Glossary
Effortlessly navigate the QCAA Engineering Glossary to find and understand key terms and concepts
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A
ATAR
Australian Tertiary Admission Rank
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Acceleration
The rate at which an object's velocity changes
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Accomplished
Highly trained or skilled in a particular activity; perfected in knowledge or training; expert
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Accuracy
The condition or quality of being true, correct or exact; freedom from error or defect; precision or exactness; correctness; in science, the extent to which a measurement result represents the quantity it purports to measure; an accurate measurement result includes an estimate of the true value and an estimate of the uncertainty
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Accurate
Precise and exact; to the point; consistent with or exactly conforming to a truth, standard, rule, model, convention or known facts; free from error or defect; meticulous; correct in all details
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Adept
Very/highly skilled or proficient at something; expert
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Adequate
Satisfactory or acceptable in quality or quantity equal to the requirement or occasion
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Analyse
Dissect to ascertain and examine constituent parts and/or their relationships; break down or examine in order to identify the essential elements, features, components or structure; determine the logic and reasonableness of information
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Annotate
Make or furnish critical or explanatory notes, or comment; add notes or comments to (a picture, drawing, sketch or diagram)
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Applied Learning
The acquisition and application of knowledge, understanding and skills in real-world or lifelike contexts that may encompass workplace, industry and community situations; it emphasises learning through doing and includes both theory and the application of theory, connecting subject knowledge and understanding with the development of practical skills
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Applied Subject
A subject whose primary pathway is work and vocational education; it emphasises applied learning and community connections; a subject for which a syllabus has been developed by the QCAA with the following characteristics: results from courses developed from Applied syllabuses contribute to the QCE; results may contribute to ATAR calculations
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Apply
Use knowledge and understanding in response to a given situation or circumstance; carry out or use a procedure in a given or particular situation
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Appraise
Evaluate the worth, significance or status of something; judge or consider a text or piece of work
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Appreciate
Recognise or make a judgment about the value or worth of something; understand fully; grasp the full implications of
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Appropriate
Acceptable; suitable or fitting for a particular purpose, circumstance, context etc.
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Apt
Suitable to the purpose or occasion; fitting, appropriate
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Area of study
A division of, or a section within a unit
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Argue
Give reasons for or against something; challenge or debate an issue or idea; persuade, prove or try to prove by giving reasons
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Aspect
A particular part of a feature of something; a facet, phase or part of a whole
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Assess
Measure, determine, evaluate, estimate or make a judgment about the value, quality, outcomes, results, size, significance, nature or extent of something
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Assessment
Purposeful and systematic collection of information about students' achievements
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Assessment instrument
A tool or device used to gather information about student achievement
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Assessment objectives
Drawn from the unit objectives and contextualised for the requirements of the assessment instrument (see also
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Assessment technique
The method used to gather evidence about student achievement, (e.g. examination, project, investigation)
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Astute
Showing an ability to accurately assess situations or people; of keen discernment
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Australian standards for engineering drawings
Guidelines for technical drawings in engineering disciplines; some examples are provided below: AS 1100.101–1992 defines the general principles for technical drawing and shows tables of symbols and abbreviations and their meanings AS 1100.201–1992 is for mechanical engineering drawing and includes information for surface texture, welding, centre holes, pipelines, springs, gears, splines, seals and knurling AS/NZS 1100.501: 2002 is for structural engineering drawing; it looks at general applications like dimensioning, lines, symbols, abbreviations, structural elements, scales, cross referencing and arrangement of elements as well as specific applications for structural steel
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Authoritative
Able to be trusted as being accurate or true; reliable; commanding and self-confident; likely to be respected and obeyed
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Automation
The use of various control systems for operating equipment such as machinery, processes in factories, steering and stabilisation of ships, aircraft and other applications with minimal or reduced human intervention
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B
Balanced
Keeping or showing a balance; not biased; fairly judged or presented; taking everything into account in a fair, well-judged way
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Basic
Fundamental
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Basic Drawing Standards
Are the fundamental requirements (i.e. scale, units, layout, titles, subtitles, orientation, parts list, dimensions, line types and quality) included in engineering drawings that are used to fully and clearly define requirements for the production of engineered items
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Biomimicry
An approach to innovation that seeks sustainable solutions to human challenges by emulating the patterns and strategies found in natural environments
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Built-in or planned obsolescence
A method of stimulating consumer demand by designing products that wear out or become outmoded after limited use
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C
CAD
Computer-aided drafting; software used by drafters, architects and engineers to help them create lines, shapes and planes that can be combined, moved, rotated, adjusted and rendered; measurements and calculations can be included; computer-aided drafting can be used to create 2D and 3D models and drawings such as floor plans and rendered pictorial views of objects and structures; also known as computer-assisted design and computer-assisted design and drafting (CADD)
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Calculate
Determine or find (e.g. a number, answer) by using mathematical processes; obtain a numerical answer showing the relevant stages in the working; ascertain/determine from given facts, figures or information
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Callout
A short string of text connected by a line, arrow, or similar graphic to a feature of an illustration or technical drawing, and giving information about that feature
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Categorise
Place in or assign to a particular class or group; arrange or order by classes or categories; classify, sort out, sort, separate
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Challenging
Difficult but interesting; testing one's abilities; demanding and thought-provoking; usually involving unfamiliar or less familiar elements
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Characteristics
A set of distinguishing aspects (including attributes and behaviours) of an object, material, living thing, system or event
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Clarify
Make clear or intelligible; explain; make a statement or situation less confused and more comprehensible
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Clarity
Clearness of thought or expression; the quality of being coherent and intelligible; free from obscurity of sense; without ambiguity; explicit; easy to perceive, understand or interpret
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Class time
Includes the time made available for students to independently respond to extended assessment tasks and any associated and required teaching and learning time
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Classify
Arrange, distribute or order in classes or categories according to shared qualities or characteristics
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Clear
Free from confusion, uncertainty, or doubt; easily seen, heard or understood
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Clearly
In a clear manner; plainly and openly, without ambiguity
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Code of Ethics
Defines the values and principles that shape the decisions made in engineering practice (Engineers Australia 2017)
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Coherent
Having a natural or due agreement of parts; connected; consistent; logical, orderly; well-structured and makes sense; rational, with parts that are harmonious; having an internally consistent relation of parts
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Cohesive
Characterised by being united, bound together or having integrated meaning; forming a united whole
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Collinear forces
Lie in the same plane and have the same line of action
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Comment
Express an opinion, observation or reaction in speech or writing; give a judgment based on a given statement or result of a calculation
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Communicate
Convey knowledge and/or understandings to others; make known; transmit
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Compare
Display recognition of similarities and differences and recognize the significance of these similarities and differences
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Competent
Having suitable or sufficient skills, knowledge, experience, etc. for some purpose; adequate but not exceptional; capable; suitable or sufficient for the purpose;
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Competently
In an efficient and capable way; in an acceptable and satisfactory, though not outstanding, way
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Complex
Composed or consisting of many different and interconnected parts or factors; compound; composite; characterised by an involved combination of parts; complicated; intricate; a complex whole or system; a complicated assembly of particulars
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Components
Parts (made of two or more elements) that make up a whole object or system and perform specific functions
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Composite Materials
Materials made from two or more constituent materials with significantly different physical or chemical properties that, when combined, produce a material with characteristics different from the individual components; the individual components remain separate and distinct within the finished structure; the new material may be preferred for many reasons: common examples include materials that are stronger, lighter or less expensive when compared to traditional materials; typical engineered composite materials include: composite building materials such as cements and concrete; reinforced plastics such as fibre-reinforced polymer; metal composites; ceramic composites (composite ceramic and metal matrices) (also called
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Compounds
Formed when two or more elements are combined chemically in fixed proportions by weight; all compounds can be broken down by one means or another into their component elements
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Comprehend
Understand the meaning or nature of; grasp mentally
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Comprehensive
Inclusive; of large content or scope; including or dealing with all or nearly all elements or aspects of something; wide-ranging; detailed and thorough, including all that is relevant
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Computer Vision
An interdisciplinary field that deals with how computers can be made to gain high-level understanding from digital images or videos; engineering uses computer vision to automate tasks that the human visual system could perform, e.g. fault recognition in mass manufacturing processes
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Computer-aided Drafting
CAD; software used by drafters, architects and engineers to help them create lines, shapes and planes that can be combined, moved, rotated, adjusted and rendered; measurements and calculations can be included; computer-aided drafting can be used to create 2D and 3D models and drawings such as floor plans and rendered pictorial views of objects and structures; also known as computer-assisted design and computer-assisted design and drafting (CADD)
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Concepts
Abstract ideas, formed by mentally combining all its characteristics or particulars; a theoretical construct; a generalised mental operation
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Concise
Expressing much in few words; giving a lot of information clearly and in a few words; brief, comprehensive and to the point; succinct, clear, without repetition of information
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Concurrent Forces
Two or more forces whose lines of action intersect at the same point to cause rotation; the forces do not necessarily have to be applied;
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Conduct
Direct in action or course; manage; organise; carry out
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Consider
Think deliberately or carefully about something, typically before making a decision; take something into account when making a judgment; view attentively or scrutinise; reflect on
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Considerable
Fairly large or great; thought about deliberately and with a purpose
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Considered
Formed after careful and deliberate thought
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Consistent
Agreeing or accordant; compatible; not self-opposed or self-contradictory, constantly adhering to the same principles; acting in the same way over time, especially so as to be fair or accurate; unchanging in nature, standard, or effect over time; not containing any logical contradictions (of an argument); constant in achievement or effect over a period of time
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Constraints
Limitations or restrictions that must be considered and accommodated when providing a solution to a problem, e.g. teacher-specified limitations, available time, physical realities, legalities
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Construct
Create or put together (e.g. an argument) by arranging ideas or items; display information in a diagrammatic or logical form; make; build
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Contrast
Display recognition of differences by deliberate juxtaposition of contrary elements; show how things are different or opposite; give an account of the differences between two or more items or situations, referring to both or all of them throughout
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Control Technologies
A device or set of devices that manage, command, direct or regulate the behaviour of other devices or systems; a mechanical, optical or electronic system that is used to maintain a desired output
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Controlled
Shows the exercise of restraint or direction over; held in check; restrained, managed or kept within certain bounds
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Convincing
Persuaded by argument or proof; leaving no margin of doubt; clear; capable of causing someone to believe that something is true or real; persuading or assuring by argument or evidence; appearing worthy of belief; credible or plausible
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Coplanar Forces
Lie in the same plane
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Couple
In physics, two parallel forces that have the same magnitude, opposite directions and are separated by a perpendicular distance; the resultant force of a couple tends to cause rotation in a specified direction
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Course
A defined amount of learning developed from a subject syllabus
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Create
Bring something into being or existence; produce or evolve from one's own thought or imagination; reorganise or put elements together into a new pattern or structure or to form a coherent or functional whole
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Creative
Resulting from originality of thought or expression; relating to or involving the use of the imagination or original ideas to create something; having good imagination or original ideas
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Credible
Capable or worthy of being believed; believable; convincing
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Criterion
The property or characteristic by which something is judged or appraised
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Critical
Involving skilful judgment as to truth, merit, etc.; involving the objective analysis and evaluation of an issue in order to form a judgment; expressing or involving an analysis of the merits and faults of a work of literature, music, or art; incorporating a detailed and scholarly analysis and commentary (of a text); rationally appraising for logical consistency and merit
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Critique
Review (e.g. a theory, practice, performance) in a detailed, analytical and critical way
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Current
In electronics, the rate of movement of charge carriers from one part of a conductor to another
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Cursory
Hasty, and therefore not thorough or detailed; performed with little attention to detail; going rapidly over something, without noticing details; hasty; superficial
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D
Data
Documented information or evidence of any kind that lends itself to scientific interpretation; data may be quantitative or qualitative
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Decide
Reach a resolution as a result of consideration; make a choice from a number of alternatives
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Deduce
Reach a conclusion that is necessarily true, provided a given set of assumptions is true; arrive at, reach or draw a logical conclusion from reasoning and the information given
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Defensible
Justifiable by argument; capable of being defended in argument
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Define
Give the meaning of a word, phrase, concept or physical quantity; state meaning and identify or describe qualities
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Demonstrate
Prove or make clear by argument, reasoning or evidence, illustrating with practical example; show by example; give a practical exhibition
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Density
The density, or more precisely, the volumetric mass density, of a substance is its mass per unit volume; the symbol most often used for density is \( \rho \) (the lower case Greek letter rho), although the Latin letter D can also be used; mathematically, density is defined as mass divided by volume
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Derive
Arrive at by reasoning; manipulate a mathematical relationship to give a new equation or relationship; in mathematics, obtain the derivative of a function
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Describe
Give an account (written or spoken) of a situation, event, pattern or process, or of the characteristics or features of something
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Design
Produce a plan, simulation, model or similar; plan, form or conceive in the mind; in English, select, organise and use particular elements in the process of text construction for particular purposes; these elements may be linguistic (words), visual (images), audio (sounds), gestural (body language), spatial (arrangement on the page or screen) and multimodal (a combination of more than one)
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Detailed
Executed with great attention to the fine points; meticulous; including many of the parts or facts
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Determine
Establish, conclude or ascertain after consideration, observation, investigation or calculation; decide or come to a resolution
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Develop
Elaborate, expand or enlarge in detail; add detail and fullness to; cause to become more complex or intricate
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Devise
Think out; plan; contrive; invent
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Diagrams
Symbolic representations of information according to some visualization technique; often two-dimensional and geometric; symbols, charts, graphs and maps are forms of diagrams
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Differentiate
Identify the difference/s in or between two or more things; distinguish, discriminate; recognise or ascertain what makes something distinct from similar things; in mathematics, obtain the derivative of a function
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Discriminate
Note, observe or recognise a difference; make or constitute a distinction in or between; differentiate; note or distinguish as different
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Discriminating
Differentiating; distinctive; perceiving differences or distinctions with nicety; possessing discrimination; perceptive and judicious; making judgments about quality; having or showing refined taste or good judgment
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Discuss
Examine by argument; sift the considerations for and against; debate; talk or write about a topic, including a range of arguments, factors or hypotheses; consider, taking into account different issues and ideas, points for and/or against, and supporting opinions or conclusions with evidence
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Disjointed
Disconnected; incoherent; lacking a coherent order/sequence or connection
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Displacement
A vector quantity representing the location of the destination relative to the origin of motion only, irrespective of the path actually negotiated between the two points
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Distance
The total length of the pathway taken between the origin and the destination point
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Distinguish
Recognise as distinct or different; note points of difference between; discriminate; discern; make clear a difference/s between two or more concepts or items
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Diverse
Of various kinds or forms; different from each other
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Document
Support (e.g. an assertion, claim, statement) with evidence (e.g. decisive information, written references, citations)
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Draw conclusions
Make a judgment based on reasoning and evidence
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Drone
A powered, aerial vehicle that does not carry a human operator, uses aerodynamic forces to provide vehicle lift, can fly autonomously or be piloted remotely, can be expendable or recoverable, and can carry a payload
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Dynamics
Concerned with the study of forces (linear) and torques (rotational) and their effect on motion
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E
Effective
Successful in producing the intended, desired or expected result; meeting the assigned purpose
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Efficient
Working in a well-organised and competent way; maximum productivity with minimal expenditure of effort; acting or producing effectively with a minimum of waste, expense or unnecessary effort
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Elementary
Simple or uncompounded; relating to or dealing with elements, rudiments or first principles (of a subject); of the most basic kind; straightforward and uncomplicated
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Elements
Constituent parts of a more complex whole; a fundamental, essential or irreducible part of a composite entity; two or more elements make a component
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Energy
The potential to move or bring about changes; the higher the energy content, the greater the impact when it is transformed or transferred
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Engineering
The application of scientific, physical, mechanical and mathematical principles as a part of the process of developing and maintaining solutions, products, structures and systems that improve quality of life
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Engineering drawings
Technical drawings used to fully and clearly define requirements for engineered items; their purpose is to capture all the geometric features of a product or a component and required for a manufacturer to produce that component
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Equilibrium
A particle is in mechanical equilibrium if the net force on that particle is zero; by extension, a physical system made up of many parts is in mechanical equilibrium if the net force on each of its individual parts is zero
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Erroneous
Based on or containing error; mistaken; incorrect
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Essential
Absolutely necessary; indispensable; of critical importance for achieving something
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Ethical
Relating to moral principles that govern a person's or a group's behaviour
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Evaluate
Make an appraisal by weighing up or assessing strengths, implications and limitations; make judgments about ideas, works, solutions or methods in relation to selected criteria; examine and determine the merit, value or significance of something, based on criteria
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Examination
A supervised test that assesses the application of a range of cognitions to one or more provided items such as questions, scenarios and/or problems; student responses are completed individually, under supervised conditions, and in a set timeframe
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Examine
Investigate, inspect or scrutinise; inquire or search into; consider or discuss an argument or concept in a way that uncovers the assumptions and interrelationships of the issue
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Experiment
Try out or test new ideas or methods, especially in order to discover or prove something; undertake or perform a scientific procedure to test a hypothesis, make a discovery or demonstrate a known fact
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Explain
Make an idea or situation plain or clear by describing it in more detail or revealing relevant facts; give an account; provide additional information
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Explicit
Clearly and distinctly expressing all that is meant; unequivocal; clearly developed or formulated; leaving nothing merely implied or suggested
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