Disaster And Failure Final
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- 1.A Truss is a
- A.
A load bearing column that holds a bridge up
- B.
A strongly held anchor a bridge is secured with
- C.
Lattice works used to relieve the deck of tension and compression forces
- D.
Span between piers which caries a live load
- 2.To design and build a safe bridge, an engineer must understand all of the following except
- A.
The forces caused by things that interact with the bridge
- B.
How the materials will react to the forces over the life of the bridge
- C.
The force of gravity
- D.
Aesthetically pleasing architecture
- 3.The relative ease of using the materials wood, stone, concrete and steel (From poorest to best) are
- A.
Wood, stone, concrete, steel
- B.
Stone, steel, concrete, wood
- C.
Wood, concrete, steel, stone
- D.
Stone, steel, wood, concrete
- 4.Which bridge is best suited for carrying heave loads such as trains
- A.
Suspension
- B.
Arch
- C.
Cable-stayed
- D.
Cantilever
- 5.One o the major problems leading to the Tay Bridge Disaster of 1879 was
- A.
Use of poor steel quality
- B.
Use of pier and beam bridge where a truss bridge was called for
- C.
Lack of inspection during construction as well as after the bridge went into service
- D.
The hiring of an incompetent job foreman
- 6.Which of the following was NOT a major factor in the Quebec bridge construction disaster
- A.
Attempts to cut construction costs
- B.
Lack of on site experience personal
- C.
Use of substandard quality materials
- D.
Failure to test design changes
- 7.Torsion forces tend to
- A.
Tear structures apart (like two people pulling your arms in opposite directions)
- B.
Push structures in on themselves (like the crushing effect of a head-on car collision)
- C.
Twist structures apart (like having the top half of your body twisted in one direction and the bottom half twisted in the opposite way)
- D.
Tear structures like ripping pages
- 8.Static equilibrium refers to forces which
- A.
Equal force pushing in opposite directions that exactly balance each other
- B.
Balance achieved with electromagnetic forces
- C.
Are stronger than gravitational forces
- D.
Result from the dead load of a bridge
- 9.Which of the following statements concerning the Silver Bridge Disaster (1967) is NOT true
- A.
It was the worst bridge disaster in US history
- B.
It was sort of, but not exactly, a suspension bridge
- C.
It was aggravated by heavy Christmas Traffic
- D.
The resulting bridge inspection program continues to ensure safe bridge today
- 10.The Tacoma Narrows Bridge Disaster (1940) was due, in part, to
- A.
The use of excessively wide deck spans
- B.
The construction material was too light
- C.
Ice build up around the piers in cold weather
- D.
The difficulty in securing the 2 cantilever arms
- 11.A hypothesis is
- A.
Plan
- B.
Fact
- C.
Theory
- D.
Law of nature
- 12.Systematic error in a set of measurements is usually the result of....
- A.
Some limitation in the data collection process
- B.
Some uniform problems in the data collection
- C.
Improper measurement techniques
- D.
A problem with the system being observed
- 13.Which of the following is NOT a category of knowledge gained by studying disasters according to our class notes?
- A.
How we build things
- B.
The quality of our technical education system
- C.
Our understanding of science
- D.
Insight into ourselves
- 14.A suspicious coin comes up head 70 times in 100 flips. What is a good estimate for the probability of heads occuring
- A.
30%
- B.
50%
- C.
70%
- D.
Can't decide on the basis of the data provided
- 15.A scientist is most apt to engage in which of the following activities
- A.
Advancing our understanding of natural phenomena
- B.
Only accepting what can be proven true
- C.
Application of knowledge to solve problems
- D.
Arguing the absolute truth of strongly held beliefs
- 16.Random error is usually addressed by
- A.
Using better equipment
- B.
Rounding the least significant measured digits
- C.
Taking fewer measurements
- D.
Taking more measurements
- 17.In testing a hypothesis, if discrepancies between the tests and hypothesis occur one may have too...
- A.
Modify the hypothesis to account for the new behavior discovered in testing
- B.
Abandon the hypothesis for being wrong
- C.
Use a different set of test for the hypothesis
- D.
Ignore the data not fitting the hypothesis
- 18.For normally distributed values, approximately how many fall within 1 standard deviation of the mean
- A.
68%
- B.
80%
- C.
95%
- D.
99%
- 19.All but ONE of the following represent some of the tools used in testing a hypothesis. Which one isn't?
- A.
Perform a simulation of the problem
- B.
Report the problem in scholarly journals in the hope that someone else has solved it
- C.
Use of models or prototypes
- D.
Use of well-accept scientific laws
- 20.If there is a 5% chance of some event occurring, then the probability of occurrence is...
- A.
5
- B.
.5
- C.
.05
- D.
.005
- 21.The apollo 13 accident started with
- A.
Capsule tiles loosened during liftoff
- B.
Human error during a guidance maneuver
- C.
Loss of battery power in the lunar module
- D.
The explosion of 1 of 2 oxygen tanks
- 22.The order (First to last) of the US space programs
- A.
Mercury, gemini, Apollo
- B.
Mercury, Apollo, Gemini
- C.
Gemini, Mercury, Apollo
- D.
Gemini, Apollo, Mercury
- 23.The shuttle has prove to have?
- A.
A effort of limited engineering success
- B.
Provided great insight into interplanetary flight
- C.
Be costly to than earlier launch vehicles
- D.
A string of disasters similar to those of Apollo
- 24.Prior to the use of shuttles, American astronauts were recovered using which technique
- A.
Flying a capsule to Edwards AFB
- B.
Parachuting a capsule to an ocean landing
- C.
Parachuting a capsule onto land
- D.
Parachuting a capsule onto an aircraft carrier
- 25.NASA has been criticized in both the Apollo and shuttle disasters for
- A.
Lacking talented engineers and scientists
- B.
Fixing problems after they arise rather than avoiding them in the first place
- C.
Over reliance on outside review panels
- D.
"Sweeping problems under the rug"- that is, ignoring them until it is too late
- 26.The movie Apollo 13....
- A.
Erroneously shows the crew circling the moon
- B.
Is fairly accurate in depicting actual events
- C.
Fails to show the ground crew incompetence
- D.
Hints of sabotage by Earth day advocates
- 27.Which of the following was the worst (ie greatest loss of life) US space program related accident
- A.
The Challenger shuttle disaster
- B.
The Apollo 9 disaster
- C.
The Columbia shuttle disaster
- D.
The Apollo 1 fire
- 28.The major factor contributing to the Apollo 1 disaster was?
- A.
The bulkiness of the space suits then in use
- B.
The lack of available fire fighters
- C.
The use of pure 02 capsule environment
- D.
Overconfidence on the part of astronauts
- 29.America achieved which of the following space firsts (i.e. ahead of the Soviets)
- A.
Launched first satellite
- B.
Launched first manned satellite
- C.
First to land man on the moon and return
- D.
First to land man on mars and return
- 30.The first USA EV (space walk) occurred during which of the following programs?
- A.
Apollo
- B.
Shuttle
- C.
Mercury
- D.
Gemini
- 31.If the burnout velocity of an earth bound object exceeds its escape velocity then the object will...
- A.
Behave like a ballistic missile
- B.
Escape the pull of earth's gravity
- C.
Continue to accelerate forever
- D.
Ignite (burn out) on reentry
- 32.Lunar colonies would be preferable to the ISS because...
- A.
The offer ample room to develop agriculture
- B.
Launches are easier due to reduced gravity
- C.
They provide a long term stable platform
- D.
All of the above
- 33.LEO, in the context of unit 10 notes, refers to...
- A.
An astrological sign
- B.
Leaked energy output
- C.
Lost extraterrestrial object
- D.
Low earth orbit
- 34.The space shuttle has proven to be....
- A.
Dangerous
- B.
Difficult to operate
- C.
Too limited in its capacity and range
- D.
All of the above
- 35.According to the class notes, the major problem facing the ISS has been...
- A.
Russia's failure to deliver quality equipment
- B.
Changing policies and requirements
- C.
Its excessively high orbit
- D.
All of the above
- 36.The Challenger disaster has been attributed to...
- A.
Problems with the ceramic heat tiles
- B.
The pure oxygen cabin environment
- C.
Lack of O-ring flexibility in cold weather
- D.
Poorly designed external fuel tanks
- 37.Which of the following is NOT cited as a problem with the International Space Station (ISS)
- A.
It is overly complex and attempted to much
- B.
It has been understaffed
- C.
Its altitude is too high
- D.
Too little return on its investment cost
- 38.The advantage of liquid fuel rocket over a solid state rocket is...
- A.
The weight of the fuel it uses
- B.
It's easier to stop and restart liquid fuel rockets
- C.
The cost of the fuel
- D.
The shelf life (max storage of time) of liquid fuel
- 39.Problems faced by unmanned space programs include...
- A.
Too expensive to develop and support
- B.
Their inability to gather useful information
- C.
Resistance to the idea by the military and others
- D.
Lack of ground based support facilities
- 40.Which of the following is NOT considered a current problem with the US space program
- A.
Poorly trained scientists and engineers
- B.
Lack of shuttle flights after 2010
- C.
Changing policies and priorities
- D.
Lack of ground based support facilities
- 41.Which of the following is NOT listed in the class notes as a factor in the Three Mile island disaster?
- A.
Service and control lines were cross connected
- B.
Control valves left off during maintenance
- C.
Tired and overworked staff
- D.
Reactor water level can't be measured directly
- 42.To gain access to chemical forces you need...
- A.
A chemical reaction
- B.
Nuclear fission or fusion
- C.
To apply mechanical energy, e.g. movement
- D.
To compress or heat a substance
- 43.Which of the following was a problem associated with the Chernobyl disaster?
- A.
The use of PWR reactors
- B.
The use of more difficult fusion disasters
- C.
A failure to SCRAM the reactor
- D.
Lack of containment building
- 44.Water passing through the reactor is kept from boiling and heats a second loop of water that creates the steam for running the turbine
- A.
PWR
- B.
BWR
- C.
HWR
- D.
FBR
- 45.A __________________ can run on the spent fuels of other reactors.
- A.
PWR
- B.
BWR
- C.
HWR
- D.
FBR
- 46.Water passing through the reactor is allowed to boil to create the steam fro running the turbine?
- A.
PWR
- B.
BWR
- C.
HWR
- D.
FBR
- 47.According to class notes, work is defined to be
- A.
The application of energy
- B.
Potential or stored energy
- C.
Kinetic or moving energy
- D.
Transfer of energy from 1 system to another
- 48.Control rods are used in nuclear reactors
- A.
As a source of nuclear fuel
- B.
To stop or slow the reactor's chain-reaction
- C.
To control other elements such as water level
- D.
As a substitute for human controllers due to the dangers involved
- 49.Which of the following is NOT a primary force
- A.
Electromagnetic force
- B.
Static force
- C.
Strong and weak nuclear bonding fore
- D.
Gravitational force
- 50.Which of the following was NOT a consequence in the aftermath of Three Mile Island?
- A.
Reactor 1 is shut down for 6 years
- B.
Most new reactor orders are cancelled
- C.
Failings of containment structures made apparent
- D.
Public's decline in the faith of nuclear power
- 51.Power is measured in
- A.
Volts
- B.
Amps
- C.
Ohms
- D.
Watts
- 52.The lecture slides used the letter ___ to indicate "Current"
- A.
C
- B.
I
- C.
N
- D.
O
- 53.Which of the following was mentioned in class, but not in the notes, as an enemy of the Power Grid?
- A.
War
- B.
Economics
- C.
Terrorists
- D.
Nature
- 54.A possible short term solution to the country's increasing power need is...
- A.
Use of HVDC on the current AC lines
- B.
The development of a "hydrogen grid"
- C.
The use of fusion nuclear power
- D.
Use of biodegradable duel in power plants
- 55.The commercial power coming into the typical American home has a voltage in the range of....
- A.
50-110
- B.
110-220 volts
- C.
200-600 volts
- D.
600-1200 volts
- 56.Which of the following is NOT a problem listed in the class notes with AC power transmission?
- A.
Conversion to DC power
- B.
Danger to humans
- C.
Limited space for new power lines
- D.
Maintaining the load balance and phase on generators
- 57.Transformers are used to...
- A.
Convert AC to DC power
- B.
Convert DC to AC power
- C.
Convert AC voltage levels
- D.
Convert 3 phase power into single phase power
- 58.Which of the following was NOT a factor leading up to the California Energy crisis (2000-2001) ?
- A.
Deploying 100s of solar wind generators
- B.
A cap on retail, but not wholesale, power cost
- C.
The high cost of natural gas
- D.
A drought affecting hydroelectric power plans
- 59.The primary obstacle to implementing a hydrogen grid is?
- A.
Lack of technological capability
- B.
High cost
- C.
Large size of individual home units
- D.
Resistance by environmentalists
- 60.An advantage of HVDC power transmission is?
- A.
Ability to carry more power over a given line
- B.
The ease of tapping into the line
- C.
Power loss is independent of distance traveled
- D.
Low cost of DC to AC power conversion
- 61.Relative to airplanes, lighter than air vehicles tend to be...
- A.
Slow, short ranged, and efficient to fly
- B.
Fast, long range, and safe
- C.
Slow, long range, and dangerous
- D.
Long range, efficient, and safe
- 62.Which of the following was NOT problem with the De Havilland Comet 1 passenger jet?
- A.
Fuselage skin was too thin
- B.
Frequent engine failure
- C.
Use of square windows
- D.
Loss of wing lift when pulled up to fast
- 63.The major challenge with heavier than airplanes is their inherent....
- A.
Inefficiency due to all the lift required
- B.
Dangers of flying so high
- C.
Requirement for long runways
- D.
Noise pollution over populated areas
- 64.The problem with prop driven planes occurs when...
- A.
Foreign debris is sucked into the engines
- B.
Above 10,000 feet they are very inefficient
- C.
Their gyroscopic effect impacts flight control
- D.
The speed of the prop tip approaches Mach 1
- 65.An airfoil with the proper angle of attack achieves lift when the speed of teh air flowing over it is ________ the speed of the air flowing under it.
- A.
Equal to
- B.
Greater than
- C.
Less than
- D.
Greater than or equal too
- 66.The first modern (and probably most successful) commercial passenger aircraft was?
- A.
The Douglas DC-3
- B.
The Ford Trimotor
- C.
The Boeing 747
- D.
The Boeing model 377 Stratocruiser
- 67.Lift is primarily required to counteract the effect of which of the following forces?
- A.
Electromagnetic
- B.
Thrust
- C.
Drag
- D.
Gravity
- 68.After their initial use in military applications, airplanes found their next area of wide applications in?
- A.
Passenger service
- B.
Mail service
- C.
Hauling freight
- D.
Crop dusting
- 69.Why do modern commercial aircraft usually fly above 30,000 feet altitude?
- A.
To avoid the congestion of lower altitudes
- B.
Engines run better in the cooler atmospher
- C.
Less air drag to overcome than lower levels
- D.
Lift is greater at altitudes above 30,000 feet
- 70.Why are cabins pressurized in modern passenger airlines flying above 30,000 ft?
- A.
The air pressure is too low at that altitude for humans to effectively breathe
- B.
It reduces the risk from fuselage to metal fatigue
- C.
It reduces the risk of fire and other hazards
- D.
Like a deep sea submarine, the fuselage must pressurized or it would implode
- 71.Ionizing radiation is produced by?
- A.
Knocking a neutron out of its normal orbit
- B.
Knocking an electron out of its normal orbit
- C.
Knocking a proton out of its normal orbit
- D.
All of the above
- 72.The Linac (linear accelerator) generates which kinds of beams in the Therac-25?
- A.
Alpha-rays and beta-rays
- B.
Alpha-rays and gamma-rays
- C.
Beta-rays and gamma-rays
- D.
Beta-rays and x-rays
- 73.Radiation of cancer patient "cures" cancer cells by what means?
- A.
Creating free ions which damage their DNA
- B.
By generating sufficient heat to kill them
- C.
By starving them from blood and its oxygen
- D.
By alerting the body's immune system
- 74.X-rays are an example of what type of radiation?
- A.
Electromagnetic
- B.
Energetic charged particle
- C.
Energetic non-charged particle
- D.
None of the above
- 75.Alpha-rays are an example of what type of radiation?
- A.
Electromagnetic
- B.
Energetic charged particles
- C.
Energetic non-charged particles
- D.
Non of the above
- 76.Beta-rays are an example of what type of radiation?
- A.
Electromagnetic
- B.
Energetic charged particles
- C.
Energetic non-charged particles
- D.
None of the above
- 77.Gamma-rays are an example of what type of radiation?
- A.
Electromagnetic
- B.
Energetic charged particle
- C.
Energetic non-charged particle
- D.
None of the above
- 78.Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is an example of?
- A.
Treatment using ionization radiation
- B.
Treatment not using ionization radiation
- C.
Diagnosis not using ionization radiation
- D.
Diagnosis using ionization radiation
- 79.One of the problems with the Therac-25 was:
- A.
The use of inadequate computer equipment
- B.
Using under tested computer based systems
- C.
The use of untrained personnel
- D.
Relying on manual alignment of the beams
- 80.Which of the following were responsible for the deaths caused by the Therac-25?
- A.
The hospitals
- B.
AECL
- C.
The technicians
- D.
All of the above
- 81.Which of the following statements is true concerning Spam?
- A.
It's unsupported by manufactures of advertised items
- B.
It stands for Simple Product Advertising Mail
- C.
It accounts for around 50% of all email
- D.
It is much cheaper than traditional junk mail
- 82.According to our slides author, the internet can be viewed in terms of which of the following 3 items?
- A.
Protocols, domains, and commercial activities
- B.
Hardware, software, and standards
- C.
ISPs, the backbone, and access speed
- D.
Browser type, URLs, and access point
- 83.Phishing refers to?
- A.
Intercepting of in transit data packets
- B.
Breaking into on-line databases
- C.
One person acting like another to get info
- D.
Software acting like another program to get info
- 84.Which of the following is NOT cited by our author as a problem with information obtained from the web?
- A.
Dead links
- B.
Lack of quality control
- C.
The shear volume of information
- D.
A lack of organization
- 85.According to our slides author, search engines traditionally base their ranking of a given page using which of the following?
- A.
Number of other sites the page links to
- B.
Number of other sites that link to the page
- C.
Number of times key words occur on the page
- D.
Number of hits by user on the page
- 86.Most private information is obtained using which of the following techniques
- A.
Phishing
- B.
Spoofing
- C.
Cracking into on-line databases
- D.
Sniffing
- 87.Which of the following is LEAST likely to be an indicator of the quality of information on a website?
- A.
The number and quality of its graphics
- B.
Use of peer reviews of the site's information
- C.
The domain type
- D.
Interests of the information author
- 88.A trojan horse is which of the following?
- A.
Harmful software disguised as legitimate
- B.
Software which is bypasses authentication
- C.
Self reproducing program in a file or program
- D.
Software that collect and sends information
- 89.HTTP is a standard for
- A.
Specifying internet addresses
- B.
Creating documents to render with a browser
- C.
Transferring web pages
- D.
None of the above
- 90.The TCP protocol is an example of a
- A.
Datalink level protocol
- B.
Transport level (layer) protocol
- C.
Network level protocol
- D.
Application level protocol
- 91.Historically, Bell Telephone equipment has been noted for what?
- A.
Low quality and little innovation
- B.
High quality and little innovation
- C.
Low quality and many innovations
- D.
High quality and many innovations
- 92.Out-of-band switching refers to what?
- A.
Use of special lines for control signals
- B.
Special frequency bands for control signals
- C.
Sending control signals over phone lines
- D.
All of the above
- 93.Connecting computers together over a network is called?
- A.
Tightly coupled computing
- B.
Loosely coupled computing
- C.
Parallel computing
- D.
Distributed computing
- 94.Fault tolerant computing involves what?
- A.
Reducing the cost of distributed computing
- B.
Increase the reliability using duplicate computers
- C.
Reduce the number of computers to do a job
- D.
Computers that are tolerant of input data error
- 95.The AT&T failure of January 15, 1990, was a result of what?
- A.
Failure to include reliability safeguards
- B.
Poor judgement by maintenance personnel
- C.
Failure to perform test on new software
- D.
Error in software used to protect the system
- 96.An "off hook" condition is primarily used to signal the phone company switch which of the following?
- A.
To expect a phone number to be dialed
- B.
The conclusion of a phone call
- C.
A busy signal
- D.
An error in the phone system
- 97.A land-line home phone connects to an "end office" via which type of line?
- A.
An ISDN line
- B.
A connecting trunk line
- C.
A coax cable
- D.
A local loop
- 98.During the period from the 1920's to the mid-1960's, the US phone sytem was characterized by...
- A.
Human intensive operation
- B.
Mechanical intensive operation
- C.
Electronic intensive operations
- D.
All of the above
- 99.A large number of computers loosely connected via the internet is an example of?
- A.
A cluster
- B.
Beowolf
- C.
Home network
- D.
Grid
- 100.Of the following pairs, which are both considered parts of a typical telephone?
- A.
A branch exchange and a way to dial
- B.
A microphone and a local loop
- C.
A ringer and an amplifier
- D.
An amplifier and trunk line
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