TSA Tech Bowl Practice Questions

What does SST stand for?

Super Sonic Transport

If you are flying at Mach 1, you are travelling at the speed of

sound

Mach 2 is

twice the speed of sound

In a V-8 engine, the number "8" refers to

the number of cylinders

In the metric system, grams (and kilograms) are the unit of measure for

mass

In the metric system, Newtons are the unit of measure for

force (and weight)

Techne is a Greek word meaning

art (or craft)

Prior to the invention of cheap calculators, people used __________ to make quick calculations.

slide rules

Giving up one thing in order to gain something else is called a(n) _____.

Trade-off

The smallest possible piece of binary code (a one or a zero) is a

bit

How many bits in a byte?

8

In a digital system, what is the basic unit of information storage (one of these can store one letter)?

byte

Exactly how many bytes are in a kilobyte?

1024

The prefix kilo means

thousand

The prefix mega means

million

The prefix giga means

billion

The prefix tera means

trillion

The systematic search for the source of a malfunction in order to fix it is called

troubleshooting

Size measurements, such as length and width, are called

dimensions

work divided by time equals

power

What is the standard unit of power?

Watt

What type of power uses pressurized or compressed air to accomplish work?

Pneumatic Power

What type of power uses pressurized liquid to accomplish work?

Hydraulic Power

Adding components to an electrical circuit increases the amount of __________.

resistance

An electrical circuit that has more than one path is a

parallel circuit

An electrical circuit that has only one path is a

series circuit

What kind of orbit allows a satellite to always be above a particular spot on Earth?

geostationary orbit

What kind of orbit allows a satellite to orbit the Earth one time in the same amount of time it takes the Earth to rotate one time?

geosynchronous orbit

What type of computer code is all ones and zeros?

binary code

The tiny dots of colored light that collectively form images on televisions or computer monitors are called

pixels

The web address you see at the top of your browser is also known as a URL. What does URL stand for?

Uniform Resource Locator

In a web address, what does WWW stand for?

World Wide Web

Who is credited with inventing the World Wide Web?

Tim Berners-Lee

Antibiotics kill or inhibit the growth of

bacteria

Inspecting products to ensure they meet standards and/or requirements is known as

quality control

Vertical wall supports are also known as

studs

The tallest building in the world is in what city?

Dubai

What official TSA color represents "the strength and determination of the technology education students and teachers to obtain their goal?

Scarlet

What device produces power by means of a chemical reaction?

Battery

What is the process of controlling friction to reduce the wear of surfaces in rubbing contact with each other?

Lubricating

What is mixed with the gasoline fuel for two-cycle engines?

Lubricating Oil

What is the measure of potential difference in electricity?

Voltage

Originally, many people thought of the car as a:

Horseless Carriage

Which instrument measures electrical current?

Ammeter

What is a rounded part on an object that makes smooth transition from one surface to another?

Fillet

Skylab, the first US space station, still orbits the Earth today. (T/F)

False

In house construction, which of the following is the normal spacing of studs in a house frame?

16" on center

______________ is a chamber designed to allow movement between compartments containing air at different pressures.

Airlock

MIPS, a common speed measurement for computers, stands for:

Millions of Instructions per Second

Human speech can be divided into a set of discrete sounds known as:

Phonemes

What is the typical alternating current voltage from a wall receptacle in the United States and Canada?

110V

In a drawing, all the points about an object that cannot be indicated on the drawing are given as:

Specifications

In business jargon, what does CEO stand for?

Chief Executive Officer

What is a manually operating device for opening and closing an electrical circuit?

Switch

Which federal organization describes its mission as "protecting the electromagnetic spectrum?"

FCC

______________ is a process used to find new ideas and develop them into successful products.

Research and Development

The __________ of a line can be easily calculated by the difference in y-coordinates divided by the difference in x-coordinates.

Slope

Soldering, welding, and ___________ are the three ways to join metals together.

Brazing

Who was the first person to hear a human voice transmitted by the telephone?

Thomas Watson

____________ are people who buy and use products.

Consumers

What are two ways to form metals?

Casting and Forging

What are the four types of TSA membership?

Active, Alumni, Professional, Honorary/Honorary Life

What is the refrigerant frequently used in electric cooling units?

Freon

The three main sources of oil are tar sands, oil pockets, and oil _________.

Shale

Vector processing is measured in:

Megaflops

A common use of _________ is to measure cylindrical objects.

Calipers

Who is often credited as the "founder" of nanotechnology?

Richard Feynman

What is a combination of CAD and CAM systems?

CNC

The number of _________ of freedom for a robot is given by the number of directions of movement.

Degrees

A fine material carried high in the air and deposited far from its place of origin is known as:

Loess

How many officers serve on an officer team?

6

A(n) ___________ system moves people or freight from a point origin to a point of destination.

Transportation

In 1949, a Cambridge University team developed the world's first large-scale computer designed to store its own programs. What was its name?

EDVAC

A substance which speeds up the curing of a compound when added in quantity is a(n):

Accelerator

A t-square is used to draw ___________ lines.

Horizontal

Most training in industry is done:

On the job

What publication does TSA reference for Parliamentary Procedure?

Roberts Rules of Order

Which of the following drawings is used to show the location of heating, cooling, and air conditioning units with their related ductwork and piping?

HVAC Drawing

What is the weight of a force exerted on a structure by objects not part of that structure?

Dead load

Wankel engines are also known as ___________ engines.

Rotary

The three major classifications of water transportation vehicles are:

Private, commercial, and leisure

A tool that has a single steel cutting edge beveled on one or both sides and is used to trim small pieces of material from wood is a(n):

Plane

The _____________ is determined by the number of turns of wire, the current in the wire coil, the core material, and the ratio of the coil diameter to the coil length.

Strength of an electromagnet

The ASA number for camera film is the film's:

Sensitivity to light

The profit that a company makes after expenses is _________ profit.

Net

What type of map shows geographic regions by means of contour lines and symbols?

Topographic

In telephone switching equipment, a PBX is a(n):

Public Branch Exchange

550 ft-lb/sec is equal to:

1 Horsepower

What official TSA color represents "the sincerity of the technology education students and teachers in obtaining a greater knowledge of our technological world?"

Navy

A(n) ___________ is a power conditioning and supply system that affords protection against short-term power outages.

Surge Protector

In house design, a(n) ___________ is a quiet room where a person goes to study, read, write, and relax.

Den

What year was the first space shuttle launched?

1981

_______________ is the process of making a latent image on film visible.

Developing

____________ is pouring a fluid into a mold and allowing it to solidify and to take the shape of the mold.

Casting

Who is the person that recommends a possible solution in a labor dispute?

Mediator

A wide-flange steel beam is:

I type

Conduction, convection, and radiation are the three ways that ___________ can be transferred.

Heat

The manufacture and distribution of goods by society is:

Trade

A _____ is a simple, rapidly drawn design of initial ideas.

Thumbnail sketch

What is another name for a safety air cushion developed as an alternative to the seat belt for protection of passengers in a car?

Airbag