FireTEAM Test FireTEAM Mechanical Aptitude 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A firefighter uses a crowbar to pry open a door. The crowbar is 36 inches long and the pivot point is 4 inches from the door. What type of simple machine is the crowbar acting as?
- Wedge
- First-class lever (Correct answer)
- Second-class lever
- Inclined plane
Correct answer: First-class lever
A crowbar used as a pry bar with the fulcrum between effort and load acts as a first-class lever.
Question 2: Water flows through a pipe that narrows from 4 inches in diameter to 2 inches in diameter. What happens to the water pressure as it enters the narrower section?
- Pressure decreases and velocity increases (Correct answer)
- Pressure increases and velocity increases
- Pressure decreases and velocity decreases
- Pressure increases and velocity decreases
Correct answer: Pressure decreases and velocity increases
According to Bernoulli's principle, when fluid velocity increases in a narrower pipe, pressure decreases.
Question 3: A fire hose reel has a handle with a radius of 18 inches attached to an axle with a radius of 3 inches. What is the mechanical advantage of this wheel-and-axle system?
- 3
- 6 (Correct answer)
- 15
- 54
Correct answer: 6
Mechanical advantage of a wheel and axle equals the wheel radius divided by the axle radius: 18 ÷ 3 = 6.
Question 4: A ladder is leaning against a wall at a 75-degree angle from the ground. If the base slides outward, what happens to the top of the ladder?
- It moves up the wall
- It stays at the same height
- It moves down the wall (Correct answer)
- It moves away from the wall horizontally
Correct answer: It moves down the wall
When the base slides out, the angle decreases and the top of the ladder slides down the wall.
Question 5: A pump produces 150 PSI of pressure. If you connect two identical pumps in parallel (both pumping into the same line), what is the resulting pressure?
- 75 PSI
- 150 PSI (Correct answer)
- 300 PSI
- 225 PSI
Correct answer: 150 PSI
Pumps in parallel increase flow rate but not pressure; pressure remains the same at 150 PSI.
Question 6: A steel beam expands when heated. A 100-foot beam at 70°F becomes 100.07 feet at 170°F. What property causes this?
- Thermal conductivity
- Specific heat capacity
- Thermal expansion (Correct answer)
- Tensile strength
Correct answer: Thermal expansion
Thermal expansion describes how materials increase in size when temperature rises.
Question 7: Which type of gear arrangement reverses the direction of rotation between two meshing gears?
- Worm gear
- Bevel gear
- External spur gears (Correct answer)
- Planetary gear
Correct answer: External spur gears
External spur gears that mesh directly cause adjacent gears to rotate in opposite directions.
FireTEAM Test FireTEAM Mechanical Aptitude 2
A firefighter uses a crowbar to pry open a door.
The crowbar is 36 inches long and the pivot point is 4 inches from the door.
What type of simple machine is the crowbar acting as?