On Fri, 26 May 2017 22:19:58 +1000, FMurtz wrote:
Graham. wrote:
On Thu, 25 May 2017 11:16:16 -0700 (PDT), misterroy
wrote:
found this test lurking in the filing cabinet at work, some of the
questions might need a bit more context.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_U...2bnN1c0U/view?
usp=sharing
Would I be disqualified for putting a mark on the line provided,
rather than crossing out the letter corresponding to the correct answer
as instructed?
You do not need to you can see where the mark is rubbed out.
Only in about half the cases. I looked at every "Question" with a view
to answering each one and noticed that some had been marked incorrectly,
others correctly and some, seemingly not at all.
Starting with the boxes one (which is hardest to turn over?) my answers
are as follows:
C
G
M assuming diameters of tops of the LH ones = widths of the RH square
and equilateral triangular cross sectioned tanks
Q
All equal
A
O
Move to and fro
It wasn't clear what this butcher's weight question was about. I can see
three possible 'correct' answers to this one, each depending on how you
interpret what the real question is.
The previous student's rubbed out answer (V) suggests it was interpreted
as a requirement to minimise bending stress on the hanging beam. Another
interpretation of the problem is to minimise pull out forces on the
beam's anchor rods, suggesting Y as the answer. However, mention of the
*heaviest* weight strongly suggests both those answers are wrong due to
the use of "Trickery" involving common sense and observational skills in
the real world.
We know that such butchers' meathook rails are amply over-engineered for
the butcher's normal every day usage so we can exclude 'structural
integrity' issues from our deliberations (plus, any fatigue induced
failure here can be remedied without expensive and painful medical
procedures being invoked).
This just leaves us with the question of, "If I were that butcher,
carrying the heaviest lump of meat from the direction implied by that
sketch, where would I want to place it to minimise musculoskeletal wear
and tear?" The answer, quite obviously, becomes "The nearest to hand,
stupid!", in this case, Z. :-)
The only fly in the ointment with this last option is WTF didn't the
daft butcher slide all the hooks to the right hand end of the bar
beforehand? That way, he could have reduced the strain and effort on his
musculoskeletal system even further by arranging for hook V to be nearer
again, allowing him to slide the 'heaviest weight' to the far end of the
bar with even less strain and effort, leaving the remaining hooks close
to hand and available for more '(but slightly less) heavy weights'.
I may be wrong in interpreting this question as one of 'ergonomics' but
**** it all, that's the only way to make any sense of this one.
Moving onto the cups question which seems to be a question of which of
the four cups encloses a presumed identical volume of liquid with the
least amount of surface area, I'm rather drawn to B despite answers C and
D looking like they could be equally as good a choice (the 'All equal'
option is rather spoilt by A being quite obviously the one destined to
cool the fastest).
All of them (cogs question)
N
Fall
V (looks closest to the optimal 45 degree angle ignoring air resistance)
A
H
R
V
C
All equal (assuming we ignore friction effects as Galileo was able to)
N
Fall
Rise and then fall
H
L
R
W
D (as the previous student indicated, assuming a sweeping bend rather
than a tight hairpin bend where the right answer could easily be "All
equal"). Again, yet another question where I can't decide whether I'm
facing a cunningly disguised question concerned with the dangers of
making unwarranted assumptions or just very shoddy question setting.
Move in a circle
N assuming disks with holes punched in them (in which case, WTF is
causing M to remain poised in its depicted position?)
S
X (assuming equal effort on the part of the 'pushers')
Wow! Yet another imponderable question (about skiddiest car). Yet again,
we are left to make several assumptions from the very poor quality
'evidence of our eyes' but I'll give it a go.
I'm led to assume we are looking at a **** poor sketch of a snapshot
overhead view of a sharp bend or corner on a race track and further
obliged to assume a dry equally grippy road surface with no adverse
camber or rubber crum to penalise any of the cars which I'm further
obliged to assume all have equally grippy tyres and are all travelling at
the same speed in some sort of race event.
Having been forced to make all these assumptions just to drill down to
what I *think* is the core of the problem, I can only conclude that car C
is most likely to skid due to its higher rate of change of velocity
needed to negotiate the bend on a tighter radius than the other three
cars which results in higher side forces being applied to the tyres from
the resultant centripetal force.
In real life, there are many reasons why answer C will be most
emphatically wrong but, what the hey, this is just a question on a 1950's
mechanics exam paper. :-)
H
One
All equal
The mechanism will jam (I'm only 99% sure but if I'm wrong then opposite
direction unevenly becomes the only viable alternative)
I would hope that such shoddy exam question setting as exhibited by JR
Morrisby's efforts would be rejected today. However, I believe (rightly
or wrongly) that such shoddiness in examination question standards still
abounds to this day.
--
Johnny B Good