# Random PE Prep info - Mech E



## gatormech_e (Oct 12, 2006)

per a suggestion to share, i am going to post some the info i received from colleagues in preparation for the ME PE exam. Please note, i haven't taken the exam yet (Apr 07), but wanted to share with others who will take the exam in a few short weeks...

Note: I did not prepare any of the following nor do I take responsibility for the content:

http://engineeringregistration.tamu.edu/tapedreviews/

http://www.savefile.com/projects.php?pid=740236

--------comments for a successful candidate in Machine Design, PE----------

Mark's Engineering Handbook,

crane data book for flow through tubes and fitting.

Mollier diagram and Steam tables are in MERM book on

the back in the appendix section. If I remember

correctly I thinck its appendix 24. I can let you know

later if you wish.

Also, make sure you work you Air condition,

refrigiration and steam problems very carefully. Make

sure you know the basics. Because, the problems are

sometimes twisty and require basic knowledge more than

detailed knowledge.

In the fluid section make sure you are good with the

pump power problems,NPSHR &amp; A problems, and jet

propulsion.

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MERM has enough focus on welding. See basic machine

design chap. and pressure vessels chap. Those twoo

chap cover more or less everything you need to know

about welding. Welding problems are very simple to

solve in the exam.

By the way, make sure u r good with the deflection of

beams specially cantilever and wide beams.

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Book list:

Mechanical Engineering Reference Manual (MERM) for the PE Exam,NCEES PE Mechanical Engineering Sample Questions and Solutions, NCEES

Practice Problems for the Mechanical Engineering PE Exam, Michael R. Lindeburg, PE

Quick Reference for the Mechanical Engineering PE Exam, 4th Edition, Michael R. Lindeburg, PE, 2002, 113 pp., paperback

Mechanical PE Sample Examination, Michael R. Lindeburg, PE, 2004, 114 pp. Paperback

Six-Minute Solutions for Mechanical PE Exam Machine Design Problems, Harriet G. Cooke, PE, 2005, 63 pp., Paperback

101 Solved Mechanical Engineering Problems, Michael R. Lindeburg, PE, 2001, 130 pp., paperback

Engineering Unit Conversions, Michael R. Lindeburg, PE, 1999, 160 pp., hardcover

Marks' Standard Handbook for Mechanical Engineers (Hardcover)

Steam Tables: Thermodynamic Properties of Water Including Vapor, Liquid &amp; Solid Phases (Hardcover)

Machinery's Handbook, 27th Edition (Hardcover)

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more later as i receive it.


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## goldnwhite (Nov 20, 2006)

I bought that Lindeburg Unit Conversions book (bought it with the "the other board" sample test). I used it for study problems and on the "the other board" sample test, but found the tables in the front of the MERM to be sufficient for the actual exam.

Steam and gas table books are almost a necessity if your doing the thermal section. Having to interpolate all your problems would not be fun. I got the Keenan and Kaye, Gas Tables and Keenan and Keyes, Steam Tables. Make sure you find one that has English units. I had to find one on amazon marketplace from the 1940s.


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## gatormech_e (Nov 21, 2006)

> I bought that Lindeburg Unit Conversions book (bought it with the "the other board" sample test). I used it for study problems and on the "the other board" sample test, but found the tables in the front of the MERM to be sufficient for the actual exam.
> Steam and gas table books are almost a necessity if your doing the thermal section. Having to interpolate all your problems would not be fun. I got the Keenan and Kaye, Gas Tables and Keenan and Keyes, Steam Tables. Make sure you find one that has English units. I had to find one on amazon marketplace from the 1940s.


sweet.

btw, are you looking to unload the conversion book and the steam tables? i can paypal...


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## goldnwhite (Nov 21, 2006)

i wish i could say yes, but i'm sort of a pack rat when it comes to books. sorry.

i think i got the unit book for $15 and the gas and steam tables books were $20-30 each on amazon's used books site. i really like the tabulated data. it goes to much higher pressure/temperatures than the MERM appendix and is in single unit increments.


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## EdinNO (Nov 21, 2006)

Mechanical Engineering Reference Manual (MERM) for the PE Exam,NCEES PE Mechanical Engineering Sample Questions and Solutions, NCEES

Practice Problems for the Mechanical Engineering PE Exam, Michael R. Lindeburg, PE

These were my 3 books. Studied with all three, only used MERM during test. I did Machine Design.

I think I may have used another book here or there, but it escapes me at the moment- perhaps my thermo text for the odd steam table stuff. But MERM was 99% of it for me- again with Machine Design. I think MERM was weak for HVAC and not sure for thermo/fluids.

Ed


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## gatormech_e (Nov 21, 2006)

thanks for the lead on where to get the books.

and to ed, i'm going Mach Des in Apr, so thanks for the suggestions.


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## MEinNC (Dec 14, 2006)

For anyone going for HVAC I would suggest taking the ASHRAE handbooks. Lots of obscure stuff in those that you might not have had any reason to ever learn in your career.


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## JoeFromKS (Jan 11, 2007)

Any advise on selecting an afternoon depth?

I work for a consulting firm and my experience is all over the place. Basically I do a little dab of each but never any one depth topic for longer than a few months. For the October 06 exam (obviously I didn't pass), I chose the Machinne Design Depth but did not do well on it. I chose this because I understood and was able to work the the practice problems from NCEES without having to review a whole lot. Result: I did worse on the machine design portion in the morning than any other subject and got only slightly better than a 50% in the afternoon.

The biggest problem with the Machine Design Depth for me was that there were entirely different components on it than in the practice problems. My thinking now is to try either the Thermal and Fluids or HVAC depth thinking that perhaps if I know the theory and basics of either one, I should be able to answer more questions without having to blindly guess.

Does this sound reasonable?

My other concern is that I think I only missed passing by 8 - 11 question based on the percentages given by NCEES and my diagnostics. That being said, should I jsut stick with the Machine Design Depth?


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## JohnNevets (Jan 11, 2007)

Hey Joe,

I don't know how long you've been out of school, but I would maybe start with what you were most comfortable with there. For me I was always preferred the machine design areas, and had a rough time with the fluids and thermo areas, so my decision was fairly easy. Buy your mileage may very.

On the MD depth, I would agree that it emphasised different things then I thought it would as well. Statics and classic beam problems seemed a little light, but they do change it up each time. I actually think the combo of studying all those sections of the MERM twice, and doing all the MD parts of the 6min problems helped a lot with those curve balls.

For me making the choice on what I would be doing my depth in, really affected how I studied. So my advice is if you are going to change depths, make that choice soon.

You have the advantage this time of having the diagnostics from NCEES to figure out what things you need to study harder if you choose to stick with MD.

I know this may seem like a bit of wishy washy response to your question, but I guess that's because I think this is one that you need to do a bit of soul searching on for your self.

Good Luck, and if you have any more questions keep asking, that's what here is for.

John


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## MetroRAFB (Jan 12, 2007)

That's a tough one. I agree that you should probably go with whichever of the 3 areas you were most comfortable with in school. I don't work directly within either of the three depth areas so my choice was a little difficult as well. It came down to the fact that I loved thermodynamics and did well in it. I really enjoyed HVAC in school, even though I only took one class in that area. I have a good friend who passed the PE 3yrs ago, and he's been working in HVAC design since he graduated from college. He gave me a little bit of guidance, but not enough to swing my score one way or another. I basically just used him for a sounding board during my studying to help clarify concepts from time to time. If you did not do well in Thermo and/or Fluids, or you hated it, I'd stick with Machine Design.

I passed in October in my first attempt, (HVAC depth) but it wasn't easy. I felt prepared for the quantitative HVAC questions in both the morning and in the afternoon, but the non-quantitative stuff was a bit over my head. There were many more of those questions than I had prepared for so I really wasn't sure if I'd made it or not. Go with your gut. If you think you can improve your MD score enough, stick with it. At least you have the benefit of knowing what to expect on that depth module. If you switch, you might get blindsided again. I'll say this much, if you take HVAC, get familiar with the AHRAE books. I didn't have them, (just a tiny AHRAE pocket reference) and I'm certain I would have been able to find some answers directly from the full ASHRAE books.


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## JoeFromKS (Jan 25, 2007)

Thanks John and Metro.

Right now I am leaning toward the HVAC depth because I did the best on those problems in the morning on the October exam and I have recently taken the Trane Air Conditioning class. I also did better on the NCEES practice problems than on the Thermo and Fluids problems. I have a borrowed set of ASHRAE books that I am using to study with but they are older (late 80's) and the refrigeration book is missing. Should I worry about the age of the books? Also, does anyone who took the HVAC depth think it would be beneficial to get my hands on the refrigetation book or do you think I'd be ok without it?

Thanks in advance for any help...

Joe


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## MetroRAFB (Jan 25, 2007)

Get the refrigeration book. I would have killed for it during the exam. On the other hand, I passed the HVAC depth with just the tiny ASHRAE pocket reference, so it's obviously not required in order to pass. If I had it to do over again though, I would get all the ASHRAE books. Since I'm not familiar with said books, I don't know how important it is to have current versions of them.


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## Rocco (Jan 28, 2007)

JoeFromKS said:


> The biggest problem with the Machine Design Depth for me was that there were entirely different components on it than in the practice problems...


If you don't mind me asking, how did the questions differ from the practice material? What made it more difficult -- the areas that the exam focused on, or were the problems just more convoluted than the practice test?

I'm sitting for the exam in April, and plan on doing Machine Design. It'd be nice to have some perspective while I still have 12 weeks to crank out the study problems. Actually, I haven't hit the Machine Design part of my study plan yet...I've got another few weeks of heat transfer to stumble through and then I'll get to the structural stuff.

Any info would be great.

Thanks


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## Rocco (Jan 28, 2007)

JohnNevets said:


> I actually think the combo of studying all those sections of the MERM twice, and doing all the MD parts of the 6min problems helped a lot with those curve balls.


Is the _Six Minute_ book worth the money? What does it give you that doing the problems in the MERM don't? I ordered a copy last week (still waiting for it to ship) and I've sorta been regretting the impulse buy. It'd be great if it really was a good study aid.


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## JohnNevets (Jan 28, 2007)

Rocco,

I'll start by saying for me the six minute solutions did help me near the end of studying. It just gave me more practice problems to do, to keep on track. I did this after I had already gone through all of MERM I was going go through, took a whole Saturday to do the NCESS practice test, and then went back to MERM to restudy the areas I didn't do well on the practice test. When the six min solution books (I just got MD, my depth, and fluids) came I was disappointed by how thin they were, and how few problems there were. But they do cover a variety of problems, and I think put me over the top on passing the PE my first time. I think the books should cost about $20, instead of $35, but such is life. If you can find another good source for practice problems, that has good solutions as well, you might want to consider them instead.

Also remember that they do change the test each time. So things that surprised us in Oct. may not be covered in April. You can can see my previous post, about what they were light on, and I guess what I thought they were heavy on was gearing, but others may have felt different.

Good Luck, and keep studying,

John


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## Rocco (Jan 29, 2007)

JohnNevets said:


> I'll start by saying for me the six minute solutions did help me near the end of studying. [sNIP]
> Also remember that they do change the test each time. So things that surprised us in Oct. may not be covered in April. You can can see my previous post, about what they were light on, and I guess what I thought they were heavy on was gearing, but others may have felt different.



Thank you for the perspective on the exam content. I figure that by hitting beams, springs, fasteners (with those silly, eccentric bolt patterns), and gearing hard, I'll have the meat for the MD Depth. For all of that distasteful (to me) fluidy/heat transfer breadth stuff, I'm concentrating on sizing heat exchangers, steam cycle systems, and Darcy equation stuff. For the rest, I'm just doing whatever problems I can and hoping it sticks in there a bit. There certainly is enough work to do with getting ready for this test...

I'm glad to hear that the six-minute book was of some use. The one I just bought from "the other board" was $45 (over $56 with shipping and handling -- can you believe they charged me $3.50 for handling). That was cheaper than the Amazon price, though. This exam prep is such a racket -- it must be like printing money for these guys.

rk


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## JoeFromKS (Jan 29, 2007)

I think the practice problems from the NCEES are very representative of what was on the actual exam. I even thought that some of the exam problems were identical to the practice problems but you had to solve them for something different. Also, it is my opinion that most of the problems in the MERM and in the MERM Practice Exam are harder than the actual exam problems. Others can post their opinions if they disagree.

What I meant in my previous post was that there were components on the exam that were not covered by the practice exam or covered in depth enough in the MERM. For example, le'ts say there were three or four spring problems on the exam but springs were not on the practice exam at all and there was only a six page chapter in the MERM covering springs. I'm not sure I can elaborate any further without compromising the "non-disclosure" oath you have to take before they allow you to open the exam.

The exam is different every time so your experience may not be the same as mine.


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## Fordman101 (Aug 2, 2007)

From personal experience, the second exam was very different from the first.

The percentages that the NCEES states for the exam subjects are just guidelines which are extremely flexible.

They may state approximately 11% for MD in the Thermal &amp; Fluids Depth but in reality it could be 22% or more because of blending MD theory in a Thermal &amp; Fluids problem.

Keep this in mind while preparing;

"All is FAIR in LOVE, WAR and the PE exam"


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