answer 31

the resistance of a material to scratching or abrasion; this may also refer to resistance to indentation, penetration or cutting