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FREE CPS Firefighter Test Mechanical Aptitude Principles Questions and Answers Flashcards

6 cards from real CPS practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.

Read the first 6 FREE CPS Firefighter Test Mechanical Aptitude Principles Questions and Answers flashcards as text

  1. A firefighter uses a Class 2 lever to lift a heavy hose bundle. The fulcrum is at one end, the load is in the middle, and the effort is applied at the other end. Compared to a Class 1 lever, this arrangement:

    Answer: Multiplies force but reduces speed

    In a Class 2 lever the load is between the fulcrum and effort, so the effort arm is always longer than the load arm, giving a mechanical advantage greater than 1 and multiplying force.

  2. Water flows through a 4-inch diameter supply hose into a 2-inch diameter attack hose. According to the continuity principle, the water speed in the attack hose will be:

    Answer: Four times the speed in the supply hose

    When diameter halves, the cross-sectional area decreases by a factor of 4, so the fluid must travel 4 times faster to maintain the same flow rate.

  3. A hydraulic jack used to lift a vehicle has a small input piston with an area of 2 in² and a large output piston with an area of 20 in². If 50 lb of force is applied to the input piston, the output force is:

    Answer: 500 lb

    Pascal's Law states that pressure is equal throughout the fluid, so output force = input force × (output area / input area) = 50 × (20/2) = 500 lb.

  4. A firefighter pulls a rope over a single fixed pulley to raise a 200 lb object. Ignoring friction, the effort force required is:

    Answer: 200 lb

    A single fixed pulley only changes the direction of force; it does not provide mechanical advantage, so the effort equals the load.

  5. Two gears are meshed together. Gear A has 12 teeth and Gear B has 36 teeth. If Gear A rotates at 120 RPM, Gear B rotates at:

    Answer: 40 RPM

    Gear speed is inversely proportional to tooth count, so Gear B RPM = 120 × (12/36) = 40 RPM.

  6. A firefighter on a ladder feels the rungs getting hotter as she climbs toward the roof. This heat transfer from rung to rung through the metal ladder is best described as:

    Answer: Conduction

    Conduction is the transfer of heat through direct contact between molecules in a solid material, such as metal ladder rungs.