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You have a stool with four legs identical in size. Two legs are made from aluminum, while the other legs are made from steel. If a load is placed on the stool's seat, will the legs take equal load or not?
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10
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11402
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February 18, 2026
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If two vehicles are identical, except for one weighing twice as much as the other vehicle, and they roll down a hill, which car reaches the bottom first?
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9
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21166
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June 24, 2024
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Mechanical Engineering Technical Interview Questions
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1
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49275
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February 3, 2024
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What are six ways to reduce cantilever beam deflection?
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3
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39301
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February 5, 2023
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GD&T: Home Button Placement Problem (Apple)
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3
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10038
|
October 16, 2024
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On which side of a wall-mounted cantilever beam induced with a point load will it fail?
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5
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21784
|
February 27, 2024
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Rank the strength of the following materials from strongest to weakest: carbon fiber, plastic, steel, aluminum
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4
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17282
|
June 25, 2023
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Given a wall-mounted cantilever beam and a point load at the free end, describe the shear force diagram and bending moment diagram
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3
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19272
|
December 9, 2024
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You have 5kg of Aluminum and 5kg of Steel. You can make whatever cross section beam you want with these materials. If you have to make a cantilever beam 1m long with a load at the end and you want to minimize the deflection. What material would you use?
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8
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9460
|
February 2, 2024
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A flagpole is mounted to the ground and an eagle is sitting on top with wind causing the pole to sway back and forth. Describe ways to reduce the amount of motion in the flagpole
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1
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11145
|
July 29, 2020
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Describe/draw the stress-strain curve of aluminum vs. steel on the same graph
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4
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59155
|
February 5, 2023
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If you have an 'I' cross section cantilever beam and you want to make it stiffer, do you increase the height or width?
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3
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16303
|
June 14, 2023
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Label and describe the key points on a stress-strain curve
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1
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12723
|
July 27, 2020
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Apple Interviewing Process (Mechanical + Product Design Engineers)
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1
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11002
|
December 8, 2023
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What are critical dimensions necessary in the tolerance stack-up/loop to minimize the part gap?
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2
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2648
|
August 9, 2025
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You are in a rowing boat on a lake. A large heavy rock is also in the boat. You heave the rock overboard. It sinks to the bottom of the lake. What happens to the water level in the lake? Does it rise, fall or stay the same?
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1
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10034
|
July 27, 2020
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You have a cantilever beam, to minimize deflection, you add a support elbow. Would you add this to the top or bottom? Why?
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1
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9790
|
April 24, 2022
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What graph would you look at to see whether a material would fail from long-term exposure to vibrations?
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1
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5194
|
September 11, 2020
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You want to minimize beam deflection. If you had to choose between changing the width or the height of the cross-section of a beam, which would one you choose and why?
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1
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5063
|
August 4, 2020
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If I have a solid rod and hollow rod with the same mass and I let them roll down a ramp, which one reaches the bottom first and why?
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8
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22765
|
January 16, 2026
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Describe/draw the stress-strain curve between aluminum, steel, hardened steel, & plastics on the same graph
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2
|
11485
|
February 24, 2023
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A steel tube and a brass rod are concentrically located. their ends are fixed on both sides using rigid plates. One of these plates is fixed to the wall, the other is free. Heat is applied to the system, explain the stresses that develop in the system
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2
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5640
|
March 10, 2022
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How far out do you expect a tape measurer to extend before it begins to fall? What type of failure mode does this encompass?
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2
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4136
|
June 21, 2022
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How do you calculate the correct sample size for reliability testing?
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3
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19522
|
April 15, 2021
|
|
What are the three laws of thermodynamics?
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1
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26436
|
August 2, 2020
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You have two pucks that are slid across a frictionless horizontal surface at the same initial speed, one puck passes over a large dip in the surface. Which one reaches the end of the track first?
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6
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4432
|
April 10, 2022
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What are the different ways you can identify if a part is steel or aluminum?
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1
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7608
|
August 5, 2020
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You have a stool with four legs, two are Aluminum, two are steel. All legs are identical in geometry (area/length). If you continiously heat up this stool, how will the load share change over as time goes on?
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4
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4700
|
April 11, 2025
|
|
Why does condensation form on the outside of cold glass on a hot day?
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1
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11439
|
August 5, 2020
|
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A floating helium balloon is in the backseat of a car. If the car accelerates forward, which direction does the balloon float and why?
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1
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5642
|
August 4, 2020
|
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Describe the stress-strain curve between brittle and flexible materials?
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1
|
14656
|
August 3, 2021
|
|
What are common DFM guidelines for Sheet Metal Design, and how would you stiffen a part made from sheet metal?
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1
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4528
|
January 5, 2024
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You have two identical bolts and nuts torqued to the same spec clamping two faces together. One bolt is lubricated while the other is not. What is the clamp load of each bolt?
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2
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3661
|
February 14, 2024
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|
When is a screw better than a nail and the reverse question?
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1
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3926
|
November 13, 2020
|
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A refrigerator is in a room and you open the door. Will the room get colder or hotter?
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2
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10109
|
February 15, 2022
|
|
What is the difference between stiffness and strength?
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2
|
9910
|
July 11, 2025
|
|
Top Electrical Engineering Interview Questions
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3
|
4760
|
July 12, 2023
|
|
A car on a hill of constant slope accelerates from rest under gravity to a point on the hill. If you want to maximize the velocity of the car at this point, where along the length of the car (e.g. downhill or uphill) would you fix an additional mass?
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2
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9234
|
July 24, 2023
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What are the factors that influence the spring constant?
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1
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11165
|
August 3, 2021
|
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You put a glass of water on a record turntable and begin slowly increasing the speed. What happens first? Does the glass slide off or tip over, or does the water splash out?
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1
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10873
|
August 6, 2020
|
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At what region of a stress-strain curve does strain hardening occur? What does strain hardening do?
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1
|
10732
|
July 28, 2020
|
|
What are the three different modes of heat transfer?
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1
|
10007
|
July 29, 2020
|
|
What are the advantages & disadvantages of different types of motors?
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2
|
8004
|
March 14, 2022
|
|
Two concentric tubes, where the inner tube is made of aluminum and outer tube is steel, are assembled vertically with a mass on top. Which tube will see more deflection?
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4
|
3475
|
February 4, 2024
|
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Why does a computer/office chair have fives legs? Why does a chair have four?
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1
|
3033
|
September 15, 2023
|
|
Why does plastic become brittle in cold temperature?
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2
|
7813
|
March 10, 2022
|
|
Walk me through the different materials used on the visible exterior of your phone, why those specific materials might be used, and how they are manufactured
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2
|
4392
|
June 19, 2024
|
|
If you had designed this rear cover, what are 5 tests that you would conduct on the completed iPod Touch assembly to ensure that your rear cover design met all applicable requirements? Why?
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2
|
4285
|
February 15, 2022
|
|
Basics of Sheet Metal Design
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|
2
|
7395
|
September 6, 2020
|
|
You are designing a steel beam to minimize deflection for a given force and avoid permanent deformation. Which material property should be maximized?
|
|
3
|
3548
|
October 26, 2024
|