GCSE Engineering, Testing and drawing. Usually met in years 9 to 11.
Learn how materials and products are tested, from tensile and hardness tests to finding hidden cracks.
What you practise
Destructive and non-destructive tests
Hardness and impact tests
Stress, strain, accuracy and precision
Starts with prototypes and fair tests and builds to stress, strain and Young’s modulus. Practice moves up a level when a round goes well and down when it does not.
Sample questions
Each sample comes with the method and the reason every wrong option is wrong. Real practice rounds are ten questions at your level.
Sample question, level 2 of 5
What does ‘impact test’ mean?
How close a measurement is to the true value
Striking a notched sample with a swinging hammer to measure its toughness
Asking people to try a product and give their views
A hardness test that presses a steel ball into the material
A hardness test that uses a diamond pyramid indenter
Show the answer and method
Answer: B, Striking a notched sample with a swinging hammer to measure its toughness
The method: Impact test means striking a notched sample with a swinging hammer to measure its toughness.
Why the other options are wrong:
A, How close a measurement is to the true value: That describes accuracy.
C, Asking people to try a product and give their views: That describes user testing.
D, A hardness test that presses a steel ball into the material: That describes Brinell test.
E, A hardness test that uses a diamond pyramid indenter: That describes Vickers test.
Sample question, level 4 of 5
Which term means: passing X-rays through a part to show hidden faults such as holes in welds?
Izod test
X-ray testing
British Standards
Quality
Specification
Show the answer and method
Answer: B, X-ray testing
The method: X-ray testing means passing X-rays through a part to show hidden faults such as holes in welds.
Why the other options are wrong:
A, Izod test: Izod test means an impact test in which a sample held upright is struck by a pendulum.
C, British Standards: British Standards means agreed national standards that products and tests can be checked against.
D, Quality: Quality means how well a product meets its specification and the needs of its users.
E, Specification: Specification means a list of measurable requirements a product must meet.
