Engineering Mathematics Questions (MCQs)

1. Solving an engineering problem requires four steps. In order of sequence, the four steps are
(A) formulate, solve, interpret, implement
(B) solve, formulate, interpret, implement
(C) formulate, solve, implement, interpret
(D) formulate, implement, solve, interpret
2. One of the roots of the equation x 3 3x 2 x 3 0 is

(A) -1
(B) 1
(C) 3
(D) 3
3. True error is defined as

(A) Present Approximation Previous Approximation

(B) True Value Approximate Value
(C) abs (True Value Approximate Value)
(D) abs (Present Approximation Previous Approximation)
4. The expression for true error in calculating the derivative of sin2 x at x / 4 by using the
approximate expression
f x h f x
f x
h
is

h cos2h 1
(A)
h
h cosh 1
(B)
h
1 cos2h
(C)
h
sin2h
(D)
h
5. The number of significant digits in the number 219900 is

(A) 4
(B) 5
(C) 6
(D) 4 or 5 or 6
6. The relative approximate error at the end of an iteration to find the root of an equation is
0.004% The least number of significant digits we can trust in the solution is
(A) 2
(B) 3
(C) 4
(D) 5
7. The number 0.01850 103 has ________ significant digits
(A) 3
(B) 4
(C) 5
(D) 6
8. Truncation error is caused by approximating
(A) irrational numbers
(B) fractions
(C) rational numbers
(D) exact mathematical procedures
9. A computer that represents only 4 significant digits with chopping would calculate
66.666*33.333 as
(A) 2220
(B) 2221
(C) 2221.17778
(D) 2222
10. A computer that represents only 4 significant digits with rounding would calculate 66.666*33.333
as
(A) 2220
(B) 2221
(C) 2221.17778
(D) 2222
11. The truncation error in calculating f 2 for f x x 2 by
f x h f x
f x
h
with h 0.2 is

(A) -0.2
(B) 0.2
(C) 4.0
(D) 4.2

12. The definition of the first derivative of a function f (x ) is

f ( x x) f ( x)
(A) f ' ( x)
x
f ( x x ) f ( x )
(B) f ' ( x)
x
f ( x x) f ( x)
(C) f ' ( x) lim
x 0 x
f ( x x) f ( x)
(D) f ' ( x) lim
x 0 x
dy
13. Given y 5e 3 x sin x, is
dx

(A) 5e 3 x cos x
 (B) 15e cos x
3x

(C) 15e cos x

3x

(D) 2.666e cos x

3x

dy
14. Given y sin 2 x, at x 3 is most nearly
dx
(A) 0.9600
(B) 0.9945
(C) 1.920
(D) 1.989
dy
15. Given y x 3 ln x, is
dx
2
(A) 3 x ln x
(B) 3 x ln x x
2 2

2
(C) x
(D) 3x
16. The definition of the first derivative of a function f (x ) is
f ( x x) f ( x)
f ' ( x)
(A) x
f ( x x ) f ( x )
f ' ( x)
(B) x
f ( x x) f ( x)
f ' ( x) lim
(C) x 0 x
f ( x x) f ( x)
f ' ( x) lim
(D) x 0 x
17. The exact derivative of f ( x) x 3 at x 5 is most nearly
(A) 25.00
(B) 75.00
(C) 106.25
(D) 125.00
18. Using the forwarded divided difference approximation with a step size of 0.2, the derivative of
f ( x) 5e 2.3 x at x 1.25 is
(A) 163.4
(B) 203.8
(C) 211.1
(D) 258.8
d x
19. A student finds the numerical value of (e ) 20.220 at x 3 using a step size of 0.2.
dx
Which of the following methods did the student use to conduct the differentiation?
(A) Backward divided difference
(B) Calculus, that is, exact
(C) Central divided difference
(D) Forward divided difference
20. The value of x that satisfies f x 0 is called the
(A) root of an equation f x 0
(B) root of a function f x
(C) zero of an equation f x 0
(D) none of the above
21. A quadratic equation has ________ root(s).
(A) one
(B) two
(C) three
(D) four
22. For a certain cubic equation, at least one of the roots is known to be a complex root. How many
total complex roots does the cubic equation have?
(A) one
(B) two
(C) three
(D) cannot be determined
23. An equation such as tan x x has _________ root(s).
(A) zero
(B) one
(C) two
(D) infinite
24. A polynomial of order n has __________ zeros.
(A) n 1
(B) n
(C) n 1
(D) n2
25. The bisection method of finding roots of nonlinear equations falls under the category of a (an)
_________ method.
(A) open
(B) bracketing
(C) random
(D) graphical
26. If f (x ) is a real continuous function in [ a , b ] , and f (a) f b 0 , then for f x 0 , there is
(are) ____________ in the domain [ a , b ] .
(A) one root
(B) an undeterminable number of roots
(C) no root
(D) at least one root
27. Assuming an initial bracket of 1, 5 , the second (at the end of 2 iterations) iterative value of the
t
root of te 0.3 0 using the bisection method is
(A) 0
(B) 1.5
(C) 2
(D) 3
28. To find the root of f ( x) 0 , a scientist is using the bisection method. At the beginning of an
iteration, the lower and upper guesses of the root are x l and xu . At the end of the iteration, the
absolute relative approximate error in the estimated value of the root would be
xu
xu x
(A)
x
xu x
(B)
xu x
xu x
(C)
xu x
xu x
(D)
29. For an Dequation like x 2 0 , a root exists at x 0 . The bisection method cannot be adopted to
solve this equation in spite of the root existing at x 0 because the function f x x 2
(A) is a polynomial
(B) has repeated roots at x 0
(C) is always non-negative
(D) has a slope equal to zero at x 0
30. The Newton-Raphson method of finding roots of nonlinear equations falls under the category of
_____________ methods.
(A) bracketing
(B) open
(C) random
(D) graphical
31. The Newton-Raphson method formula for finding the square root of a real number R from the
equation x R 0 is,
2

xi
xi 1
(A) 2
3x
xi 1 i
(B) 2
1 R
xi 1 xi
2 xi
(C)
1 R
xi 1 3xi
2 xi
(D)
32. The next iterative value of the root of x 2 4 0 using the Newton-Raphson method, if the initial
guess is 3, is
(A) 1.5
(B) 2.067
(C) 2.167
(D) 3.000
33. The secant method of finding roots of nonlinear equations falls under the category of
_____________ methods.
(A) bracketing
(B) graphical
(C) open
(D) random

34. The secant method formula for finding the square root of a real number R from the equation
x 2 R 0 is
xi xi 1 R
(A) xi xi 1
xi xi 1
(B) xi xi 1
1 R
xi
2 xi
(C)
2 xi2 xi xi 1 R
(D) xi xi 1
35. The next iterative value of the root of x 2 4 0 using secant method, if the initial guesses are 3
and 4, is
(A) 2.2857
(B) 2.5000
(C) 5.5000
(D) 5.7143
36. The root of the equation f x 0 is found by using the secant method. Given one of the initial
estimates is x0 3 , f 3 5 , and the angle the secant line makes with the x-axis is 57 , the
next estimate of the root, x1 , is
(A) 3.2470
(B) 0.24704
(C) 3.247
(D) 6.2470
6 2 3 9
0 1 2 3
37. Given A = then A is a (an) ______________ matrix.
0 0 4 5

0 0 0 6

(A) diagonal
(B) identity
(C) lower triangular
(D) upper triangular
38. A square matrix A is lower triangular if
aij 0, j i
(A)
aij 0, i j
(B)
aij 0, i j
(C)
a 0, j i
(D) ij
39. Given
12.3 12.3 20.3 2 4

[A] 11.3 10.3 11.3 , [B] 5 6


10.3 11.3 12.3 11 20

then if

C AB, then
c31 _____________________

(A) 58.2
(B) 37.6
(C) 219.4
(D) 259.4
40. The following system of equations has ____________ solution(s).
x y 2

6 x 6 y 12

(A) infinite
(B) no
(C) two
(D) unique
41. For finding the root of sin x 0 by the secant method, the following choice of initial guesses
would not be appropriate.

and
(A) 4 2
3
and
(B) 4 4

and
(C) 2 2

and
(D) 3 2
42. The goal of forward elimination steps in the Nave Gauss elimination method is to reduce the
coefficient matrix to a (an) _____________ matrix.
(A) diagonal
(B) identity
 (C) lower triangular
(D) upper triangular
43. Division by zero during forward elimination steps in Nave Gaussian elimination of the set of
equations AX C implies the coefficient matrix A
(A) is invertible
(B) is nonsingular
(C) may be singular or nonsingular
(D) is singular
44. Using a computer with four significant digits with chopping, the Nave Gauss elimination
solution to
0.0030x1 55.23x2 58.12
6.239x1 7.123x2 47.23

is

(A) x1 26.66; x2 1.051

(B) x1 8.769; x2 1.051
(C) x1 8.800; x2 1.000
(D) x1 8.771; x2 1.052
45. Using a computer with four significant digits with chopping, the Gaussian elimination with partial
pivoting solution to
0.0030x1 55.23x2 58.12
6.239x1 7.123x2 47.23

is

(A) x1 26.66; x2 1.051

(B) x1 8.769; x2 1.051
(C) x1 8.800; x2 1.000
(D) x1 8.771; x2 1.052
46. The number of polynomials that can go through two fixed data points x1 , y1 and x2 , y2 is
(A) 0
(B) 1
(C) 2
(D) infinite
47. A unique polynomial of degree __________________ passes through n 1 data points.
(A) n 1
(B) n 1 or less
(C) n
(D) n or less
48. The following function(s) can be used for interpolation:
(A) polynomial
(B) exponential
 (C) trigonometric
(D) all of the above
49. Polynomials are the most commonly used functions for interpolation because they are easy to
(A) evaluate
(B) differentiate
(C) integrate
(D) evaluate, differentiate and integrate
50. Given n 1 data points x0 , y0 , x1 , y1 ,......, xn 1 , yn 1 , xn , yn , assume you pass a function
f (x ) through all the data points. If now the value of the function f (x ) is required to be found
outside the range of the given x -data, the procedure is called
(A) extrapolation
(B) interpolation
(C) guessing
(D) regression

Engineering Mathematics Solutions (MCQs)

1. (A)
2. (D)
3.