ETEA Engineering Test case studies
ETEA Engineering Test · Put your knowledge to work in context.
The ETEA Engineering Test is the entrance test administered by the Educational Testing and Evaluation Agency (ETEA), the testing agency of the Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, for admission to public and private sector engineering universities and colleges of the province. ETEA was established in November 1998 and was set up specifically to run entrance tests for the province's engineering and medical institutions in place of external testing agencies; its scope has since been broadened well beyond entrance testing. The ETEA Engineering Test case studies are 5 cases and about 3,900 words.
1Trolley on an incline: what the intercept is telling you
During a first-year mechanics practical a student releases a 0.50 kg trolley from rest on a 1.20 m inclined track and records its acceleration with a motion sensor. The track is levelled, then tilted to five angles, giving: sin θ: 0.10, 0.20, 0.30, 0.40, 0.50 a (m s⁻²): 0.64, 1.62, 2.60, 3.58, 4.56 A least-squares fit of a against sin θ gives gradient 9.80 m s⁻² and intercept −0.34 m s⁻².
825 words, about 4 min2A potential divider that reads 4.80 V instead of 6.00 V
Two 10.0 kΩ resistors are connected in series across a 12.0 V bench supply whose internal resistance is negligible, forming a potential divider, so the p.d. across either resistor should be 6.00 V.
736 words, about 4 min3Acetate buffer: two errors that a pH meter will not catch
A student must prepare 250.0 mL of a pH 5.00 acetate buffer of total acetate concentration 0.100 mol L⁻¹, starting from 0.200 mol L⁻¹ acetic acid (pKa = 4.76) and 0.200 mol L⁻¹ NaOH. The student's notebook plan reads: 'Pipette 25.0 mL of the acetic acid into a 250 mL volumetric flask, add 12.5 mL of the NaOH, make up to the mark with deionised water, check with the pH meter.' A demonstrator glances at the plan and says the volumes are wrong in two independent ways: one error affects the concentration and one affects the pH.
848 words, about 4 min4Can design: an optimum that is not allowed
A drinks company fills 500 cm³ cans on a line whose labeller cannot handle a can with height less than three times its radius, so the design is constrained by h ≥ 3r. The engineer's brief is to minimise the sheet metal used, taken as the total surface area of a closed cylinder, S = 2πr² + 2πrh, at fixed volume V = πr²h = 500 cm³.
730 words, about 4 min5Editing a lab report opening: three unclear sentences and one unsupported word
An undergraduate writes the following opening for a lab report on a temperature sensor: 'Having calibrated the sensor against a mercury thermometer, the readings were recorded at ten-minute intervals over six hours. The sensor output drifted by 0.8 °C, which proves that the amplifier was overheating, because the drift was monotonic and the lab was warm.
761 words, about 4 min