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FE Other Disciplines

The latest NCEES specifications with category and topics.

Effective July 1st, 2020, these are the categories and subcategories specified by the NCEES that this discipline covers. It includes an estimate of the number of questions you will see on the official exam for each category. We've covered the specification changes in this blog post. PrepFE provides hundreds of questions in proportional amounts to the official exam.

For the prior categories and topics that were discontinued at the end of June, 2020, please see the categories here.

Other Disciplines FE exam categories

Questions on the FE Exam

Analytic geometry and trigonometry

Differential equations

Numerical methods (e.g., algebraic equations, roots of equations, approximations, precision limits, convergence)

Linear algebra (e.g., matrix operations)

Single-variable calculus

Estimation (e.g., point, confidence intervals)

Expected value and expected error in decision making

Sample distributions and sizes (e.g., significance, hypothesis testing, non-normal distributions)

Goodness of fit (e.g., correlation coefficient, standard errors, R2)

Oxidation and reduction (e.g., reactions, corrosion control)

Acids and bases (e.g., pH, buffers)

Chemical reactions (e.g., stoichiometry, equilibrium, bioconversion)

Sensors (e.g., temperature, pressure, motion, pH, chemical constituents)

Data acquisition (e.g., logging, sampling rate, sampling range, filtering, amplification, signal interface, signal processing, analog/digital [A/D], digital/analog [D/A], digital)

Logic diagrams

Codes of ethics (e.g., identifying and solving ethical dilemmas)

Public protection issues (e.g., licensing boards)

Societal impacts (e.g., economic, sustainability, life-cycle analysis, environmental, public safety)

Industrial hygiene (e.g., carcinogens, toxicology, exposure limits, radiation exposure, biohazards, half-life)

Basic safety equipment (e.g., pressure-relief valves, emergency shutoffs, fire prevention and control, personal protective equipment)

Gas detection and monitoring (e.g., O2, CO, CO2, CH4, H2S, radon)

Electrical safety

Confined space entry and ventilation rates

Hazard communications (e.g., SDS, proper labeling, concentrations, fire ratings, safety equipment)

Time value of money (e.g., present worth, annual worth, future worth, rate of return)

Cost analysis (e.g., incremental, average, sunk, estimating)

Economic analyses (e.g., break-even, benefit-cost, optimal economic life)

Uncertainty (e.g., expected value and risk)

Project selection (e.g., comparison of projects with unequal lives, lease/buy/make, depreciation, discounted cash flow, decision trees)

Vector analysis

Force systems (e.g., resultants, concurrent, distributed)

Force couple systems

Equilibrium of rigid bodies (e.g., support reactions)

Internal forces in rigid bodies (e.g., trusses, frames, machines)

Area properties (e.g., centroids, moments of inertia, radius of gyration, parallel axis theorem)

Static friction

Free-body diagrams

Weight and mass computations (e.g., slug, lbm, lbf, kg, N, ton, dyne, g, gc)

Particle and rigid-body kinematics

Linear motion (e.g., force, mass, acceleration)

Angular motion (e.g., torque, inertia, acceleration)

Mass moment of inertia

Impulse and momentum (e.g., linear, angular)

Work, energy, and power

Dynamic friction

Vibrations (e.g., natural frequency)

Stress types (e.g., normal, shear)

Combined loading–principle of superposition

Stress and strain caused by axial loads, bending loads, torsion, or transverse shear forces

Shear and moment diagrams

Analysis of beams, trusses, frames, and columns

Loads and deformations (e.g., axial-extension, torque-angle of twist, moment-rotation)

Stress transformation and principal stresses, including stress-based yielding and fracture criteria (e.g., Mohr's circle, maximum normal stress, Tresca, von Mises)

Material failure (e.g., Euler buckling, creep, fatigue, brittle fracture, stress concentration factors, factor of safety, and allowable stress)

Physical (phase diagrams) properties of materials (e.g., alloy phase diagrams, phase equilibrium, and phase change)

Mechanical properties of materials

Chemical properties of materials

Thermal properties of materials

Electrical properties of materials

Material selection

Fluid properties (e.g., Newtonian, non-Newtonian, liquids and gases)

Dimensionless numbers (e.g., Reynolds number, Froude number, Mach number)

Laminar and turbulent flow

Fluid statics (e.g., hydrostatic head)

Energy, impulse, and momentum equations (e.g., Bernoulli equation)

Pipe and duct flow and friction losses (e.g., pipes, valves, fittings, laminar, transitional and turbulent flow)

Open-channel flow (e.g., Manning's equation, drag)

Fluid transport systems (e.g., series and parallel operations)

Flow measurement (e.g., pitot tube, venturi meter, weir)

Turbomachinery (e.g., pumps, turbines, fans, compressors)

Ideal gas law (e.g., mixtures of nonreactive gases)

Real gas law (e.g., z factor)

Electrical fundamentals (e.g., charge, current, voltage, resistance, power, energy)

Current and voltage laws (e.g., Kirchhoff, Ohm)

AC and DC circuits (e.g., real and imaginary components, complex numbers, power factor, reactance and impedance, series, parallel, capacitance and inductance, RLC circuits)

Measuring devices (e.g., voltmeter, ammeter, wattmeter)

Three-phase power (e.g., motor efficiency, balanced loads, power equation)

Thermodynamic laws (e.g., first law, second law)

Thermodynamic equilibrium

Thermodynamic properties (e.g., entropy, enthalpy, heat capacity)

Thermodynamic processes (e.g., isothermal, adiabatic, reversible, irreversible)

Heat transfer (e.g., conduction, convection, radiation)

Mass and energy balances

Property and phase diagrams (e.g., T-s, P-h, P-v)

Combustion and combustion products (e.g., CO, CO2, NOX, ash, particulates)

Psychrometrics (e.g., relative humidity, wet bulb)