NCEES Practice Exam!

[Baconbit]

Okay Y'all...Took the NCEES practice exam yesterday. If I was feeling unprepared before, last night was even worse. Score - 24/50 in morning and 27/50 in afternoon. :hung-037:

So far, took today off to celebrate and go to church...Finding it very difficult to get motivated. Kind of feels like it doesn't matter anyway. This sucks.

 

[Baconbit]

Whatever...someone should just slap me. I need to get over myself and shut down the pity party. Just put my 2 year old down for a nap...time to ramp up the studying again and work some more problems. Here we go...

 

[jritter58]

I feel your pain. I feel like I know nothing and I have pretty much ignored the test this weekend. I have decided to take a week off and force one more big push. I am beginning to feel this test is %65 prep work and %35 getting the right test for you.

 

[Dleg]

The score you get on your "practice" exam isn't the point - you now know what it feels like to go through the entire 8 hour ordeal, and you are far more prepared than you were before. The real thing will contain far fewer surprises now. Study up on the weak spots you identified, and you will have an excellent chance at beating the real thing on exam day.

 

[GTjoy]

I feel your pain. I feel like I know nothing and I have pretty much ignored the test this weekend. I have decided to take a week off and force one more big push. I am beginning to feel this test is %65 prep work and %35 getting the right test for you.

I've been extremely burnt out lately too and decided not to study at all today. With the review class taking up full days on the weekends, this was my first day off in 6 weeks (either working all day or in class all day!)... I will also try to do one more big push over the next 2 weeks.

 

[GTjoy]

Okay Y'all...Took the NCEES practice exam yesterday. If I was feeling unprepared before, last night was even worse. Score - 24/50 in morning and 27/50 in afternoon. :hung-037: So far, took today off to celebrate and go to church...Finding it very difficult to get motivated. Kind of feels like it doesn't matter anyway. This sucks.

I still haven't even gone through all of the NCEES questions yet! It's good that you know some of your weak areas so you can focus on them. Also, as a small comfort - don't they curve the scores?

Anyway... No matter how much studying you do, you'll always feel like you could do more. It's very typical that you'll go through stages of motivation, feeling excited, somewhat prepared, then panicky, VERY stressed, apathy, panicky again... etc.

Currently, I am in the ZOMBIE stage. I'm feeling pretty burnt out. I want to get back to the motivated/determined mindset, but I desperately need a break so I decided not to study today. I made it to church and also did some shopping. It would have been nice to spend Easter with some relatives, but not this year because of the exam. I hope this little break will do the trick and help me get focused again. I just need to tell myself to run hard to the finish line...

 

[maryannette]

I feel your pain. I've been there. My opinion is that very few people ever feel "prepared enough". It is a difficult exam and the preparation should be tough. My experience with practice exams was that they were more difficult than an actual exam. Can't say that's the case for you, but don't get upset if you blew the practice exam. Just prepare as well as you can. I'm cheering for you.

 

[Daisy]

I took the Lindberg exam last Friday, scored a 60%...I feel your pain and even though I didn't pass, I am sooooo glad I did it as it revealed several weak areas I plan to focus on in the remainder of my studying time. Best of luck to you... we can do this!!!

 

[Baconbit]

Thanks for the responses everybody...it helps to know that I'm not alone and that my feelings are normal. We will have to push each other through these last 2 weeks. Daisy is right - we can do it! Work hard now so that (hopefully) none of us have to go through this again in October. ;-)

 

[RIP - VTEnviro]

I did what seemed like dismally (so long ago I don't remember the actual score) that I thought I had no chance to pass when I did the NCEES sample. It was a good kick in the butt to stay motivated and work hard the final 2 weeks.

Just go over what you missed and try to understand why. If its technical stuff, review that material again. If its careless math errors, try to slow down and read each problem completely and carefully.

Good luck.

 

[GTjoy]

OK I hope this isn't a stupid question- I am hoping someone can provide a little help here.

In the NCEES sample exam, question #501, the solution gives the calculation for the water evaporation heat requirement as: 0.3*(975-50)=277.5 Btu/sec

Where does the 975 value come from? I am assuming it is in degrees but don't know why they use 975. I know the heat capacity for water is 1 Btu/lbm-degF and that according to Table 29.5 in the ENVRM, the latent heat of vaporization of water is 970 Btu/lbm, but I am still confused....

 

[Dleg]

OK I hope this isn't a stupid question- I am hoping someone can provide a little help here. In the NCEES sample exam, question #501, the solution gives the calculation for the water evaporation heat requirement as: 0.3*(975-50)=277.5 Btu/sec

Where does the 975 value come from? I am assuming it is in degrees but don't know why they use 975. I know the heat capacity for water is 1 Btu/lbm-degF and that according to Table 29.5 in the ENVRM, the latent heat of vaporization of water is 970 Btu/lbm, but I am still confused....

It's been too long for me - I looked at my solution, and I used the same numbers you did - hfg is 970.4 Btu/lbm, and my calculation was 0.3 lb/s *(970.4 Btu/lbm). Utilimately, it does provide the correct answer, so I can only assume that it is an equivalent solution. I just don't know which method the NCEES solution uses.

The good news is that you did get the correct answer (or so I assume -there was still two more steps). So that means you are on the right track and the fact that you are worried about this particular issue, to me, means you're ready!

My solution:

heat to evaporate H2O = m(dot)(H2O) = 0.3 lb/s * (970.4 Btu/lbm) = 291 Btu/s

heat to raise temp. of blanket to 400degF = 4.5 lb/s*(2.0 Btu/lbdegF)(400-75degF) = 2925 Btu/s

total q = 291 + 2925 = 3216 Btu/s = 11,580,000 Btu/hr (Answer C = 11,500,000)

:dunno:

 

[GTjoy]

Looks like you kept your notes well organized! Thanks for the help. I thought I was just missing some obscure formula, and I think your method makes more sense.

Also, thanks for the encouragement. Of course I'll never feel ready but this is the first time I'm going through the NCEES sample questions! Even with the solutions sitting in front of me, these long problems take half an hour for me to understand...