# T&F exam, US unit or SI unit?



## dpolet (Jan 12, 2013)

When preparing, should I focus US unit only? or I need prepare both? Thanks.


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## Anutka2 (Jan 12, 2013)

Many people will say you need to prep both, because that is what NCEES states. This is just my personal experience - I did all my practice in US only and maybe several examples within the chapters I worked in both units. When you take the NCEES practice test, you'll get an idea of where the SI units come in. I took and passed the MD depth, however.

Regardless of what you do, I highly recommend this book :http://www.amazon.com/Engineering-Unit-Conversions-Michael-Lindeburg/dp/159126099X

It was very, very useful and I referenced it often both on the test and in studying.


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## dpolet (Jan 12, 2013)

Thanks. From the NCEES sample exam, it looks like most of problems are US units.


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## ongreystreet (Jan 14, 2013)

My exam had more SI units than I was expecting and it really tripped me up, but than again I still passed. I think you're better off just knowing the stuff really well in US units, then if you have time, study the SI.


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## GA PE (Jan 16, 2013)

ongreystreet said:


> My exam had more SI units than I was expecting and it really tripped me up, but than again I still passed. I think you're better off just knowing the stuff really well in US units, then if you have time, study the SI.


Mine was 50/50 US and SI. Study both.


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## NerdHerd (Jan 31, 2013)

Anutka2 said:


> Many people will say you need to prep both, because that is what NCEES states. This is just my personal experience - I did all my practice in US only and maybe several examples within the chapters I worked in both units. When you take the NCEES practice test, you'll get an idea of where the SI units come in. I took and passed the MD depth, however.
> 
> Regardless of what you do, I highly recommend this book :http://www.amazon.com/Engineering-Unit-Conversions-Michael-Lindeburg/dp/159126099X
> 
> It was very, very useful and I referenced it often both on the test and in studying.


I agree, many people will say to study both units. I did not see a point in solving the same problem twice with different units; so long as you know how to convert properly (and use 'g" when necessary), the math will come out exactly the same.

Honestly, it was a little tedious converting from SI to US then back to SI for the final answer, but part of the PE exam is testing your ability to convert all sorts of units. I recommend to become a master at converting all types of units; for example you may get one problem with different thermal properties in degrees F,C,K &amp; R. What are you going to have to do?

This is just my opinion, and this was my approach; I passed the T&amp;F depth.

I hope this help.

NerdHerd


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## Jonhnny123 (Feb 14, 2013)

If I remember correctly, the problems with SI units were typically the simpler problems. If you have Engineering Unit Conversion, it's an easy task to convert. The larger problems that required more work were US.


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