Weekend Seshhh: Engineering Edition Session 1: Algebra

General directions. Solve each item carefully, then shade the circle corresponding to the letter of the correct
answer on your answer sheet. Use Mongol No. 2 only for shading.

−3
−1/2
x 2 y 3 z −2 x −3 yz 3
1. Simplify . [ECE/Apr 1991]
(x yz −3 )−5/2
1 1 1 1
(a) (b) (c) (d)
x 2 y 7z3 x 2 y 7z5 x 2 y 5z3 x 5 y 7z3
q p p
2. Solve for U if U = 1− 1− 1 − · · ·.

(a) 0.723 (b) 0.618 (c) 0.852 (d) 0.453

3. The logarithms of the quotient and the product of two numbers are 0.352182518 and 1.556302501,
respectively. Find the larger number. [CE/May 1998]

(a) 9 (b) 10 (c) 11 (d) 12

4. From the equation 7x 2 + (2k − 1)x − 3k + 2 = 0, determine the value of k so that the sum and product
of the roots are equal. [ECE/Apr 2005]

(a) 4 (b) 3 (c) 2 (d) 1

5. Two engineering students are solving a problem leading to a quadratic equation. One student made a
mistake in the coefficient of the first-degree term, and got roots of 2 and −3. The other student made
a mistake in the constant term, and got roots of −1 and 4. What is the correct equation?

(a) x 2 − 6x − 3 = 0 (b) x 2 + 6x + 3 = 0 (c) x 2 + 3x + 6 = 0 (d) x 2 − 3x − 6 = 0

6. The polynomial x 3 + 4x 2 − 3x + 8 is divided by x − 5. What is the remainder? [EE/Mar 1998]

(a) 281 (b) 812 (c) 218 (d) 182

x 2 + 4x + 10 A B(2x + 2) C
7. Find the value of A in the equation = + 2 + . [CE/May 1996]
x 3 + 2x 2 + 5x x x + 2x + 5 x 2 + 2x + 5
(a) 2 (b) −2 1 1
(c) (d) −
2 2

2 12
 ‹
8. Find the term involving x 9 in the expansion of x 2 + .
x
(a) 25434x 9 (b) 52344x 9 (c) 25344x 9 (d) 23544x 9

9. Find the value of x in the equation (x + y i)(1 − 2i) = 7 − 4i. [CE/Nov 2003]

(a) 5 (b) 4 (c) 3 (d) 2

10. The third term of an arithmetic progression is −7 and the eighth term is 23. Find the sum of the first
twelve terms. [CE/May 2007]

(a) 280 (b) 221 (c) 121 (d) 168

Engr. Jaydee N. Lucero 1

Weekend Seshhh: Engineering Edition Session 1: Algebra

11. There are 6 geometric means between 4 and 8748. Find the sum of all the terms.

(a) 13120 (b) 15480 (c) 10250 (d) 9840

2
12. A rubber ball is dropped from a height of 15 m. On each rebound, it rises 3 of the height from which
it last fell. Find the distance travelled by the ball before it comes to rest.

(a) 75 m (b) 96 m (c) 100 m (d) 85 m

13. Peter and Paul can do a certain job together in 3 hours. On a given day, they worked together for 1
hour, then Paul left and Peter finishes the rest of the work in 8 more hours. How long will it take for
Peter to do the job alone?

(a) 10 hours (b) 11 hours (c) 12 hours (d) 13 hours

14. Twenty men can finish the job in 30 days. Twenty-five men started the job. After 20 days, 10 men
quitted. Find the total number of days it took them to finish the job. [CE/Nov 1999]

(a) 26.67 days (b) 23.33 days (c) 27.33 days (d) 27.66 days

15. A man walks from his house to the office. If he leaves at 8 am and walks at a rate of 2 kph, he will have
arrived 3 minutes earlier, but if he leaves at 8:30 am and walks at 3 kph, he will have arrived 6 minutes
late. Find the distance from his house to the office. [CE/May 2001]

(a) 9:06 am (b) 9:12 am (c) 8:54 am (d) 8:43 am

16. An airplane, flying with the wind, took 2 hours to travel 1000 km and 2.5 hours in flying back. What
was the wind velocity? [CE/Nov 1994]

(a) 40 kph (b) 50 kph (c) 60 kph (d) 70 kph

17. At what time after 12 noon will the hour hand and the minute hand of a clock first form an angle of
120◦ ? [GE/Feb 1997]

(a) 12:12.18 pm (b) 12:28.11 pm (c) 12:18.12 pm (d) 12:21.82 pm

18. A father is three times as old as his son. Four years ago, he was four times as old as his son was at that
time. How old is his son?

(a) 36 (b) 24 (c) 32 (d) 12

19. Two thousand kilograms of steel containing 8% nickel is to be made by mixing a steel containing 14%
nickel with another steel containing 6% nickel. How much of the steel containing 14% nickel is needed?

(a) 1500 kg (b) 800 kg (c) 750 kg (d) 500 kg

20. Ohm’s law states that the current flowing in a fixed resistor is directly proportional to the applied
voltage. When 30 volts is applied across a resistor, the current flowing through the resistor is 2.4 × 10−3
amperes. Determine the voltage when the current is 3.6 × 10−3 amperes. [CE/May 2012]

(a) 18.89 volts (b) 40 volts (c) 20 volts (d) 45 volts

Engr. Jaydee N. Lucero 2