PLTW Midterm Study Guide

What is a design brief?

A document where you can talk about the specifics of your project

What is the purpose of a design brief?

To document the plan you have for the creation of your project

What is the engineering design process?

A step‑by‑step method engineers use to identify problems and create effective solutions

What types of constraints are on Fusion 360?

Coincident, collinear, concentric, parallel, perpendicular, etc.

What are the units of measurement?

Meter, centimeter, millimeter, kilometer, inch, foot, yard

What is the dial caliper?

A tool that measures how big something is by sliding its jaws around it and showing the measurement on a small dial

What is precision?

How close repeated measurements are to each other

What is accuracy?

How close a measurement is to the true value

What is median?

The middle value in a set of numbers when they are arranged from smallest to largest

What is mean?

The average of a set of numbers

What is mode?

The value that appears most often in a set of numbers

What is range?

The difference between the largest number and the smallest number in a set of values

What are the differences between isometric and orthographic sketches?

Isometric drawings show a 3D view of an object, while orthographic drawings show separate 2D views like the front, top, and side

What are the steps of the engineering process?

Define the problem, generate concepts, develop a solution, construct and test a prototype, evaluate and refine, and present the solution

What is CAD?

The use of computer software to create, modify, and visualize precise drawings or 3D models for engineering and design

What are the benefits of CAD?

It increases accuracy, speeds up design work, improves visualization, simplifies editing, enhances communication, automates documentation, allows design reuse, and enables simulation before building

What is diameter?

The length of a straight line that passes through the center of a circle and connects two points on its edge

What is radius?

The distance from the center of a circle to any point on its edge

What is length?

The measurement of how long something is

What is width?

The measurement of how wide something is

What is depth?

The measurement of how far something goes from the front to the back or from the top down into an object

What are the types of lines in Fusion 360?

Normal (Solid) line, construction line, centerline, tangent line, perpendicular / parallel lines, horizontal / vertical lines, spline line, polyline

What is the purpose of shading?

To make drawings look more realistic by showing light, shadow, and depth

What is point of dimensioning objects in Fusion 360?

It gives your sketch exact measurements so the software knows the true size of each feature and the design behaves predictably when edited

What does PLTW stand for?

Project Lead the Way