How many simple machines questions are on the Mechanical aptitude?

There is no single publisher to ask. “Mechanical aptitude test” names a category rather than a product: the two tests employers actually send are the Bennett Mechanical Comprehension Test, published by Pearson TalentLens as 55 items in 25 minutes, and the Wiesen Test of Mechanical Aptitude, published by Criteria Corp as 60 items in 30 minutes. Neither publisher breaks its test down by topic, so a page telling you how many gear questions to expect has invented the number and the test it belongs to. The 30-question run on this site is its own practice length and deals the types evenly.

Is this section timed?

Not on this page. These sets are for learning the type — each answer comes with an explanation straight away. When you want the clock, the full-length run is 30 questions in 15 minutes, which is 30 seconds a question.

Are these real questions from the test?

No. Every question here is original, written to the published format. The real item banks are confidential and nobody outside the publisher has them.

Mechanical aptitude simple machines questions

Levers, pulleys, gears, belts, ramps and screws — which way it turns, and what it costs you.

50 questions in this set Untimed — explanation after each answer

Mechanical aptitude simple machines 1 of 10

A crowbar is used to lift the edge of a heavy crate. The bar rests on a block of wood, the tip is under the crate, and the worker pushes down on the far end. Which class of lever is this?

What this type asks

Almost every mechanical aptitude item that is not about a fluid is about one of six machines, and all six trade the same thing: distance for force. A lever, a pulley system, a gear train, a belt drive, an inclined plane and a screw all let a person move something heavier than they could lift, in exchange for moving further or turning more times. Get that trade into your hands and most of the paper answers itself — the question is only ever which side of the trade the drawing is showing you. The rules underneath are few enough to learn in an evening: meshed gears turn opposite ways, a bigger driven gear turns slower and pulls harder, pulley speed goes inversely with diameter, and a block and tackle multiplies your force by the number of rope parts holding the load.

The three lever classes and where the fulcrum sitsGear direction, gear ratio and idler gearsBelt drives, pulley diameter and speedBlock and tackle mechanical advantageRamps, wedges, screws and the wheel and axle

Now do it with the clock running.

30 questions in 15 minutes — 30 seconds each. That clock is this site's rather than any publisher's, because more than one publisher sells a test under this name and they are not the same length. Working under a clock is still the part untimed practice cannot teach.

Take the full Mechanical aptitude test

The other question types

Forces and motion Fluids, heat and electricity Full timed test

Frequently asked

How many simple machines questions are on the Mechanical aptitude?: There is no single publisher to ask. “Mechanical aptitude test” names a category rather than a product: the two tests employers actually send are the Bennett Mechanical Comprehension Test, published by Pearson TalentLens as 55 items in 25 minutes, and the Wiesen Test of Mechanical Aptitude, published by Criteria Corp as 60 items in 30 minutes. Neither publisher breaks its test down by topic, so a page telling you how many gear questions to expect has invented the number and the test it belongs to. The 30-question run on this site is its own practice length and deals the types evenly.
Is this section timed?: Not on this page. These sets are for learning the type — each answer comes with an explanation straight away. When you want the clock, the full-length run is 30 questions in 15 minutes, which is 30 seconds a question.
Are these real questions from the test?: No. Every question here is original, written to the published format. The real item banks are confidential and nobody outside the publisher has them.

Sources

Every figure on this page comes from one of the documents below, with the date it was read. Requirements change; if a source has moved on since that date, the source is right and this page is out of date.

Pearson TalentLens — Bennett Mechanical Comprehension Test (BMCT-II) assessment page Read September 3, 2026
Criteria Corp — Wiesen Test of Mechanical Aptitude (WTMA) Read September 3, 2026
Firefighter Candidate Testing Center (Cal-JAC) — FCTC Written Test Study Guide (free candidate guide, 25 pages) Read September 3, 2026

Hiring Test Practice is independent practice material and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or authorized by Criteria Corp, Wonderlic, Inc., National Testing Network, the electrical training ALLIANCE, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, NECA, Biddle Consulting Group, Inc., Pearson Education, Inc. or its TalentLens business, the California Firefighter Joint Apprenticeship Committee or the Firefighter Candidate Testing Center, Fire and Police Selection, Inc., I/O Solutions, Inc., Ergometrics & Applied Personnel Research, Inc., the International Association of Fire Fighters or the International Association of Fire Chiefs. CCAT® is a registered trademark of Criteria Corp; Wonderlic® is a registered trademark of Wonderlic, Inc.; CritiCall is a trademark of Biddle Consulting Group, Inc.; Bennett Mechanical Comprehension Test is a trademark of Pearson Education, Inc.; FCTC and CPAT are used to name tests administered by others. Test names are used only to describe what this material prepares you for. Every question here is original and none is taken from any actual assessment. Cal-JAC and FCTC publish that materials supplied directly by them are the only authorized FCTC Written Test materials; this site is one of the outside sources that warning refers to, and it links their free study guide rather than reproducing it.