# MERM chapter 30 Nuclear Power Cycles



## Bluedog (Jan 30, 2011)

I was going thru this chapter and found no formulas or anything in MERM. The practice problems in MERM companion, however, use a lot of formulas. I am confused as to how to prepare for this chapter without knowing the theory behind it. I am taking MD for depth.


----------



## MadDawg (Jan 30, 2011)

Bluedog said:


> I was going thru this chapter and found no formulas or anything in MERM. The practice problems in MERM companion, however, use a lot of formulas. I am confused as to how to prepare for this chapter without knowing the theory behind it. I am taking MD for depth.



Look on the NCEES website for the breakdown of the topics on the test and concentrate on those subjects. The MERM has a lot of extra topics in there that might be useful references in the future, but not necessarily test topics. The MERM intro also has a section that talks about sections to focus on and sections you can probably skip.


----------



## navyasw02 (Jan 30, 2011)

Skip it.


----------



## RobertR (Jan 30, 2011)

Definitely skip it. You won't need to worry about it.


----------



## Bluedog (Jan 30, 2011)

RobertR said:


> Definitely skip it. You won't need to worry about it.



Thanks guys. I appreciate your repsonses. I went through the contents in MERM and compared with the topics included by NCEES . Topics like Fire Protection Systems, Environmental Engineering and most of Control Systems are what I am planning on skipping. Are there any other topics that can be skipped? Also since I will be taking MD for depth, Do I still need to go thru the Machine design topics in MERM (Statics, Materials, Machine Design and Dynamics Vibration). Dont you think Shigley's will prepare me enough to tackle the breadth questions. Please comment.


----------



## RobertR (Jan 30, 2011)

Bluedog said:


> RobertR said:
> 
> 
> > Definitely skip it. You won't need to worry about it.
> ...


Skipping Fire Protection is a bit of a gamble, since I was told that some questions related to it do appear on the exam. I would rather study for the exam using MERM than use Shigley. A textbook isn't prepared with the idea of passing the PE.


----------



## navyasw02 (Jan 30, 2011)

RobertR said:


> Bluedog said:
> 
> 
> > RobertR said:
> ...


I'd skip it, only because the amount of time spent studying is not worth the one question you're highly unlikely to see on a test. Your likelihood of guessing right is 25% anyway.


----------



## MadDawg (Jan 30, 2011)

navyasw02 said:


> RobertR said:
> 
> 
> > Bluedog said:
> ...



That's what I was getting at, but I didn't want to say "skip it" and then someone come on here after the test and say they failed by one question and skipped it just because we said skip it :wacko:

The MERM intro does a good job of explaining what you can skip and be reasonably certain you're not making a huge mistake...


----------



## Relvinim (Jan 31, 2011)

I didn't waste my time on that. THere are so many other areas that you can count on will be on the test. Those are the areas you should focus on. If a question from that chapter was on the test I can almost guarantee you it will basic enough that you can research it in the MERM and solve for it within 6 minutes.


----------



## JHood (Feb 16, 2011)

Have taken the PE twice;

Nuclear section is irrelevant (you could read it rather quickly anyway)

Review FP basics. Pretty much the Wikipedia page would suffice


----------



## DynaMechEng (Feb 16, 2011)

Bluedog said:


> RobertR said:
> 
> 
> > Definitely skip it. You won't need to worry about it.
> ...


Since MD is essentially Statics/Materials/Machine Design/Dynamics/Vibrations, I would not suggest skipping those sections in MERM. I don't believe Shigley's alone is adequate preparation. Shigley's is great for fasteners/bearings/gear trains/weld analysis, but not the basics. In fact, when I took/passed the October 2010 exam (MD Depth), the MERM was my main reference source. I used Shigley's for a few problems, but MERM pretty well covered most questions.


----------

