INDIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY BOMBAY
DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING – SAMPLE TEST FOR PhD
ADMISSION
Date: xx/xx/xxxx Time: xx:xx – xx:xx
Instructions:
Each question carries 3 marks and has FOUR options with only ONE of them being correct.
Negative marking of -1 for every wrong answer.
Record your response to the question by BUBBLING the ORS sheet provided to you with only
BLUE OR BLACK ball point pen.
Use of non-programmable scientific calculator is allowed. Except calculator, no other electronic
device is permitted.
Being sample paper, the number of questions is on the higher side. The number of questions in the
actual paper will be commensurate with the time allotted for the examination.
______________________________________________________________________________
Q1. The area of the region involving y2 ≤ 4x and x2 ≤ 4y and point of intersections of the curves y2 =
4x and x2 = 4y in the Ist quadrant is,
(a) 8/3 (b) 16/3 (c) 32/3 (d) 64/3
Q2. What is the height of the largest right circular cone inside a sphere of unit radius?
(a) 1/3 (b) 2/3 (c) 2√2/3 (d) 4/3
Q3. The solution to the differential equation − = 0, where k is a constant, subjected to the
boundary conditions u(0)=0 and u(L)=U, is
(a) = (b) = (c) = (d) =
Q4. A wire of length 2 units is cut into two parts which are bent respectively to form a square of side
=x units and a circle of radius = r units. If the sum of the areas of the square and the circle so
formed is minimum, then
(a) 2x = r (b) 2x = (π + 4)r (c) (4 – π)x = π r (d) x = 2r
Q5. The distance of the point A (1, –5, 9) from the plane x – y + z = 5 measured along a line parallel
to the line x = y = z and passing through A is,
(a) 20√3 (b) 3√10 (c) 10√3 (d) 10/√3
1
Q6. The sum and product of eigen values of the matrix is -3 and 2 respectively. α and β are
−3
given as,
(a) {0,1} (b) {-2,0} (c) {-2,1} (d) {0,-2}
Q7. An ant is sitting at the periphery of the base of cone of slant height h and radius a. The length of
the shortest path for the ant to move around the surface of the cone without ever leaving it and return
to its original position is,
(a) h cos(πa/h) (b) h sin(πa/h) (c) 2h cos(πa/h) (d) 2h sin(πa/h)
1
Q8. Assuming that the rate of change of volume of an object is linearly proportional to its current
volume. If the initial volume is V0 and the volume is halved in time t1, then the magnitude of the
proportionality constant is,
(a) loge(2)/t1 (b) log10(2)/t1 (c) 2log10(2)/t1 (d) 2loge(2)/t1
Q9. A small block is connected to one end of a massless spring of un-stretched length 4.9 m. The
other end of the spring (see the Figure 1) is fixed. The system lies on a horizontal frictionless surface.
The block is stretched by 0.2 m and released from rest at t = 0. It then executes simple harmonic
motion with angular frequency ω = π/3 rad/s. Simultaneously at t = 0, a small pebble is projected with
speed v from point P at an angle of 45º as shown in the figure. Point P is at a horizontal distance of 10
m from O. If the pebble hits the block at t = 1 s, the value of v is (take g = 10 m/s2),
Figure 1
(a) √50 m s–1 (b) √51 m s–1 (c) √52 m s–1 (d) √53 m s–1
Q10. A body of mass m = 10–2 kg is moving in a medium and experiences a frictional force F = –kv2.
Its initial speed is v0 = 10 ms–1. If, after 10 s, its kinetic energy is , the value of k is,
(a) 0 kg m–1 (b) 10–3 kg m–1 (c) 10–2 kg m–1 (d) 10–4 kg m–1
Q11. ∫ ( )( ⁄ )
equals
(a) 2/[3(2-2(1/2))] (b) 3/[2(2+2(1/2))] (c) 1/[2+2(1/2)] (d) 2/[3(2+2(1/2))]
3⁄5 4⁄5
Q12. If the inverse and transpose of the matrix are same, what is x?
3⁄5
(a) -4/5 (b) -3/5 (c) 3/5 (d) 4/5
Q13. An analytic function of a complex variable z = x+iy is expressed as f(z) = u(x,y)+iv(x,y). If u =
xy, the expression for v should be (k = constant),
( ) ( )
(a) + (b) + (c) + (d) +
Q14. In an orthographic projection, the projectors of the ends of a line AB are 50 mm apart. The end
A is 20 mm above the Horizontal Plane (H.P) and 30 mm in front of the Vertical Plane (V.P). The end
B is 10 mm below the H.P. and 40 mm behind the V.P. The inclination of the line with respect to
horizontal and vertical plane in degrees is approximately,
(a) (19o, 50o) (b) (27o, 39o) (c) (39o, 27o) (d) (48o, 75o)
Q15. The sum of the series 6 + 12 + 24 + ... + 1536 is,
2
(a) 1578 (b) 3066 (c) 3156 (d) 6312
Q16. The marks of 5 students A, B, C, D, and E in an exam with maximum possible marks of 80 are
respectively: 20, 30, 35, 45, and 60. The percentage marks scored by B, and the percentile of D are
respectively:
(a) 37.5 & 75 (b) 37.5 & 56.25 (c) 30 and 45 (d) None of these
Q17. Three players get together to play singles tennis match, with a different group of players each
time. The sums of the ages of the players for the different matches are 62, 65, 71 years. The age of
the youngest player is:
(a) 23 (b) 28 (c) 21 (d) 34
Q18. Six friends, Andy, Barry, Cathy, Don, Eve, and Frank, decide to go out for dinner. The
restaurant manager seats them around a round table. Since Andy doesn’t like Cathy, he doesn't sit
either opposite or beside Cathy.Barry and Frank always like to sit opposite each other. If Don is
sitting adjacent to Frank, then people sitting adjacent to Cathy are:
(a) Eve & Barry (b) Don & Andy (c) Don & Barry (d) either (a) or (c)
Q19. Given that dogs that like to run also like to swim, which of the following is true:
a) Dogs that like to swim also like to run
b) Dogs that don’t like to swim also don’t like to run
c) Dogs that don’t like to run also don’t like to swim
d) None of the above
A bicycle trainer studied 50 bicyclists to
examine how the finishing time for a certain
bicycle race was related to the amount of
physical training in the three months before
the race. To measure the amount of training,
the trainer developed a training index,
measured in “units” and based on the
intensity of each bicyclist’s training. The
data is displayed in the figure below. The
trend line shows a linear fit based on the
available data points. Answer the following
two questions:
Q20. How many of the 50 bicyclists had
both a training index less than 50 units and a
finishing time less than 4.5 hours?
a) 3 b) 5 c) 7 d) 9
Q21. What is the expected finishing time for a training index of 120?
a) 2.7 b) 2.2 c) 3.3 d) 1.0
Q22. 2. A product team receives a failed device from a customer. The failed device has 3 components
(A, B and C) and all three components can be easily removed and (re)placed. Now a team member
needs to figure out which component failed. This team member is not interested in identifying the
failed component technically. Instead he wants to use logic to figure out the failed component. He has
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a good device in hand. After some logical reasoning and testing performance he identifies that
component B failed. How did he achieve that?
a) Engineer guessed the answer b) He knew apriori based on history c) Sequentially swapped good
components with bad components d) None of the above
Q23. 2. In a class of 60 where boys are twice that of girls, Ramya ranked 17th from the top. If there
are 9 boys ahead of Ramya, how many girls are after her in the rank?
(A) 26 (B) 12 (C) 10 (D) 33
Q24. 5. Arrange the words given below in a meaningful sequence.
1.Presentation 2.Recommendation 3. Arrival 4.Discussion 5.Introduction
A) 5, 3, 4, 1, 2 B) 3, 5, 4, 2, 1
C) 3, 5, 1, 4, 2 D) 5, 3, 1, 2, 4
Q25. In a certain code language COMPUTER is written as RFUVQNPC. How will MEDICINE be
written in that code language?
A) MFEDJJOE B) EOJDEJFM
C) MFEJDJOE D) EOJDJEFM
Q26. Directions : For the Assertion (A) and Reason (R) below, choose the correct alternative
Assertion (A) : Diamond is used for cutting glass.
Reason (R) : Diamond has a high refractive index.
A) Both A and R are true and R is B) Both A and R are true but R is
the correct explanation of A. NOT the correct explanation of A.
C) A is true but R is false. D) A is false but R is true.
Q27. If you write down all the numbers from 1 to 100, then how many times do you write 3 ?
A) 11 B) 18
C) 20 D) 21
4
Q28. 34 is related to 12 in the same way as 59 is related to
A) 45 B) 38
C) 26 D) 14
Q29. Here are two statements: 1.Oxygen is a gas 2.This cylinder contains gas
Conclusion: This cylinder contains Oxygen
The conclusion drawn is
A) True B) Probably true
C) False D) Irrelevant
Q30. If × stands for 'addition', ÷ stands for 'subtraction', + stands for 'multiplication' and-stands for
'division', then 20 × 8 ÷ 8 - 4 + 2 = ?
A) 80 B) 25
C) 24 D) 5
Qs. 31-33 are based on the passage given below.
[Source: http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-43710766] The 1.5m-long, 50kg sea-gliders
carry hydrophones that pick up the noise underwater being made by the weather at the surface. The
researchers say the robots can provide additional information on wind and storm patterns where
meteorological stations are scarce. This is particularly true out over the oceans. "I'm attaching passive
acoustics monitoring sensors to autonomous submarines with the aim of developing new ways to
monitor the oceans," explained Pierre Cauchy, a PhD researcher from the University of East Anglia,
UK. "For each deployment of a glider, it takes a day to put it in the water, but then the robot goes off
for a few months to collect its data." The sound energy from high winds at the surface propagates
down to the submersible which senses the noise at frequencies in the 2-10kHz range. "The faster the
wind, the louder the sound," the UEA researcher said. Satellites already judge wind speed over remote
ocean locations by measuring surface roughness. To the spacecraft, calm conditions look very
different compared with choppy seas. But the hydrophone-equipped gliders can be used to ground-
truth this satellite information. "Gliders allow you to go places you can't go with a boat or a buoy. For
example, you could send them into a hurricane," Mr Cauchy said. The robots are very hands-off. They
are propelled by their buoyancy. A bladder is alternately filled and deflated with water, and then, as
the robots rise and fall in the water column, their wings guide them forward. The lack of a motor of
any kind means they run silent and therefore capture completely clean acoustic data. This can either
be pulled off the glider when it is recovered, or transmitted back via a sat-phone signal when the robot
sticks its antenna out of the water. Of course, the UEA gliders are capturing all manner of ocean
sounds. These include the noise of chattering fish, echolocation clicks from whales, and the increasing
din coming from human activities - from the likes of ship traffic and seismic surveys. Mr Cauchy
spoke of new applications. One recent project found an association between the health of marine
flowering plants - "seagrasses" - and fish noise. "With your gliders, you could cruise along the shore
and know the health of the ecosystem just by listening to the fish," he said. Other uses for glider-
5
captured sounds would include the study of whale population densities and in monitoring illegal
fishing activity in no-take zones.
Q31. The passage deals with:
(a) Effect of noise on the activity of sea animals
(b) Use of robots to detect sea noise
(c) Weather patterns in sea
(d) Techniques to capture sea noises
Q32. Fish sound helps in
(a) Controlling Whale population density
(b) Understanding effect of hurricane on fishes
(c) Measuring wind speeds
(d) Growth of sea plants and vegetation
Q33. The word “hands-off” means
(a) No hands
(b) Inactive
(c) Permissive
(d) Automatic
Q34. Bulk Metallic Glasses _____ advanced high strength _________.
a) is, material
b) are, material
c) are, materials
d) is, materials
