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ASVAB Mechanical Comprehension Practice Test

If A = 7 ft. and the green box weighs 10 lbs. what is the torque acting
on the A side of this lever?

A 35 ft. lb.

B 1 ft. lb.

C 70 ft. lb.

D 140 ft. lb.

2 Which of the following is not a scalar quantity?

A Length

B Mass

C Electric Charge

D Force
3 What is the pressure of a water tank that measures 20 ft. square by
17 ft. deep?

A 106.1 psi

B 2.7 psi

C 1060.8 psi

D 26.5 psi

4 This image represents what configuration of

pulley?

A Movable

B Block and Tackle

C Simple

D Fixed
5

If this lever is in equilibrium with an effort force of 15 ft. lb. at the

blue arrow and a resistance force of 3 ft. lb. at the green box, what
is its mechanical advantage?

A 0.8

B 0.2

C 0.05

D 0.1
 Solutions

If A = 7 ft. and the green box weighs 10 lbs. what is the torque acting
on the A side of this lever?

A 35 ft. lb.

B 1 ft. lb.

 70 ft. lb.

D 140 ft. lb.

SOLUTION

For a lever, torque is weight x distance from the fulcrum which, in this case, is:
10 x 7 = 70 ft. lb.
2 Which of the following is not a scalar quantity?

A Length

B Mass

C Electric Charge

 Force

SOLUTION

A vector quantity has at least two forces at work against an object to cause movement while a
scalar quantity has only one force at work. Scalar quantities have magnitude while vector quantities
have magnitude and direction.

Vector quantities include: velocity, force, momentum, spin, displacement. Scalar quantities include:
speed, work, length, area, mass, energy, electric charge.
3 What is the pressure of a water tank that measures 20 ft. square by
17 ft. deep?

A 106.1 psi

 2.7 psi

C 1060.8 psi

D 26.5 psi

SOLUTION

Pressure is equal to force per unit area or F . For water, F = w × d where w is the weight of water
A
lb.
and d its depth. Water weighs 62.4 so:
ft.3

F=w×d = 62.4 × 17ft.=1060.8

lb. lb.
ft.3 ft.2

The area (A) of the pool is 20ft.×20ft.= 400ft.2 so:

lb.
1060.8
ft.2
P= F
A
= 400ft.2
= 2.7 psi
4 This image represents what configuration of
pulley?

A Movable

 Block and Tackle

C Simple

D Fixed

SOLUTION

A fixed pulley changes the direction of the effort but does not multiply effort. A movable pulley
multiplies effort but does not change the direction of the effort. A block and tackle is a combination
of one or more fixed and movable pulleys and both multiplies effort and changes the direction of
the effort.
5

If this lever is in equilibrium with an effort force of 15 ft. lb. at the

blue arrow and a resistance force of 3 ft. lb. at the green box, what
is its mechanical advantage?

A 0.8

 0.2

C 0.05

D 0.1

SOLUTION

Mechanical advantage (MA) is the ratio by which effort force relates to resistance force. If both
forces are known, calculating MA is simply a matter of dividing resistance force by effort force:

MA = Fr / Fe = 3 ft. / 15 ft. = 0.2

In this case, the mechanical advantage is less than one meaning that each unit of effort force
results in just 0.2 units of resistance force. However, a third class lever like this isn't designed to
multiply force like a first class lever. A third class lever is designed to multiply distance and speed
at the resistance at a sacrifice of force at the resistance. Different lever styles have different
purposes and multiply forces in different ways.

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