PERSONEL INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

Before reading this section of the book you should know that this
is one of the most important section for an interview and the way
you answer these questions will set a proper tone for the rest of
the interview. The questions given in this section have been
constantly asked by various shipping companies. All the
questions are answered in a structured manner to help you form
your own answers and also the answers are explained with the
help of an examples. By reading this section you will be able to
answer every possible personal question that can be asked in an
interview. So, before you start reading, just grab a pen & a paper
and start writing your own answers. ALL THE BEST.
1Q. Tell me something about yourself?
Ans. It is one of the most common question which has been
repeatedly asked in the interviews for merchant navy. Usually this
is the very first question which is asked by the interviewer and if
answered nicely in a correct manner, it builds up a right platform
for the further interview. The format in which this question can
be answered is as follows
NAME - I am ......., or My name is .......
PLACE - I am from ......, or I belong to ....
QUALIFICATION - I have completed my 10th and 12th class
from State/CBSE/ ICSE Board
ACHIEVEMENTS - Talk about any math/ science or engineering
related competition in which you have participated and if you
have secured a good rank in that competition then mention about
your rank also. But if do not have a good rank then you can skip
this section, there is no harm in that.
FAMILY BACKGROUND- So far, my family background is
concerned If I talk about my family ......, or In my family ........
HOBBIES - I have a couple of hobbies .......,
Or
If I mention about my hobbies ....
I am fond of .......... or I love ..............
That's all about me sir! Given below is an example of the way you
can answer this question.
EXAMPLE - Sir, My, name is Jayesh Goswami.
I belong to Delhi.
I have completed my 10th and 12th class from CBSE board.
I have participated in mathematics Olympiad and secured a state
rank of 10.
So far, my family background is concerned there are 4 members
in my family, me, my parents and my younger sister. My father is
a teacher and my mother is a homemaker.
And if I talk about my hobbies then I am fond of watching cricket,
reading novels and listening to light music.
That's all about me sir!
DON'T DO'S-
Do not mention your name in the introduction if the interviewer
has already gone through your resume and has asked a question
to you in this manner-
"Okay Jayesh, tell me something about yourself". In this
condition you have to start the answer directly from your place
and do not mention your name as the interviewer has already
mentioned it. Do not say 'sir' before every sentence. Refer the
above example and say the word 'sir' only two times during the
entire introduction ( once during starting of the introduction and
another at the end).
2Q; What are your strengths or What do you think you are
best at?
Ans- By asking this question the interviewer wants to know that
how do you evaluate yourself or how do you rate yourself. While
answering this question you should mention all the things you are
good at but those things should not lead to your personal life.
Given below are the points to keep in mind while answering this
question.
1). DON'T TELL ONLY ADJECTIVES - While answering this
question you should not use a lot of adjectives as it adds a tone
that you must have mug up the answer and you are not even able
to express yourself properly.
EXAMPLE - I'm quite smart, I'm quite intelligent, I'm very
positive, I'm very optimistic etc.
2). STRENGTH UP WITH STORIES - Now don't start telling
stories to the interviewer right away. What you can do is that you
can tell the interviewer about any award or project or anything
good that you have done and then relate it with a small story so
that it makes much more sense and sounds more natural.
EXAMPLE - I had participated in an extempore speech
competition and I got 3rd rank in that. The faculty in our college
always tell us about the importance of expressing yourself clearly
on ship in minimum time. So, I think that I can be a good speaker
and can express myself clearly.
3). LOOK FOR THE HOLES AND FILL IT UP :- To make your
answer a bit more interesting and natural you can answer in this
manner also.
EXAMPLE - I regularly write my assignments and always submit
them on time. This quality will help me on ship as I will not try
to keep any work for due.
3Q; What are your weaknesses?
Ans. The way you answer this question will tell the interviewer
that whether you are fit for this job or not and thus this is one of
the most frequently asked question in the interviews for merchant
navy and while answering this question you should keep in mind
the following points.
1). DON'T AVOID THE ANSWER- Don't just say that 'no sir I
don't really have any weaknesses.' Every human has some
weaknesses so don't try to avoid this question.
2). DON'T RAISE THE RED FLAG - Now please don't try to be
over honest about your answer. Don't confess to any horrible
mistake that you have done or weakness that you have. Just don't
say anything like 'I miss my family'.
3). TURN A NEGATIVE INTO POSITIVE- Now the best way
of answering this question is that you give an answer which will
not affect the job you are applying for.
EXAMPLE - 'I trust the people very easily'.
'I always complete my work even if I have to take a lot of stress'.
Okay, you can also tell about the weaknesses you had in past but
you have overcome now.
EXAMPLE - During my school time my English-speaking
qualities were not good but after coming into the college and
knowing the importance of English speaking in merchant navy, I
have improved on my English speaking and now I can converse
with people in English without any hesitation.
4Q; Why do you want to join merchant navy?
Ans. This question has been asked by all shipping companies
repeatedly in their interviews and it is generally expected that you
must answer this question in a proper manner. Keep the following
things in mind while answering this question-
 Just try to be real while answering this question and don't lie
a lot.
 It would be nicer if you do not bring up the money factor
while answering this question, but it totally depends upon
you. But don't say that money is the main reason behind you
joining merchant navy.
  You should show your interest so that the interviewer can
know that you really want to join this field and you are not
lying about your reason.
 Whatever reason you are giving to the interviewer, but
prepared to answer the counter questions regarding that.
Given below are the examples that how you should answer this
question under different conditions.
EXAMPLE-
CONDITION 1)- You are inspired by your relative or any family
friend.
Ans. Sir, from a really young age I had an interest in different
kind of machines and by the time I had completed my 10th class,
I had decided that I want to do engineering. Then one day my
father took me to meet one of his friend who is a chief engineer
in merchant navy. While talking to me, he started telling me about
his job at sea and how the ships sail across the entire world and
transport cargo, I found myself being really interested in whatever
he was saying. He told me how they work on ships and how such
small number of people operate such a big ship. He told me about
his experiences at sea and by the time our conversation ended I
had decided that I want to join merchant navy. Then after that I
researched about this job in detail and found out that this is
exactly the kind of job I want to do. Also, after doing marine
engineering I will be able to work on a lot of machineries in the
Engine Room of a ship and the fact that I really like machineries
I will be able to do my job with conviction. This is the main reason
I want to join merchant navy.
CONDITION 2)- Either your parents are into business or they are
working professionals.
Ans. Sir, when I was in 12th standard then at that time some
merchant navy officers visited our school. They told all the
students that what kind profession it is and how they think that it
is one of the best professions out there. They told us about their
job at sea and how do they work. Before that I didn't knew much
about merchant navy, so I was completely fascinated by this new
career option that they had introduced to us. They told us the
procedure of joining merchant navy and all the pre-sea courses
that we need to do. They also talked about different challenges
they face while working on ship and how interesting and
demanding their job is. After that I went home and researched
more about this profession and I realized that this is the perfect
career option for me and I think that I have taken a correct
decision.
CONDITION 3)- You belong to an agricultural background. Ans.
Sir, as I belong to a farming background, I used to visit my
grandfather at his farm from a very young age. There I used to see
him working on different machines like generator, tractor, motor,
thresher etc. and I was always fascinated by the amount of effort
these machines reduce for humans. From that time, I had the
curiosity of working on different machines so I opted for science
after my 10th class. During my 12th class when I was searching
for different career options, I got to know about merchant navy. I
researched about this field in detail and I thought that this is the
perfect career option for me and also, I will able to work on some
of the largest engines in the world and so many different
machineries. I saw different videos on internet to get the practical
knowledge of the people who are already working in this field and
I found that they talk so good about this field and opportunities
that this field provides. My family has also supported me in this
decision and I believe that it is right decision as I am already
liking my pre-sea training and I'm really excited to join merchant
navy.
5Q; Where do you see yourself in next 10 year?
Ans. By asking this question the interviewer wants to know that
whether you are going to stay in his company for a long time or
you just want the stepping stone to get into the shipping industry.
The answer of this question should show that you are going to
work for his company for a really long time. It is better not to
directly jump to a certain rank like 'I can see myself as a chief
engineer in your company after 10 year'. While technically this
answer is not wrong but gives an impression that you are here
only for a certain position, so instead you can turn your answer
around in this way- 'During my initial time at sea I would try to
learn everything about my job and the job of the person who is
one rank above me. I will learn from all the senior marine
engineers working in your company and I will constantly try to
improve myself to become a good marine engineer. And after
learning for so many years I would like to become a responsible
marine engineer in your company and I would prove myself as a
marine engineer on which on company can trust'.
6Q; Why should we hire you?
Ans. Now this is the time to completely sell yourself to the
interviewer and let them know that why you are the best cadet to
select. While answering this question you should show your
eagerness and willingness to get this job. But don't act like you
are desperate to get this job. Tell them that you are eager to start
your career as early as possible and the things you like about this
company and the reason you want to start your job with this
company. Keep the following things in mind while answering this
question
1). Show them that you have a great professional attitude and how
your professional attitude can contribute to the company.
2). Show that you are success oriented and wants to achieve
success in every task given to you.
3). Show them that you are a growth-oriented person and how
your work will contribute to the growth of the company.
7Q; Would you lie for the company?
Ans. Sir your company is one of the biggest and most reputed
shipping company in the world, it has a good reputation and I
don't think there will be any such cases where I will have to lie.
But if there any such situation arises, I will try to resolve the
problem.
Or
No sir, I won't because if I lie once it would eventually become a
habit for me so if I lie for your company's benefit, I may lie for
my own benefit someday in your company.
8Q; Why you want to join our company?
Ans. Now this is the question where you have to tell all the good
things about their company and also show them that you have
done a good amount of research on the company. Tell them how
they are the leaders in the shipping industry and how much they
care about the marine engineers working in their company. While
telling all these things you shouldn't sound like you are flattering
them too much. Just try to make it more natural and for that you
should do the research about the company and what that company
provides for marine engineers.
While in the first part of this answer you are mentioning about
there company, in the second part you should mention that why
do you want this job and show your willingness to get this job and
also tell them that how their company can help you to achieve
your goals in a better and faster way.
So, to answer this question you should do research about the
company before going to the interview.
9Q: Why did you join MANET?
Ans. While answering this type of question it is better not to
directly jump to the conclusions like it has a good placement
record. But rather you can start by telling good things about the
college and how the atmosphere and the knowledge given by the
MANET will help you in becoming a good Trainee Marine
Engineer. After that you can mention about how the college is
able to provide so many placement opportunities in some really
good and reputed companies.
You can also talk about the good reputation of the college and
how the marine engineers produced by MANET has got some
amazing reviews by the chief engineers of their ships.
By answering the question in this manner, you are telling the
interviewer that you are more interested in becoming a good
marine engineer and at the same time you are the kind of cadet
who takes any step by doing research about it.
10Q; What are the duties of a Trainee Marine Engineer?
Ans. As soon as the junior engineer joins the ship he/she should
start learning about the following things
1. Ship Familiarisation
2. Know the Escape Routes Thoroughly
3. Know the Location of Muster Stations
4. Should know who the DPA is
5. Segregation of garbage
6. Company rules and policies
7. How to Use Emergency Equipments
8. Learn About Various Alarms
9. Launching of Life Boat
10. Know SOPEP
11. Know the Automation in the Control Room
12. Learn About Manuals
13. Familiarize with Engine Room and Engine Room Workshop
14. Trace all the pipelines in the Engine Room
15. Should learn about the jobs of 4th Engineer.
11 Q Are you a team player?
Ans. Being a good team player is one of the most essential thing
about the shipping industry. Now don't just answer this question
as 'yes'.
You can make your answer really strong by supporting it with
some real examples in the past where you have worked with the
team. You can talk about any college event or school event that
you have organized with your team or either you have worked on
any project with your team then mention that also.
You can also add that "I believe in working as a team rather than
an individual and effective team work result as higher
productivity and the goal attainment is comparatively easier
faster".
While answering this question you should sound like you are very
comfortable working in a team and that you understand the
importance of working in team on ship.
12Q; What do you know about our company?
Ans This is most frequently asked question in marine interviews
and the short and crisp answer of this question can leave an impact
on the interviewer. The answer of this question describes your
seriousness, interest, capacity to research and your aptness.
To answer this question in a proper way you should visit the
website of the company and learn about the history of the
company. See when did they started as a shipping company, what
type of cargoes do they carry, name of the CEO, their
headquarters, number of ships in that company, their
achievements, events they organize, the awards they won, latest
news about their company. And it is good if you end your answer
with their amazing policies for their marine engineers.
13Q; What are your achievements?
Ans. While answering this question you should focus on the
following points:
Keep it real.
Be Relevant.
Sell yourself
Keep it recent
Keep it professional
You can say about any of your achievement be it related to sports,
academics, whether you have organized any successful event or
whether you have worked on any project. After telling them about
your achievement connect them with the requirements of marine
industry and let them know that you can prove to be a good marine
engineer onboard.
14Q. How is your experience in MANET?
Ans. You can start answering this question by explaining your
experience when you initially joined MANET and the small
difficulties that you had faced to adopt the marine environment
and how did you overcome that and now have become a really
good and sincere cadet. You can talk about how good the faculties
are and how they always support you in your academics. You also
talk about the sports facilities and facilities provided in that
library like the availability of all the newspapers which keeps you
updated about the marine field.
By this, way you can structure your answer in a proper manner
and let them know that how grateful you are to study in MANET.
15Q; Tell me about the place from where you belong?
Ans. You should mention the following points while giving an
answer:
 Exact location of your city/village. (district, state)
 Tourist attraction of that place.
 Any special thing about your place. (Any fort, any sweet
etc.) Basic history of your place.
 Any famous person in any field from your place.
 Your city is also knovvn as (Ex-Jodhpur- the sun city)
16Q; What do you do in your leisure hours?
Ans. The answer of this question should be professional and
should not include anything like you listen to music or watch
movies.
You can say that you like to read novels (prepare the names and
stories of those novels before saying this) or you like to improve
your communication skills, or you like to talk to your seniors who
are already working onboard and get to know about their practical
experiences, or whether you like to watch news etc.
EXAMPLE- Sir I believe that using the leisure hours productively
can help me improve myself and this is why I like to read novels
and I try to improve my communication skills as well. I like to
read news about the current happenings in the shipping industry
which helps me stay updated. (NOTE- You should know about
the latest news in shipping industry if you want to include this
point).
17Q; Can you work under pressure?
Ans. You can answer this question in a following manner but it
should not sound like you have mugged up the answer.
EXAMPLE- Yes, sir. Because I believe that there is no gain
without pain.
 Pressure is generally an opportunity to step one more feet
higher than current position.
 It teaches us how to work in different situations and how to
work in a smart way.
 Pressure is like a challenge and without challenges, there is
no learning.
 I would better take it as knowledge and skill enhancement
opportunity.
18Q. What type of work environment do you prefer?
Ans- You should not mention any particular type of work
environment while answering this question as in shipping
industry you will have to work with the people of different
countries. The answer of this question goes in a following
manner-
EXAMPLE- Sir, as far as the work environment is concerned, I'm
not very peculiar about it. I like to work with different people and
thus I am comfortable in any kind of work environment.
19Q; Why should I select you instead of a topper?
Ans- Sir, I am constantly improving on my studies and my graph
is only going up. Although I am not a topper right now but I
certainly believe that if I work constantly on my studies for a
period of time then I can also become a topper and I am working
on improving myself. I am also an enthusiastic learner and I
believe that a marine engineer should always be a good learner so
that is also one of my quality.
20Q; If I select you then will you maintain your SGPA?
Ans. YES sir, I will maintain my SGPA and I will also work hard
to increase it.
21 Q; Do you have any question for me?
Ans. When asked this question then do not just say NO as an
answer as it gives an impact that you are not eager to know about
the company. So, during the interview if you have been asked any
question of which you did not knew the answer, then you can ask
the interviewer politely that what could the answer of that
question. Or you can also ask about the programs that the
company conducts for Trainee Marine Engineers.
EXAMPLE- Sir, can you please tell me what are all the skill
development training courses that MAERSK provides for their
Trainee Marine Engineers.
QUESTIONS BASED ON SITUATIONAL AWARENESS
To check the presence of mind and how the cadets react under
different situations that is why situational awareness is one of the
favorite topics of interviewers.
22Q; You have a copper pipe and you have to make an
efficient cooler, what will you do?
Ans. Take a table fan and then wind the copper pipe on it in a
spiral form. Now put one end of the copper pipe in to tank having
chilled water (combination of ice and water) and the outlet of the
pipe is again taken back to the tank. One small pump is to be
provided between the water tank and the inlet of the pipe. Now
start the fan and start the pump so that the pump supplies water to
the copper pipe and as the copper pipe is wounded on the fan, the
fan gives cold air and acts as a cooler. This is the simplest method
to make an efficient cooler but there can be other ways too.
23Q; If you have ever travelled in a train then you must have
noticed that the above the charging socket for the cell phone
it is written that 110V DC supply. While the charger only
accepts the AC supply then why DC supply is given?
Ans. All the appliances in the train are running on DC (Fans,
Lights etc.). So not to complicate the circuit DC is provided till
the charging socket as well but a small inverter is provided just
behind the socket which converts this DC into AC.
24Q; If you are asked to clean the Engine Room, would you
do that?
Ans. As a Trainee Marine Engineer it is my responsibility to keep
my working space clean, so I will not have any problem in
cleaning the Engine Room.
25Q; If you are told to clean the toilets, would you do that?
Ans. I would not hesitate to clean my toilet and if there is any
problem with sewage treatment plant then also, I will not have
any problem to clean the toilets. But if some senior is asking me
to clean his toilet without any major reason then I will not do that
as it is his personal work and everyone should do their own
personal work. (Give this answer in a very polite manner and
without any hesitation).
27Q; How much do you rate yourself?
Ans. Sir, I would rate myself at 7 as I believe that no one can be
perfect and there is always a scope for improvement. Now if the
interviewer asks about what are the flaws that you have, then you
can talk about your weaknesses that you had mentioned earlier
and tell him that you would like to improve on them. But earlier
if the interviewer had asked you about your weaknesses then don't
tell it, just simply say that a scope of improvement does not
necessarily mean that one should have flaws.
28Q; Onboard if your senior is not following certain safety
rules, what will you do?
Ans. 'I will tell that senior that he should follow proper safety
procedures as it is the most important thing'. Your answer should
end here but if the interviewer asks that the senior officer is still
not listening to you then what would be your net step? The answer
given below can be your next answer. 'I will reach out to the more
superior person on the ship and will tell him that the officer is not
following certain safety procedures which is not good for the
safety of that person'.
29Q; You are onboard a vessel and you receive a message that
your sister is getting married. What will you do?
Ans. I will tell the chief engineer about it and will request him if
I can get a leave. The chief engineer will contact the company ask
if I can get the leave. If I get a leave then its good but if I don't get
the leave then also it is fine as I understand the requirements of
merchant navy.
30Q; If there is any fire in this room, what will you do?
Ans. First I will assure my safety and then I will see the intensity
of the fire. If it is a minor fire then I will extinguish the fire with
fire extinguisher and if it is a major fire then I will go out of the
room through the safest escape route and will inform the higher
authorities about the fire.
31Q; Name of the next candidate sitting outside?
Ans. Well you should know it as it shows your presence of mind.
32Q; If I do not select you then what will you do?
Ans. As your company hires only deserving cadets, if you do not
select me then it means that I still have lot of scope for
improvement so I will take it positively and I will improve myself.
33Q; Were you nervous before coming interview?
Ans. I was a bit nervous before coming into the interview as I am
going to give interview for such a big company but as I have
prepared for the interview, I was confident enough to give the
interview.
34Q; If an interviewer asks you to have a cup of tea then what
will you do?
Ans. While at first you should say NO but if the interview asks
again then you can take the tea or snacks whatever he/she offers.
But just take sip of tea, don't drink the entire cup.
35Q; Do you believe that merchant navy is an adventurous
field?
Ans. YES sir I do believe that merchant navy is an adventurous
field. Because adventure is not only about visiting different places
but everything which challenges you become a better professional
is an adventure and merchant navy provides lot challenges
everyday which will help me become a really good engineer and
I will learn to tackle different kind of problems also. I think that
is the biggest adventure according to me.
36Q; Do you think that your family life will get affected after
joining this field?
Ans.NO I don't think that my family life will get affected. I can
be in touch with my family through messages and calls even when
I will be on ship and also the vacations are quite long so I can
spend time with my family during that time. I have also interacted
with some teachers from our college and asked them about how
they were able to manage their personal lives and they also always
say that there is absolutely no problem with family. So, I don't
think that joining this profession will affect my family life.
37Q; Will you be able to survive at sea?
Ans. YES sir I will be able to survive at sea because I can adapt
to different situations very quickly and I already know what all
are the problems that I will have to face at sea but I still want to
join this field consciously, so I don't think so that I will have any
problem with surviving at sea.
38Q; How much would you rate me?
Ans. Sir I would rate you at 9. Now if the interviewer asks that
why not 10, then say that sir I believe that no one can be perfect
and there is always a scope of improvement in any field and one
can always learn about different thing to improve himself.
QUESTIONS BASED ON PHYSICS
Physics is commonly asked subject in Maersk interview so cadets
are advice to go through the basics of the physics and try to get
command over this extraordinary subject of science.
39Q; What is solenoid?
Ans. A solenoid is a cylindrical coil of wire acting as a magnet
when carrying electric current.
40Q; How the aeroplanes fly in the air, what is the principle
behind this?
Ans. Because of the shape of an airplane's wing, when the force
of lift is greater than the force of gravity, the airplane is able to
fly and because of thrust, the airplane is able to move forward in
flight. According to Newton's third law of motion, the action of
the wings moving through the air creates lift. According to a
principle of aerodynamics called Bernoulli's law, fast-moving air
is at lower pressure than slow-moving air, so the pressure above
the wing is lower than the pressure below, and this creates the lift
that powers the plane upward.
41Q; What is Wheatstone Bridge?
Ans. It is a simple circuit for measuring an unknown resistance
by connecting it so as to form a quadrilateral with three known
resistances and applying a voltage between a pair of opposite
corners.

42Q; What is Archimedes principle?

Ans. Archimedes' principle states that the upward buoyant force
that is exerted on a body immersed in a fluid, whether fully or
partially submerged, is equal to the weight of the fluid that the
body displaces and acts in the upward direction at the centre of
mass of the displaced fluid.
43Q What is buoyancy?
Ans. Buoyancy or upthrust, is an upward force exerted by a fluid
that opposes the weight of an immersed object.
44Q; What is the boiling point and freezing point? What is
the value of BP & FP for water and mercury?
Ans. The temperature at which a liquid boil and turn into a vapour
is called boiling point. The temperature at which a liquid turn into
a solid when cooled is called as freezing point. Boiling point for
water is 100°C and freezing point for water is 0°C. Boiling point
for mercury is 356. 7°C and freezing point for mercury is -
38.83°C.
45Q; What will be the boiling point of the water in vacuum
whether it would more or less than l00°C?
Ans. When we maintain vacuum (pressure below atmospheric
pressure) the water begins to boil at temperature lower than 100
degree Celsius.
46Q; Which device is used to measure the atmospheric
pressure? What are the various units of pressure?
Ans. A barometer is a scientific instrument used to measure
atmospheric pressure. Pascal or N/m2 or kg.m.s-2 is SI unit of
Pressure. Various pressure units with their conversion is given
below in a table
47Q What are the various units of temperature and their
conversion?
Ans. Kelvin is the SI unit for temperature. Kelvin, Degree
Celsius, Fahrenheit and Rankine are the often-used units for
temperature. Temperature Conversion Formulas
48Q What is the difference between Ammeter and
Galvanometer?
Ans. Ammeter - An ammeter is a measuring instrument used to
measure the current 1n a circuit.
Galvanometer - It is an instrument for detecting and measuring
small electric currents.
49Q; How can a Galvanometer be converted into Ammeter or
Voltmeter?
Ans. The galvanometer is converted into the ammeter by
connecting the resistance in parallel with the circuit. The
galvanometer is converted into the voltmeter by connecting the
resistance in series with the circuit.
50Q; How the ammeter and voltmeter are connected in an
electric circuit? What is the ideal resistance of ammeter and
voltmeter?
Ans. An ammeter is connected in series with the circuit because
the purpose of the ammeter is to measure the current through the
circuit.
A voltmeter is connected in parallel with the circuit because the
purpose of the voltmeter is to measure the potential difference
across the circuit.
Note - In an electric circuit object in parallel experience the same
potential difference and the object in series experience the same
electric current.
Ideal resistance of Ammeter and Voltmeter is 0 (Zero) and
Infinity respectively because –
An ideal ammeter should have zero resistance so that there is no
voltage drop across it, and so it would not affect the flow of a
current through the circuit into which it is placed.
An ideal voltmeter should have an infinite resistance so that no
current will flow through it, and all the current flows through the
component that you're investigating.
51Q What should be an ideal resistance of earth?
Ans. Ideally a ground should be of zero ohms resistance.
52Q What are the seven fundamentals quantities?
Ans. Given below are the seven fundamentals quantities with
their SI units.
Table 1 showing the seven (7) Fundamental Quantities of the
International System of Units.
53Q. In which unit the noise pollution is measured or what is
the unit of sound?
Ans. Decibels (DB) is the SI unit of sound and the noise pollution
is measured in this unit.
54Q. What is the speed of light in vacuum?
Ans. Speed of light in vacuum is 2.9979 x 108m/s.
55Q; How much time sunlight take to reach on earth?
Ans. It takes sunlight an average of 8 minutes and 20 seconds to
travel from the Sun to the Earth.
56Q; What is newton's law of universal gravitation?
Ans. Newton's law of universal gravitation states that every
particle attracts every other particle in the universe with a force
which is directly proportional to the product of their masses and
inversely proportional to the square of the distance between their
centres.
57Q; Define Pascal's law?
Ans. Pascal's law basically states that any pressure applied to a
fluid inside a closed system will transmit that pressure equally in
all directions throughout the fluid.
58Q; Define Force?
Ans. In physics, force is a push or pull on an object. A force can
cause an object to accelerate, slow down, remain in place, or
change shape.
59Q; What is Law of conservation of momentum?
Ans. For a collision occurring between object 1 and object 2 in an
isolated system, the total momentum of the two objects before the
collision is equal to the total momentum of the two objects after
the collision.
60Q; What is banking of road. What is its purpose?
Ans. The phenomenon of raising outer edge of the curved road
above the inner edge to provide necessary centripetal force to the
vehicles to take a safer turn on the curved road is called Banking
of Roads. Purpose of Banking of roads
 To provide the necessary centripetal force for the circular
motion.
 To reduce wear and tear of the tyres due to friction.
 To avoid skidding.
 To avoid overturning of vehicles.
61Q; What is the density of mercury?
Ans. Density of Mercury is 13593 Kg/m3
62Q; What is Escape Velocity?
Ans. The lowest velocity which a body must have in order to
escape the gravitational attraction of a particular planet.
63Q; What is the difference between mass and weight?
Ans. Mass is the actual amount of material contained in a body
and is measured in kg, gm, etc. Whereas weight is the force
exerted by the gravity on that object. Value of mass is
independent of the location while the value of the weight changes
as the location.
64Q; What is the value of 'acceleration due to gravity' on
Moon? What would be your weight on moon whether it would
more or less than your actual weight on earth?
Ans. The acceleration due to gravity on the surface of the Moon
is about 1.625 m/s2.
Our weight on moon is less than it would be on Earth due to a
difference of the strength of gravity on the moon.
65Q; A free falling body on earth has an acceleration of?
Ans. 9.81m/s2
66Q; What is difference between Speed and Velocity?
Ans. Speed is a scalar quantity that refers to "how fast an object
is moving." Speed is equal to the distance divided by the time
taken by the object to reach any destination.
Velocity is a vector quantity that refers to "the rate at which an
object changes its position." Velocity is equal to the change in
displacement divided by the change in time.
67Q; Define acceleration?
Ans. Acceleration is a measure of how fast the velocity changes.
Acceleration is a vector quantity that is defined as the rate at
which an object changes its velocity. An object is accelerating if
it is changing its velocity.
68Q; What are Kepler's law of Planetary motion?
Ans. Sir Kepler has given three laws of planetary motion.
Kepler's first law- Each planet moves in an elliptical orbit with
the sun at one focus of an ellipse.
Kepler's second law - A line from the sun to a given planet sweeps
out equal areas in equal time.
Kepler's third law -The periods of the planets are proportional to
the 3/2 power of the major axis lengths of their orbit.
69Q; Which type of Gas is used in Domestic cooking Gas
Cylinder?
Ans. "LPG" (liquefied petroleum gas) is used in Domestic
cooking Gas Cylinder which is either propane, butane or a
mixture of the two.
70Q; Which type of battery is used in Mobile Phone?
Ans. There are two types of batteries used in modern cell phones
are Lithium Polymer and Lithium Ion. Li-Poly is the latest and
most advanced technology for cell phone batteries.
71Q; What are the Newton's law of Motion?
Ans. Newton's first law states that A body at rest will remain at
rest, and a body in motion will remain in motion unless it is acted
upon by an external force. Newton's first law of motion referred
to as the law of inertia
Newton's second law states that "force applied on a body is
directly proportional to rate of change of momentum". Newton's
second law of motion referred to as Law of Force and
Acceleration
Newton's third law of motion states that "for every action, there
is an equal and opposite reaction".
72Q; What is the law of conservation of energy?
Ans. The law of conservation of energy is a law of science that
states that energy cannot be created nor be destroyed, but only
changed from one form into another or transferred from one
object to the another.
73Q; What do you mean by room temperature?
Ans. A comfortable ambient temperature, generally taken as
about 20°C - 25°C.
74Q; Which metal has highest conductivity? What is the 11nit
for conductivity?
Ans. Silver. The SI Unit of conductivity is Siemens Per Meter
(S/m).
75Q; What is the cut-in voltage for Silicon and Germanium?
Ans. Cut-in voltage for Silicon and Germanium is 0.7V and 0.3V
respectively.
76Q; What is Nuclear fission and Nuclear fusion?
Ans. Nuclear fission is a nuclear reaction in which a heavy
nucleus splits spontaneously or on impact with another particle,
with the release of energy.
Nuclear fusion is a nuclear reaction in which atomic nuclei of low
atomic number fuse to form a heavier nucleus with the release of
energy.
77Q.; Filament of incandescent lamp is made of which
material? What is melting point for this material?
Ans. Filaments in incandescent light bulbs are made of tungsten.
When electric current goes through the filament, the filament
glows. The melting point of Tungsten is 3422°C which is also the
highest melting point among the metals.
78Q.; What is the reason behind the formation of Rainbow?
Ans. A rainbow is a meteorological phenomenon that is caused
by reflection, refraction and dispersion of light in water droplets
resulting in a spectrum of light appearing in the sky and it takes
the form of a multicoloured circular arc. Rainbows caused by
sunlight always appear in the section of sky directly opposite the
sun.
79Q; How many zones/layers are in the atmosphere? Which
zone is nearest to the earth surface?
Ans. There are five main zones in the atmosphere namely
troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere and
exosphere. Troposphere is the nearest zone to the earth surface, it
exists from (0-10) Km above the earth surface.
80Q; What is Newton's law of cooling?
Ans. Newton's law of cooling states that the rate of heat loss of a
body is directly proportional to the difference in the temperatures
between the body and its surroundings provided the temperature
difference is small and the nature of radiating surface remains
same.
81 Q; What is Doppler's effect?
Ans. The Doppler effect (or the Doppler shift) is the change in
frequency or wavelength of a wave in relation to an observer who
is moving relative to the wave source. Hence, the time between
the arrival of successive wave crests at the observer is reduced,
causing an increase in the frequency.
82Q What is an EMF?
Ans. Electromotive force (emf) is a measurement of the energy
that causes current to flow through a circuit. It can also be defined
as the potential difference in charge between two points in a
circuit.
83Q What is voltage?
Ans. Voltage is another word for electrical potential difference.
Potential difference between point A and B is also known as the
voltage between point A and point B. It is also defined as the
amount of work done required to move a unit charge ( + 1
Coulomb) from B to A.
84Q What is the difference between Conduction, Convection,
and Radiation?
Ans. Difference Between
Conduction, Convection and
Radiation. While conduction is the
transfer of heat energy by direct
contact, convection is the movement
of heat by actual motion of matter;
radiation is the transfer of energy with
the help of electromagnetic waves.
85Q; What is the faraday's law of electromagnetism?
Ans. First law of Faraday's Electromagnetic Induction states that
whenever a conductor is placed in a varying magnetic field, EMF
is induced which is known as an induced EMF, if the circuit is
closed then current will flow through the circuit which is known
as induced current.
OR
Whenever a conductor is rotated in a magnetic field, EMF is
induced in the conductor which is known as an induced EMF.
Second law of Faraday's Electromagnetic Induction states that the
induced EMF is equal to the rate of change of flux linkages. (flux
linkages are the product of turns 'n' of coil and the flux associated
with it).
86Q; What is Lenz law in electromagnetic circuit?
Ans. Lenz's law is a common way to understand how
electromagnetic circuits obey Newton's third law and the
conservation of energy. Lenz's law is named after Heinrich Lenz,
and it says: An induced electromotive force ( emf) always gives
rise to a current whose magnetic field opposes the change in
original magnetic flux.
87Q; How would you define an electric current?
Ans. Current is the flow of an electric charge. Current flows
through a circuit when a voltage is placed across two points of a
conductor.
88Q; A magnifying glass is what type of lens?
Ans. Convex Lens.
89Q; How many watts are there in 1 horse power?
Ans. 745.7 Watts.
90Q; What is value of Newtonian constant of gravitation?
Ans. 6.674 08 x 10-11 m3 kg-1 s-2
91 Q; What is unit of charge?
Ans. Coulomb. Also, unit of Charge is ampere-hour.
92Q; In which medium sound travels fast - Water or Air?
Ans. In water, the particles are much closer together, and they can
quickly transmit vibration energy from one particle to the next.
This means that the sound wave travels over 4.3 times faster than
it would in air, but it takes a lot of energy to start the vibration.
93Q; What is Scaler and vector quantity?
Ans. Scalar quantities are those which are fully described by a
magnitude (or numerical value) alone. Vector quantities are those
which are fully described by both, a magnitude and a direction.
94Q; What does Einstein's theory of relativity teach us?
Ans. Einstein's theory of relativity teach us following key points.
1. Light travels at a constant speed.
2. When you move at higher speeds, time slows down for you.
3. Speeding things get shorter in length.
4. The speed of light cannot be surpassed ever.
95Q; What do you understand by E=MC2?
Ans. In physics, mass-energy equivalence states that anything
having mass has an equivalent amount of energy and vice versa,
with these fundamental quantities directly relating to one another
by Albert Einstein's famous formula.
E=MC2
in which E represents units of energy, M represents units of mass,
and C2 is the speed of light squared.
96Q; Define Magnetism?
Ans. It is a physical phenomenon produced by the motion of
electric charge, which results in attractive and repulsive forces
between objects.
97Q; The power of lens is measured in which unit?
Ans. Dioptre.
98Q; The absorption of ink by blotting paper involves which
phenomenon?
Ans. capillary action.
99Q; Light year is 11nit to measure?
Ans. Distance.
100Q; Why planets do not twinkle?
Ans. Because they are nearer to earth and hence, we receive a
greater amount of light and, therefore minor variations in the
intensity are not noticeable.
101Q; Metals are good conductor of electricity because?
Ans. They contain free electrons.
102Q; Why do ships floats?
Ans. All ships can float, but floating is more complex and
confusing than it sounds and it's best discussed through a
scientific concept called buoyancy, which is the force that causes
floating and another reason is the increased bottom surface area
of the ship is much larger and hence it keeps floating.
It doesn't matter how big or small the object is: a gold ring will
sink in water, while a piece of plastic as big as a football field will
float. The basic rule is that an object will sink if it weighs more
than exactly the same volume of water.
103Q; In water an iron needle sinks, but an iron ship float.
Why?
Ans. "The density of needle (as of iron) is much larger than the
water. So, it sinks easily. The weight of the water displaced by
the ship is equal to its weight, so it floats. Whereas the weight of
the water displaced by the iron needle is less than its weight so
the iron needle sinks".
104Q; Magnetism at the centre of a bar magnet is?
Ans. Zero (0).
105Q; Lux is the unit of?
Ans. Intensity of illumination.
106Q; What is crest and trough of a wave?
Ans. A crest is the point on a wave with the maximum value of
upward displacement within a cycle. A crest is a point on a surface
wave where the displacement of the medium is at a maximum. A
trough is the opposite of a crest, so the minimum or lowest point
in a cycle.

107Q; RADAR is use for?

Ans. It is used for detecting and locating the position of objects
such as ships and aeroplanes
l08Q; What is Mirage?
Ans. an optical illusion caused by atmospheric conditions,
especially the appearance of a sheet of water in a desert or on a
hot road caused by the refraction of light from the sky by heated
air.
109Q; Ball pen works on which principles?
Ans. It works on the principles of capillarity and surface tension.
110Q; A falling drop of rain water acquires the spherical
shape due to?
Ans. Surface Tension.
111 Q; A device used for measuring the depth of the sea is
called as?
Ans. Fathometer.
112Q; One watt-hour is equivalent to how many joules?
Ans. 3.6 X 103 j.
113Q; One Nanometer is equal to?
Ans. 10-9m.
114Q; Tesla is unit of?
Ans. Tesla is unit of magnetic flux density.
115Q; What is Polarization?
Ans. It is a process of separating opposite charges within an
object.
116Q; What is Resonance?
Ans. The increase in amplitude of oscillation of an electric or
mechanical system exposed to a periodic force whose frequency
is equal or very close to the natural undamped frequency of the
system.
117Q: What is critical speed?
Ans. The critical speed is the speed where the rotor shaft is having
maximum vibration.
118Q: What is the value of acceleration due to gravity at the
centre of the earth?
Ans. Zero (0).
119Q: What is the refractive index of water?
Ans. 1.33
120Q: What is current density?
Ans. Current density is current per unit area.
QUESTIONS BASED CHEMISTRY
Cadets should have knowledge of Basic chemistry related to
surroundings because many times it has been observed that
interviewer is interested to check the knowledge of chemistry.
121Q; The nucleus of an atom consists of?
Ans. Protons and Neutrons.
122Q; What is Henry's law?
Ans. It states that the amount of gas dissolved in a liquid is
proportional to its partial pressure.
123Q; What is osmosis and reverse osmosis?
Ans. Osmosis is a process by which molecules of a solvent tend
to pass through a semipermeable membrane from a less
concentrated solution into a more concentrated one. Reverse
osmosis is a process by which a solvent pass through a porous
membrane in the direction opposite to that for natural osmosis
when subjected to a hydrostatic pressure greater than the osmotic
pressure.
124Q; What is primary and secondary battery/cell?
Ans. A primary battery is designed to be used once and discarded,
and not recharged with electricity and cannot be reused. Alkaline
batteries, Mercury batteries, Silver-Oxide batteries, and Zinc
carbon batteries are the examples of primary batteries. A
secondary battery is designed to be used many times and can be
recharged with electricity and can be reused. Lead-Acid batteries
and Lithium batteries, nickel-cadmium are the examples of
secondary batteries.
125Q; Which is the highest and least electronegative element
in the periodic table?
Ans. Fluorine is the most electronegative element, while francium
is the least electronegative element.
126Q; What do you understand by endothermic and
exothermic reaction?
Ans. An endothermic process is any process which requires or
absorbs energy from its surroundings, usually in the form of heat.
Example - Melting ice cubes, Melting solid salts etc. An
exothermic reaction is a chemical reaction that releases energy by
light or heat. It is the opposite of an endothermic reaction.
Example - Any combustion reaction, a neutralization reaction and
rusting of iron.
127Q; What is Galvanisation?
Ans. Galvanization or galvanizing is the process of applying a
protective zinc coating to steel or iron, to prevent rusting. The
most common method is hot dip galvanizing, in which the parts
are submerged in a bath of molten zinc.
128Q; Which is lightest metal? Which is the lightest gas?
Ans. Lightest metal is lithium. Lightest gases are Hydrogen and
Helium.
129Q; The most commonly used bleaching agent is?
Ans. Chlorine.
130Q; What is percentage of oxygen in air?
Ans. 20.95%.
126Q; The main use of salt in diet is?
Ans. It produces in small amounts the hydrochloric acid required
for the digestion of food.
127Q; The most malleable metal is?
Ans. Gold.
128Q; The major constituent of air is?
Ans. Nitrogen (78.09%).
129Q; The main active constituent of tea and coffee is?
Ans. caffeine
130Q; Which metal is liquid at room temperature?
Ans. Mercury.
131Q; The number of electrons presents in H+ is?
Ans. Zero.
132Q; Which type of refrigerant is used in a domestic
refrigerator?
Ans. Modern refrigerators usually use a refrigerant called HFC-
134a (1,1,1,2- Tetrafluoroethane), which does not deplete the
ozone layer. Earlier we're using chlorofluorocarbons in
refrigerants began in the late 1970s and now almost we have
stopped using CFC because it is the main cause for depletion of
ozone layer.
133Q; Why sodium and potassium are kept in kerosene?
Ans. Because if they kept open, they can burn and if they kept in
water they can react with water. So, they are kept in kerosene.
Sodium and Potassium are the most reactive metals on this earth.
They react very explosively with both water and air that is why
they are stored in kerosene instead.
134Q; What is acid rain? What is the reason behind this?
Ans. Acid rain is caused by a chemical reaction that begins when
compounds like sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides are released
into the air. These substances can rise very high into the
atmosphere, where they mix and react with water, oxygen, and
other chemicals to form more acidic pollutants, known as acid
rain.
135Q; Which metals can be easily cut by the knife?
Ans. The alkali metals are the elements in Group 1 (lA). They are
lithium, sodium, potassium, rubidium, caesium, and francium and
can be easily cut with the help of a knife.
136Q; What is Avogadro's law?
Ans. Avogadro's law states that, "equal volumes of all gases, at
the same temperature and pressure, have the same number of
molecules.
137Q; What is Avogadro's Number/constant?
Ans. The number of atoms or molecules in one mole of a
substance, equal to 6.023 X 1023
138Q; Which type of acid is present in lemon, Tomato,
Tamarind and Apple?
Ans. Citric acid, Oxalic acid, tartaric acid and Malic acid is
present in lemon, Tomato, Tamarind and Apple respectively.
139Q; What is the full form of CNG, LNG and LPG?
Ans. CNG- Compressed Natural Gas, LPG- Liquefied Petroleum
Gas, LNG- Liquefied Natural Gas.
140Q; Which type of gas is used in Air Conditioning?
Ans. We use Air Conditioning to improve thermal comfort and
indoor air quality. So, we use "Freon gas" In AC. Although CFC
and R410A are also used.
141Q; What do you understand by Potential of Hydrogen
(PH)?
Ans. A measure of acidity or alkalinity of water-soluble
substances (PH stands for 'potential of Hydrogen'). A PH value is
a number from 1 to 14, with 7 as the middle (neutral) point.
Values below 7 indicate acidity which increases as the number
decreases, 1 being the most acidic and values above 7 indicate
alkalinity which increases as the number increases.
142Q; Which non-metal is a good conductor of electricity?
Ans. Graphite.
143Q; Why salt water conducts electricity and fresh water
does not conducts very well?
Ans. An electric current is a flow of electrical charge. Pure water
contains very few ions, so it does not conduct electricity very
well. When salt is dissolved in water, the solution conducts very
well, because the solution contains ions. The ions come from the
salt, whose chemical name is sodium chloride.
144Q; What is the basic use of alum?
Ans. It is widely used in the treatment of water, in medicine, for
cosmetics (in deodorant and antitranspirants) and in food
preparation (in baking powder and pickling).
145Q; The human. body is made up of several chemical
elements; the element presents in the highest proportion
(65%) in the body is?
Ans. Oxygen.
QUESTION BASED ON MATHEMATICS
While appearing for the interview cadets should have basic
knowledge of secondary level mathematics.
Cadets are advice to go through the following topics
Number system, Basic formulae of trigonometry and some
readily used formulae in Mathematics.
146Q. What is the square of 49?
Ans. Do not go for the traditional method to solve this question
always try to apply some special tricks to solve this kind of
questions rapidly.
(50-1)2 = 502 -2(50)(1) + 12 = 2401
In this way you can solve various questions without using pen and
paper. Just remember basic formulae and then you can solve any
of the below question in couple of seconds.
Similar questions: - 512, 992, 1012 and many more.
147Q; What is natural number?
Ans. Natural numbers include: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, ... and are also called
the positive integers.
148Q; What is Whole number?
Ans. Whole number starts from 0 and then same as of natural
number.
149Q; Is 1 a prime n1imber or not?
Ans. The definition of a prime number is a positive integer that
has exactly two positive divisors. However, 1 only has one
positive divisor (1 itself), so it is not a prime number.
150Q; What is Pythagoras Theorem?
Ans. It is a theorem discovered by Pythagoras that "the square on
the hypotenuse of a right-angled triangle is equal to the sum of
the squares on the other two sides.
151Q; What is the value of "iota2"?
Ans. -1
152Q; What is the value of l/∞?
Ans. Zero (0).
153Q; Is 0 an integer?
Ans. Yes 0 is an integer.
154Q; What is rational number? Is every integer a rational
number?
Ans. In mathematics, a rational number is any number that can be
expressed as the quotient or fraction p/q of two integers, a
numerator p and a non-zero denominator q. Since q may be equal
to 1, every integer is a rational number.
155Q; What is 1/0?
Ans. It can't be defined.
QUESTIONS BASED ON THERMO-DYNAMICS
Basic of engines starts right from thermodynamics so this subject
is considered as one of the basic subjects for the engines. Cadets
are advice to go through this subject and build the basic
foundation of engine with all the concept clear.
156Q; What are the three laws of thermodynamics?
Ans. The first law, also known as The Law of Conservation of
Energy, states that energy cannot be created nor be destroyed.
The second law of thermodynamics states that the entropy of any
isolated system always increases.
The third law of thermodynamics states that the entropy of a
system approaches a constant value as the temperature
approaches absolute zero.
157Q; Enthalpy and Entropy are functions of a single
parameter. What is that?
Ans. Temperature.
158Q; What is the Zeroth law of Thermodynamics?
Ans. The zeroth law of thermodynamics states that if there are
two thermodynamic systems, each in thermal equilibrium with a
third one, then they are in thermal equilibrium with each other.
159Q; What do you understand by Charles law, Boyle's law
and Gay-Lussac's law?
Ans. Charles Law-The volume of a given mass of a perfect gas
varies directly as its absolute temperature when the absolute
pressure remains constant.
Boyle's Law-The absolute pressure of a given mass of a perfect
gas varies inversely to its volume when the temperature remains
constant.
Gay-Lussac's law-The absolute pressure of a given mass of a
perfect gas varies directly as its absolute temperature, when the
volume remains constant.
160Q; What is joule's law?
Ans. It states that "The change of internal energy of a perfect gas
is directly proportional to the change of temperature".
161Q; What is the difference between 2-stroke and 4-stroke
engine?
Ans. The difference between 2-stroke and 4-stroke engine can be
understood by the below given table.
162Q; What do you mean by flash and fire point?
Ans. Flash point - Flash point is the minimum temperature at
which the oil/fuel gives enough vapour to form inflammable
mixture with air and which ignites momentarily upon the
application of test flame. Fire Point - is the lowest temperature at
which the oil/ vapour gives off enough vapour which ignites and
burns continuously for at least 5 seconds upon the application of
test flame.
163Q; What is the flash and fire point of diesel oil?
Ans. Flash point of Diesel Oil is ranging between 52°C to 96°C
and the fire point of diesel oil is assumed to 10°C higher than flash
point.
164Q; What is a pump?
Ans. Pump is a mechanical device which converts mechanical
energy of the fluid to hydraulic energy.
165Q; What are the various types of pumps?
Ans. The below table will clear your all doubts regarding the type
of pumps.
166Q; Do all pumps require priming?
Ans. No. Positive displacement pumps does not require priming.
167Q: What is priming?
Ans. Priming is basically filling the water inside the casing of
pump in order to remove the vapours and gases from the suction
pipe and the casing.
168Q: Does centrifugal pump require priming?
Ans. Yes centrifugal pump requires priming.
169Q: What is turbine?
Ans. Turbine is a mechanical device which converts hydraulic
energy of a fluid to the mechanical energy.
170Q: What is the use of Governor in Engines?
Ans. Governor is a mechanical device which is used to regulate
the mean speed of the engine, when there are variations in the
load. When load on the engine varies, the configuration of the
governor changes and it controls the supply of the fuel to the
engine.
171Q; What is a flywheel?
Ans. The function of the flywheel in an engine is to store
rotational energy and smoothen out the vibration and rotation of
the crankshaft. It stores excess of rotational energy from the
power stroke and supplies it back during non-power strokes of the
cycle. So, energy is stored in flyheel as rotational kinetic energy.
l72Q; Diesel engines are also known as?
Ans. Compression ignition engine.
l73Q; In a four-stroke cycle, the minimum temperature inside
the engine cylinder occurs at the?
Ans. Beginning of suction stroke.
174Q; What do you understand by a boiler?
Ans. A boiler is a closed vessel in which water is heated and
converted into steam. The produced steam is then used for various
purposes on the ship.
175Q; Boiler is which type of system - Closed system or open
system?
Ans. Boiler is a closed system.
l76Q; What is Carnot cycle?
Ans. The Carnot cycle consists of the following four processes:
- A reversible isothermal gas expansion process. In this process,
the ideal gas in the system absorbs qin amount heat from a heat
source at a high temperature Th, expands and does work on
surroundings.
- A reversible adiabatic gas expansion process. In this process, the
system is thermally insulated. The gas continues to expand and
do work on surroundings, which causes the system to cool to a
lower temperature, T1
- A reversible isothermal gas compression process. In this
process, surroundings do work to the gas at T1, and causes a loss
of heat, qout
- A reversible adiabatic gas compression process. In this process,
the system is thermally insulated. Surroundings continue to do
work to the gas, which causes the temperature to rise back to Th.
177Q; What is Carnot engine?
Ans. Carnot Engine is a type of engine that works on Carnot Cycle
which is a reversible cycle. It can be said as an IDEAL ENGINE
where efficiency is maximum. It is used to study real engines
(efficiency< 1) and observe their Thermodynamic properties.
178Q; What happens if we use diesel in a petrol engine and
vice versa?
Ans. Each and every Engine Components are designed in a
specific way and manner to fulfil the requirements and getting the
required results, so that's why we don't use Diesel in petrol
engines and vice versa, otherwise it will cause many damages to
the engine.
Case-I
Diesel in petrol
Result- Combustion process will not take place.
-Diesel is more viscous and it is less-volatile than the petrol. The
air fuel mixture is a homogenous mixture. Also, Diesel fuel
requires higher compression ratio so if you will use Diesel in
petrol engine, it will not Start combustion process. If maybe it is
started then also you will not able to achieve the required speed.
It will rotate very slowly. That power will not be sufficient to
drive the vehicle.
It will damage the Engine components and it will affect the
Engine performance.
Case-II
Petrol in Diesel Result
- It will cause Abnormal Combustion.
The combustion process will work normally until the temperature
of cylinder will increase more than its normal set values, then due
to detonation phenomenon, the mixture will start firing before the
top dead centre. It will cause the abnormal Combustion and Ash
particles, carbon particles will damage the piston and the piston
can get stuck also.
If piston gets stuck then there is only one option and that is to
complete overhauling to repair the engine.
Strict warning
It is okay to use Diesel in Petrol engine because this will not start
Combustion process.
But it is too dangerous to use Petrol in a Diesel engine because
already Petrol is highly inflammable and compression ratio of
Diesel engine is more than the petrol engine. So, it will cause
major damage to Engine components like Crank shaft, pistons,
connecting rod, Cylinder bores.
179Q; What do you understand by refrigeration cycle?
Ans. It consists of four basic components namely Evaporator,
Compressor, Condenser and Expander/Expansion valve.
- Liquid refrigerant enters the evaporator and it absorbs heat from
the body or space which is to be cooled, by absorbing the heat it
gets evaporated.
- Therefore, change of state occurs from the liquid to vapor which
is an isothermal process.
- Refrigerant in vapor form goes to the compressor which
compresses the vapor to the suitable condensing pressure and
hence at this pressure, refrigerant in vapor state is supplied to
condenser.
- Condenser is a device which cools the vapor refrigerant and
condensation of the refrigerant took place.
- The liquid form by the process of condensation is at high
pressure, this high pressure is reduced in expander and the liquid
refrigerant after reducing pressure to the normal pressure is
supplied to evaporator again and thus the cycle repeats.
180Q; What is viscosity?
Ans. Viscosity is a measure of a fluid's resistance to flow. It
decreases (thins) with increasing temperature and increases ( or
thickens) with decreased temperature.
181Q: What is dew point?
Ans. The atmospheric temperature (varying according to pressure
and humidity) below which water droplets begin to condense and
dew can form.
182Q: What do you understand by critical point?
Ans. A point on a phase diagram at which both the liquid and gas
phases of a substance have the same density, and are therefore
indistinguishable.
183Q: Which type of engine is used in Motor cycle?
Ans. In general, motorcycles are incorporated with 4-stroke
engine.
184Q: What is carburettor?
Ans. It is a device in an internal combustion engine where fuel is
vaporised and mixed with air prior to ignition.
185Q; In which type of engine carburettor is present?
Ans. Petrol Engines are having carburettor.
186Q; Is it impossible to make an engine working on a Carnot
cycle?
Ans. Yes.
187Q; One kilowatt is equal to?
Ans. 1000 N-m/s.
188Q; Why do we calculate Coefficient of Performance (COP)
in refrigerator while we calculate efficiency in Engine?
Ans. In case of an engine, the performance is measured in terms
of efficiency because it produces useful work whereas in case of
refrigerator, the performance is measured in terms of Coefficient
of Performance (COP) because refrigerator consumes work or
work is supplied to the refrigerator.
189Q; What do you understand by 1 Ton of refrigeration?
Ans. It can be defined as the amount of heat absorbed by the one
ton of ice to melt in 24 hours is known as one ton of refrigeration.
190Q; What is unit of refrigeration?
Ans. A refrigeration ton is approximately equivalent to 12,000
British thermal unit/hour or 3.5 kW.
191Q; A cycle consisting of one constant pressure, one
constant volume and two isentropic processes is known as?
Ans. Diesel cycle.
192Q; What are the differences between Otto cycle and Diesel
cycle?
Ans. Differences between Otto cycle and Diesel cycle are given
below

193Q; For the same maximum pressure and temperature

Diesel cycle is more efficient than Otto cycle. Is this sentence
correct?
Ans. Yes, it is correct.
194Q; The entropy of the 11niverse is continually on the
increase or decrease?
Ans. The entropy of the universe is continually on the increase.
195Q; A cycle consisting of two isothermal and two isentropic
processes, is known as?
Ans. Carnot cycle.
196Q; When wood is heated with a limited supply of air to a
temperature not less than 280°C, the resulting fuel is?
Ans. wood charcoal.
197Q; What is Heat Pump?
Ans. It is a device that transfers heat from a colder area to a hotter
area by using mechanical energy.
198Q; How many joules are there in one calorie?
Ans. 4.186 Joules.
199Q; What do we call the process ta1cing place at constant
pressure?
Ans. Isobaric.
200Q; What do we call the process taking place at constant
temperature?
Ans. Isothermal.
QUESTIONS BASED ON WORKSHOP
Cadets should have an adequate knowledge of Machining
equipments and welding equipments before going for an actual
interview.
Machining equipments -Types of lathe machine, accessories with
relevance of lathe, various machineries like drilling machine,
shaping machine a11d any other machines which you have in
your workshop with their relevance. Types of motors and their
ratings which is use to drive the belt of lathe machine
Welding equipments -Types of welding rods, which type of
welding machine is used in your workshop and its relevance,
should have basic knowledge of almost all types of weldings and
their uses.
201Q. Surface plate is used to check what?
Ans. Trueness of flat surfaces.
202Q. Which type of file would you use for the wood-work?
Ans. Rasp-cut file.
203Q; In arc welding, the electric arc is produced between the
work and the electrode by?
Ans. Contact Resistance.
204Q; Which welding process uses non-consumable
electrodes?
Ans. TIG welding.
205Q; What are the different types of lathe machines?
Ans. As per the requirement of the work, the different types of
lathe machines are speed lathe, centre lathe. Bench lathe,
toolroom lathe, capstan & turret lathe, special purpose lathe,
automatic lathe/copy turning lathe, automats laths and CNC lathe.
206Q; What is a function of Lathe Machine?
Ans. The main function of lathe machine is to remove metal from
a piece of work to give it a required shape and size. This is
accomplished by holding the work piece securely and rigidly on
the machine and then turning it against cutting tool which will
remove, metal from the work piece in the form of chips.
To cut the material properly the tool should be harder than the
material of the workpiece. It should be rigidly held on the
machine and should be fed or progressed in a definite way relative
to the work piece.
207Q; What are the different parts of lathe machine?
Ans. Lathe machine consists of different parts such as Bed,
Headstock, Tail-stock, Carriage, Feed mechanism and Screw
cutting mechanism.
208Q; What are the different cutting tool materials?
Ans. Tool steels, High speed steel, cobalt, carbides, ceramics,
cubic boron nitride and industrial diamond are the different
cutting tool materials.
209Q; What are the different operations which are performed
on the lathe machine?
Ans. The different operations which are performed on the lathe
machine are straight turning, shoulder turning, chamfering, thread
cutting, facing, knurling, filing, taper turning, eccentric turning,
polishing, grooving, spinning, spring winding, forming, drilling,
reaming, boring, counterboring, taper boring, internal thread
cutting, under cutting, parting off and tapping.
210Q; How would you define welding?
Ans. Welding may be defined as the process of joining metals by
the application of heat, or with the application of pressure and
filler metal which results in continuity of homogeneous material.
211Q; What are the personal protections the one should take
during the welding?
Ans. The personnel protections the one should take during the
welding are protection against burns, protection against
ultraviolet light, protection against flying chips and the general
body protection.
212Q; What are the different Arc welding equipments?
Ans. The different Arc welding equipments are AC or DC
machine, electrodes, electrode holder, cables and connectors,
cable lugs, chipping hammer, earthing clamps, wire brush,
helmet, safety goggles, hand goggles and boiler suit.
213Q; What are the common welding defects?
Ans. The common welding defects are lack of fusion, lack of
penetration, excess penetration, porosity, inclusions, cracking,
undercut and lamellar tearing.
214Q; What are the different types of welding?
Ans. Arc welding, submerged arc welding, Tungsten inert gas
welding, Metal inert welding, Resistance welding, Seam welding,
Butt welding, Flash welding, projection welding, braze welding,
soldering, ultrasonic welding, friction welding, oxy-acetylene
welding, electro-slag welding and atomic hydrogen welding are
the different types of welding.
215Q; What is the function of bed in lathe machine?
Ans. It provides a good support to damp the vibration and
generally it is made of cast iron.
216Q; What are the different types of hammer?
Ans. Claw Hammer, Ball Peen hammer, Cross and Straight Peen
hammer, Club Hammer, Sledge Hammer and Joiner's Mallet are
the common type of hammers.
218Q; What are the different types of flames in oxy-acetylene
welding?
Ans. Neutral Flame, Carbonizing flame and oxidising flame are
the different types of flames in oxy-acetylene welding.
219Q; Which type of fuel is used in welding?
Ans. Acetylene is a gas fuel which is used in oxy-acetylene
welding.
220Q; What is the purest form of iron?
Ans. Wrought Iron.
217Q; What are the different types of welding joints?
Ans. Tee joints, Edge joint, Corner joints, Lap joints and Butt
joint are basic types of the welding joints.

221Q; What is Different Between Gate Valve and Globe

Valve?
Ans. Gate valve is non-regulator type of valve means full close or
fully open positions only, while globe valve is regulator.
222Q; What is O ring?
Ans. It is a gasket or seal in the form of a ring with a circular cross
section, typically made of rubber and used especially in
swivelling joints.

223Q; In arc welding, the temperature of heat produced by

the electric arc is of the order of?
Ans. 6000° C to 7000° C.
224Q; In TIG arc welding, the welding zone is shielded by an
atmosphere of?
Ans. Helium gas or Argon gas.
225Q; The electrodes used in spot welding have a tip of?
Ans. Copper.
QUESTIONS BASED ON BASIC ELECTRICAL
Cadets who are going to appear for the interview should have
basic knowledge of AC motor, Alternator, Synchronous motor,
AC generator or Alternator, DC motor, DC generator, Basic
knowledge of paralleling of alternators and its relevance.
Electrical is one of the favourite subjects of interviewer.
Nowadays the duties of Electrical officer are also done by the
Marine Engineer and that is why interviewers are more focused
about this particular subject.
226Q. Rectifiers are used to convert?
Ans. Alternating current to Direct current.
227Q. What is Alternating Current?
Ans. Alternating Current is an electric current that reverses its
direction many times in a second at regular intervals.
228Q. What is frequency of AC in India?
Ans. 50 Hz.
229Q; Can DC supply be used for transformer?
Ans. No. If you apply DC to it, there won't be varying magnetic
flux, so since there is no change in magnetic flux linking to the
coil, emf is not induced on the secondary.
231Q. What do you understand by synchronous speed in
induction motor?
Ans. In induction motor, synchronous speed is the speed at which
the magnetic field rotates.
230Q; What are the differences between DC and AC?
Ans. Following are the differences between DC and AC supply

232Q; What Squirrel-cage induction motor consists of?

Ans. It consists of a cylinder of steel laminations, with aluminium
or copper conductors embedded in its surface. The rotor winding
has current induced in it by the stator field, and produces its own
magnetic field.
233Q; Does speed of 3-phase induction motor is equal to the
synchronous motor?
Ans. No. Speed of the rotor of an induction motor is always less
than its synchronous speed.
234Q; What is importance of slip in induction motor?
Ans. Slip creates a relative speed between the RMF (Rotating
magnetic field) and rotor. That keeps a torque continuously acting
on it when the motor is running. If there is no slip then the rotor
will not rotate because this rotor is accepted as stationary
conductor as long as it rotates less than the speed of RMF, once it
reaches the speed of RMF that is (N=Ns) the emf is not induced
and thus the speed of rotor decreases. Again, the rotor tries to pick
up the speed of RMF and the same thing repeats.
235Q; If the 3-phase induction motor is standstill then the
value of slip will be?
Ans. Maximum i.e. 1.
236Q; What is slip in case of 3-phase induction motor and
how to find percentage slip?
Ans. Slip can be defined as the difference between the
synchronous speed (Ns) and the rotor speed (N). Percentage slip
is given below
𝑁𝑠 − 𝑁
𝑆𝑙𝑖𝑝 =
𝑁𝑠
Where: Ns =Synchronous-speed N = Rotor-speed
237Q; What is Fleming's left-hand rule and where it is
applicable?
Ans. The direction of force,
magnetic field and current
acting on the current carrying
conductor can be found out
using Fleming's Left-hand Rule.
Stretch the thumb, forefinger
and the middle finger of your
left hand in such a way that they
are perpendicular to each other.
Thumb will show the direction of force or thrust, forefinger will
show the direction of magnetic field and middle finger will show
the direction of current in a conductor.
Fleming's left-hand rule is applicable for Motors.
238Q; What is Fleming's Right-hand rule and where it is
applicable?
Ans. This rule states "Hold out
the right hand with the first
finger, second finger and
thumb at the right angle to each
other. Then forefinger
represents the direction of the
line of force, the thumb points
in the direction of motion or
applied force, then second
finger points in the direction of the induced current.
Fleming Right-hand rule is applicable for the generators.
239Q; What battery consists of-AC or DC?
Ans. Only DC batteries are possible.
240Q; Can we store AC voltages in batteries or Do we have
AC batteries?
Ans. We can store DC voltage because the voltage can complete
the circuit properly in a battery. i.e. from positive to negative. But
in order to store AC in a battery, the battery terminals must change
at the frequency of the AC voltage and which is not possible. i.e.
Polarity of AC voltages constantly changes that is why we can't
store the AC voltages. That is in the end there will be zero charge
in the battery.
241Q; How does turning a key start a car?
Ans. To make an engine start it must be turned at some speed, so
that it sucks fuel and air into the cylinders, and compresses it. The
starter motor spins this small gear which is connected to the gear
spins the ring gear, and the crankshaft starts to turn.
242Q; Why do we use DOL starter in 3 phase induction
motor?
Ans. To prevent damage to the windings due to the high starting
current flow. We employ different types of starters. The simplest
form of motor starter for the induction motor is Direct Online
Starter (DOL). The DOL starter consist of circuit breaker,
contactor and an overload relay for protection.
243Q; What do you understand by Kirchhoff's Voltage law
and Kirchhoff's current law?
Ans. Kirchhoff's voltage law states that for a closed loop series
path the algebraic sum of all the voltages around any closed loop
in a circuit is equal to zero.
Or
Kirchhoff's voltage law states that the sum of the electromotive
force and the voltage drops in a closed circuit remains zero.
Kirchhoff's current law states that the algebraic sum of all currents
entering and exiting a node must equal zero." This law is used to
describe how a charge enters and leaves a wire junction point or
node on a wire.
244Q; Why exciter is used in an alternator?
Ans. The main purpose of an exciter in a generator(alternator) is
to provide a steady magnetic field which becomes a rotating
output which is used to induce the EMF in the armature coil. The
rotor is a rotating electromagnet that requires a DC (Direct
Current) electric power source to excite the magnetic field.
245Q; Which lamp Cannot sustain much voltage fluctuations
- Incandescent or Fluorescent or mercury vapor lamp?
Ans. Incandescent.
246Q; What do you understand by permittivity? What is the
permittivity of free space?
Ans. Permittivity is the measure of a material's ability to store an
electric field in the polarization of the medium.
The SI unit for permittivity is farad per meter.
Permittivity of free space is 8.85x10-12 F/m.
247Q Define permeability?
Ans. Permeability is a quantity measuring the influence of a
substance on the magnetic flux in the region it occupies.
The SI unit for permeability is Henries per meter.
248Q What is capacitor?
Ans. Capacitor is a device used to store an electric charge,
consisting of one or more pairs of conductors separated by an
insulator.
249Q which type of motor is used in ceiling fan?
Ans. Single phase induction motor is used in ceiling fan which
are single phase permanent capacitor, capacitor start capacitor run
and shaded pole motor.
250Q; Why single-phase induction motors are not self-
starting?
Ans. Single phase induction motor has distributed stator winding
and a squirrel-cage rotor. When fed from a single-phase supply,
its stator winding produces a flux (or field) which is only
alternating i.e. one which alternates along one space axis only. It
is not a synchronously revolving (or rotating) flux as in the case
of a two or a three-phase stator winding fed from a 2 of 3 phase
supply. Now, an alternating or pulsating flux acting on a
stationary squirrel cage rotor cannot produce rotation (only a
revolving flux can produce rotation). That is why a single-phase
motor is not self-starting.
251Q; How can we make single phase induction motor self-
starting?
Ans. To make it self-starting, it can be temporarily converted into
a two-phase motor while starting. This can be achieved by
introducing an additional 'starting winding' also called as
auxiliary winding. Hence, stator of a single-phase motor has two
windings: (i) Main winding and (ii) Starting winding (auxiliary-
winding).
252Q; By looking at which part of the motor it can be easily
confirmed that a particular motor is D.C motor?
Ans. Commutator.
253Q; Conductance is reciprocal of what?
Ans. Resistance.
254Q; Bulb in the street lighting are all connected in which
format - series or parallel?
Ans. We need to apply full rated supply voltage to all street lights.
So, the voltage should be same across the terminal of the light. If
we connect all the lights in parallel then the voltage across each
bulb is same. That is why all street lights are connected in parallel.
255Q; 1 Newton meter is equal to?
Ans. One joule.
256Q; What do you understand by Star and Delta
Connection?
Ans. In STAR connection, the starting or finishing ends (Similar
ends) of three coils are connected together to form the neutral
point. A common wire is taken out from the neutral point which
is called Neutral.
In DELTA connection, the opposite ends of three coils are
connected together. In other words, the end of each coil is
connected with the start of another coil, and three wires are taken
out from the coil joints. No Neutral Point or star point in Delta
Connection.
The speeds of Star connected motors are slow as they receive 1/
√3voltage. The speeds of Delta connected motors are high
because each phase gets the total of line voltage.

In Star Connection, the phase voltage is low as 1/√3 of the line

voltage, so, it needs low number of turns, hence, saving in copper.
In Delta connection, the phase voltage is equal to the line voltage,
hence, it needs more number of turns.
Low insulation required as phase voltage is low. Heavy insulation
required as Phase voltage = Line Voltage.
In Power Transmission, Star Connection system is general and
typical to be used. In Power Distribution and industries, Delta
Connection is general and typical to be used.
Line Current is Equal to Phase Current. i.e.
IL = IPH in star connection.
Line Voltage is Equal to Phase Voltage. i.e.
VL = VPH in delta connection.
Line Voltage is √3 times of Phase Voltage. i.e.
VL = 3 VPH in star connection.

Line Current is √3 times of Phase Current. i.e.

IL= √3 IPH in delta connection.

257Q; Autotransformer makes effective saving on copper and
copper losses, when its transformation ratio is equal to?
Ans. Approximate to one.
258Q; Inside a hollow conducting sphere, the value of electric
current is?
Ans. Zero.
259Q; Length of the cable is doubled; its capacitance C will
be?
Ans. Double.
260Q; DC machine is - Conduction machine or convention
machine?
Ans. DC machine has direct contact to conductor and controlling
of electric current through directly. Hence it is called as
conduction machine.
261Q In DC generator, the electricity produced in armature
is-AC or DC?
Ans. In DC generators, varying conductor cuts the fixed magnetic
field then EMF will be induced that will be in the form of AC but
not DC.
262Q Commutators in DC machines have a role of coverts?
Ans. AC to DC in case of DC generators and vice versa in DC
motors.
263Q In a DC machine, which of these parameters remain the
same whether it runs as DC motor or DC generator?
Ans. Induced EMF. In case of a generator it is called as generated
EMF. In case of a motor it is called as Back EMF.
264Q Which machine is used for the battery charging - DC
series generator or DC shunt generator?
Ans. DC shunt generator can be made to provide constant output
voltage that is why it is used for the battery charging.
265Q The Polarity of a DC generator can be revered by what?
Ans. Revering the field current.
266Q; A winding is having number of slots is equal to number
of poles then this winding is called as?
Ans. Concentrated winding.
267Q; Which alternator is more suitable for high-speed
system?
Ans. Non-Salient pole machine has high peripheral speed and
sufficient mechanical strength.
268Q; When two Alternator are operating in parallel and at
perfect synchronization, their synchronizing power will be
equal to?
Ans. Zero.
269Q; Why a stationary alternator must not be connected to
live bus bar?
Ans. The stationary alternator must not be connected to live bus
bar because the induced emf is zero at standstill and a short circuit
will result.
270Q; Why damper winding is used in synchronous machine?
Ans. Damper windings are provided to damp out oscillation. They
also help in starting as they form a cage winding.
271Q; What are the conditions need to be satisfied when you
are paralleling two alternators?
Ans. The phase sequence of the Bus bar voltages and the
incoming machine voltage must be the same.
The Busbar voltages and the incoming machine terminal voltage
must be in phase.
The terminal voltage of the incoming machine and the alternator
which is to be connected in parallel or with the Busbar voltage
should be equal.
The frequency of the generated voltage of the incoming machine
and the frequency of the voltage of the Busbar should be equal.
272Q; Why rating of transformer is expressed in KVA?
Ans. Copper losses (I2R) depends on current which passing
through transformer winding while Iron losses or core losses or
Insulation losses depends on Voltage. That's why the transformer
rating may be expressed in VA or kVA, not in W or kW.
273Q; What do you understand by power triangle?
Ans. Real/True power is represented as a horizontal vector and
reactive power is represented as a vertical vector. The apparent
power vector is the hypotenuse of a right triangle formed by
connecting the real and reactive power vectors. This
representation is often called the power triangle.
True Power - The actual amount of power being used, or
dissipated, in a circuit is called true power, and it is measured in
watts (symbolized by the capital letter P, as always).
Apparent Power - The combination of reactive power and true
power is called apparent power, and it is the product of a circuit's
voltage and current, without reference to phase angle. Apparent
power is measured in the unit of Volt-Amps (VA) and is
symbolized by the capital letter S.
Reactive power - The dissipated power resulting from inductive
and capacitive loads measured in volt-amperes reactive (VAR)
and it is denoted by Q.

274Q. What are the different methods for

synchronizing/paralleling of alternators?
Ans. A dark lamp method, Synchro-scope, Three Bright Lamp
Method and Two Bright One Dark Lamp Method.
275Q; What is rheostat?
Ans. It is an electrical instrument used to control a current by
varying the resistance.
276Q; Define impedance?
Ans. The effective resistance of an electric circuit or component
to alternating current, arising from the combined effects of ohmic
resistance and reactance.
277Q; What is power factor?
Ans. Power factor is the ratio of the actual electrical power
dissipated by an AC circuit to the product of the RMS values of
current and voltage.
278Q; What is the main purpose of earthing?
Ans. Earthing is used to protect you from an electric shock. It does
this by providing a path (a protective conductor) for a fault current
to flow to earth.
279Q; What is the purpose of big hole in an electric plug?
Ans. This is connected to the earth pin. This is used when the
appliance has a metal casing to take any current away, in case if
the live wire comes in contact with the casing.
280Q; What is magnetizing current in transformer?
Ans. The current that flows through the primary winding of a
power transformer when no loads are connected to the secondary
winding; this current establishes the magnetic field in the core and
furnishes energy for the no-load power losses in the core. Also
known as exciting current.
281Q; What is transformer? What is working principle of
transformer?
Ans. Transformer is static electromagnetic device, which is used
to either step up or step down the voltage levels by keeping power,
frequency and flux as constant.
A transformer consists of two electrically isolated coils and
operates on Faraday's principal of "mutual induction", in which
an EMF is induced in the transformers secondary coil by the
magnetic flux generated by the voltages and currents flowing in
the primary coil winding.
282Q; How would you define safe voltage?
Ans. 50 VAC or 120 VDC is considered the danger limit, take
these as guidelines as the limits will change with humidity and
other environmental factors. So, we can say that the voltage less
than 50VAC or 120VDC is generally considered as a safe voltage.
283Q; What do you understand by Auto Transformer?
Ans. An Auto-transformer is an electrical transformer with only
one winding. In an autotransformer, portions of the same winding
act as both the primary and secondary sides of the transformer.
284Q; What do you understand by Eddy Current?
Ans. Eddy Current is a localized electric current induced in a
conductor by a varying magnetic field.
285Q; Which is readily available DC source on ship?
Ans. Batteries are readily available DC source on ship.
286Q; What is a single-phase Autotransformer?
Ans. A Single-phase autotransformer is a single winding
transformer in which a part of the winding is common to both
high-voltage and low-voltage sides.
287Q; What is the general system requirement of Alternator?
Ans. The Magnetic system is required for the production of the
magnetic field. Armature system is required for the houses of
conductors on which the EMF is to be induced.
288Q; What are the advantages of Stationary Armature and
Rotating Field System in case of an alternator?
Ans. The advantages of the stationary armature and rotating field
system are as follows:
 The coils of the stationary armature can be insulated easily.
 The cooling of the winding is more efficient.
 In the motor high peripheral speed can be achieved.
 In this Slip rings and brushes are not necessary, and we can
easily supply the output current to the load circuit.
289Q; What is meant by Turbo Alternators?
Ans. High-speed alternators are called Turbo Alternators.
Because of the high speed of rotation, the diameter of the rotor is
reduced, and the axial length is increased. Steam turbines are used
as prime movers.
290Q; What are the various types of Rotor used in the
Alternators?
Ans. The various types of a rotor are:
1.) Salient pole Rotor.
2.) Squirrel Cage Rotor.
3.) Wound Rotor.
4.) Cylindrical Rotor.
291Q; What is the Universal motor?
Ans. The motor which is designed to operate on AC and DC
power both is known as Universal motor or Series-wound motor.
QUESTIONS BASED ON BASIC MARINE
Here comes the most important part of the interview i.e. Basic
marine engineering related questions. Although at this stage cadet
should have the basic knowledge of ship and its machineries.
Marine based questions are asked to check the learning potential
of cadets towards their profession.
292Q; Which type of engine is used for the propulsion of the
ship?
Ans. It completely depends on the type of ship. Either the ship
can have 2- Stroke Marine Diesel or 4-Stroke Marine Diesel
engine.
In general, all large ocean-going vessel have 2-Stroke marine
diesel engine and mostly small ships are having 4-stroke marine
diesel engine.
It should be noted that passenger vessel has 4-stroke engine
because of the less headroom available.
293Q; Which is the port and starboard side of the ship and by
which colour these sides are generally represented?
Ans. While looking forward of the ship, port side is left side and
starboard side is right side. Port side is represented by red colour
and starboard side is represented by green colour.
294Q; Is there any difference between watertight door and
weather tight door?
Ans. Yes there is a difference between watertight door and
weathertight door.
Weathertight door is directly exposed to the weather and serves
the duty to secure the area from wind and water. Accommodation
entrance door and hatch covers on bulk carrier are the example of
weathertight door. Watertight door is not directly exposed to the
weather and serves the duty to secure the area from water. Engine
room doors are generally watertight doors.
295Q; In case of 2-Stroke engine and 4-Stroke engine what is
the speed ratio of camshaft to crankshaft?
Ans. A camshaft of a four-stroke engine runs at ½ of the
crankshaft speed. Camshaft to crankshaft speed ratio is 1:2.
A camshaft of a two-stroke engine runs at same speed as of the
crankshaft. Camshaft to crankshaft speed ratio is 1:1.
296Q; Where is the gudgeon pin connected in the engine?
Ans. Gudgeon pin is connected in 4-stroke engine only. It
connects piston and the connecting rod.
297Q; Where is the crank pin connected in the engine?
Ans. Crank pin is connected between the connecting rod and
crankshaft.
298Q; Does 4-stroke engine consists of crosshead?
Ans. No.
299Q; Where does crosshead is connected in engine?
Ans. Crosshead is connected in between piston rod and
connecting rod in case of a 2-stroke engine.
300Q; What are the types of merchant naval ship?
Ans. Container ship, Oil tanker ship, Chemical Ship, Bulk carrier,
General cargo ship, LNG/CNG/LPG carrier and Roll-On/Roll-
Off vessel.
301Q; What is cofferdam?
Ans. A void or empty compartment is provided between the tanks
to prevent two different liquids from mixing with each other and
this space is known as cofferdam.
302Q; What is OWS on ship?
Ans. OWS stands for Oily Water Separator. An OWS is a piece
of equipment specific on ship and it is used to separate oil and
water mixtures into their separate components.
303Q; What are the six degrees of motion of ship?
Ans. A ship at sea moves in six degrees of motion: heave, sway,
surge, roll, pitch and yaw. The first three are linear motions.
Heaving is the linear motion along the vertical Z-axis, swaying is
the motion along the transverse Y-axis, and surging is the motion
along the longitudinal X-axis. Rolling is a rotation around a
longitudinal axis, pitching is a rotation around the transverse axis
and yawing is a rotation around the vertical axis.

304Q; What are the different types of fuel oil used on ship?
Ans. Marine Gas Oil (MGO), Marine Diesel Oil (MDO), Heavy
Fuel Oil (HFO), Low Sulphur Fuel Oil (LSFO) and Ultra Low
Sulphur Fuel Oil (ULSFO) are the different types of fuel oil use
on ship.
305Q; Which side of the Pump is fitted with filter and
strainer?
Ans. Filter is fitted to the discharge side of the pump while
strainer is connected to the suction side.
Duties of both are same. i.e. to restrict an entry of foreign particles
into the system but generally strainer avoid the entry of foreign
particles to the pump and filter avoid the entry of minute particles
in the system.
306Q; What is bilge keel?
Ans. A bilge keel is used to reduce a ship's tendency to roll. Bilge
keels are employed in pairs (one for each side of the ship). Bilge
keels increase hydrodynamic resistance to rolling, making the
ship roll less.
307Q; What do you understand by knot? Speed of ship is
measured in which unit?
Ans. Speed of ship is measured in knot. The knot is a unit of speed
equal to one nautical mile per hour, exactly 1.852 km/h.
308Q; What is collision bulkhead?
Ans. The first watertight bulkhead in the forward part of a ship
designed to keep out water in the event of a collision.
309Q; In modern merchant vessel where the engine room of
ship is located - Forward or stern of the ship?
Ans. Generally, engine room is located in the stern of the ship.
310Q; What do you mean by watertight bulkhead?
Ans. Watertight bulkheads are boundaries of any watertight space
which includes the bulkheads of deep tanks. Their purpose is to
sub-divide the ship into smaller watertight compartments to
prevent complete flooding in case of damage.
311Q; What is stroke length in engine?
Ans. The stroke length is how far the piston travels in the cylinder.
i.e. the distance between top dead centre to bottom dead centre.
312Q; What MARPOL stands for?
Ans. MARPOL stands for Marine Pollution. There are six
annexes in MARPOL. Four proposal of MARPOL annexes are
still in queue.
313Q; What are the different types of MARPOL annexes?
Ans. The MARPOL Convention includes regulations aimed at
preventing and minimizing pollution from ships - both accidental
pollution and that from routine operations - and currently includes
six technical Annexes.
1. Annex I Regulations for the Prevention of Pollution by Oil
(entered into force 2 October 1983).
2. Annex II Regulations for the Control of Pollution by Noxious
Liquid Substances in Bulk (entered into force 2 October 1983).
3. Annex III Prevention of Pollution by Harmful Substances
Carried by Sea in Packaged Form (entered into force ljuly 1992).
4. Annex IV Prevention of Pollution by Sewage from Ships
(entered into force 27 September 2003).
5. Annex V Prevention of Pollution by Garbage from Ships (
entered into force 31 December 1988).
6. Annex VI Prevention of Air Pollution from Ships ( entered into
force 19 May 2005).
New proposed MARPOL annexes are –
Annex VII International conventions for preventing pollution
from ships by ballast water.
Annex VIII Regulation for prevention of pollution by antifouling
paints from ships.
Annex IX Regulation for prevention of pollution by noise from
the Ship.
Annex X Regulation for the prevention of pollution by vibration
of the ship.
314Q; What is Air compressor?
Ans. An air compressor is a device that compresses the air at low
pressure and delivers at high pressure to the storage tank (air
bottle) and later this compressed air can be used for various
purposes.
315Q; What is turbocharger?
Ans. It consists of turbine and compressor and both are mounted
on same shaft. It uses the exhaust gas of the engine to drive a
turbine and eventually this spins compressor and that pushes extra
air (and oxygen) into the cylinders, allowing them to burn more
fuel.
316Q; What are the various machineries in Engine Room?
Ans. Engine Room of a modern merchant naval ship consists of a
lot of machineries like Main Engine, Auxiliary Engine/
Generator, Purifiers, pumps, Fresh water generator, Heat
Exchangers, Air compressors, Main Boiler, Auxiliary Boiler, etc.
317Q; In which Type of Ship COPF (Cargo Oil Pump
Turbine) is required?
Ans. It is required in Oil tanker for loading and discharging the
cargo oil from the ship.
318Q; What does NPSH stand?
Ans. NPSH stands for Net Positive Suction Head.
319Q; What is NPSH available and NPSH required?
Ans. NPSH Available (NPSHA): The absolute pressure at the
suction port of the pump.
NPSH Required (NPSHR): The minimum pressure required at the
suction port of the pump to keep the pump from cavitating.
320Q; On which cycle marine diesel engine works?
Ans. Marine Diesel engine works on Dual cycle.
321Q; Why lifeboat is provided on ships?
Ans. Lifeboat is provided on ships so that if there is any kind of
emergency, we can board the lifeboat and abandon the ship.
322Q; What is duct Keel?
Ans. The duct keel is a tunnel that runs along the keel. This tunnel
is designed for people to pass through it doing inspection on
various pipelines.
323Q; What do you understand by swept volume and
clearance volume of an engine?
Ans. It is the volume swept by the piston in moving between TDC
to BDC while the clearance volume is volume contained in the
cylinder, above the top of the piston when the piston is at TDC.
324Q; Total vol11me of the engine is a s11m of?
Ans. Total volume of the engine is sum of swept volume and
clearance volume.
325Q; What do you understand by camless engines?
Ans. The engines which do not have camshaft (Cam & Follower)
to operate various valves are known as camless engines.
Nowadays, -ve are using automation to operate the various valves
of the Engine.
326Q; What is approximate length of anchor chain?
Ans. Generally, length of anchor cables is between 2-2.5 times
the length of the ship i.e. the approximate length of anchor chain
is around 10-15 shackle.
327Q; How many feet/meters are there is 1 shackle?
Ans. 1 shackle is equal to 90 feet or 27.4m.
328Q; What do you understand by UMS Ships?
Ans. UMS stands for Unmanned Machinery Space. Nowadays
Modern ships are UMS class i.e. the machinery space (Engine
Room) is left Unmanned for the certain time period. UMS ships
are boon given by the automations.
329Q; What is PPM?
Ans. PPM stands for Parts per million.
330Q; What is Auxiliary Engine on ship?
Ans. Auxiliary Engine is a 4-Stroke Engine which is coupled with
an alternator in order to generate electricity onboard ship.
331Q; What is freeboard?
Ans. Free board is the height of a ship's side between the waterline
and the deck.
332Q; What is camber?
Ans. Camber is the rise of the deck from the ships side to the
centreline.
333Q; What is Heat Exchanger?
Ans. It is a device which is used to carry away the heat from
various liquids so that the temperature of various liquids can be
maintained as per the desired value.
334Q; Name the two major manufactures of Main Engine of
ship?
Ans. Wartsila Sulzer and MAN B&W are two major
manufactures of Main Engines of ship.
335Q; What is TEU & FEU?
Ans. TEU stands for Twenty-Foot Equivalent Unit and FEU
stands for Forty-Foot-Equivalent Unit. These both are
terminology to define the size of containers for a container ship.
336Q; What is another name of gudgeon pin?
Ans. Wrist Pin.
337Q; Which type of Engines are called as Trunk Piston
Engines?
Ans. 4 stroke Engines.
338Q; What are mooring ropes?
Ans. Mooring ropes are used to secure the ship at jetty or to any
other ship.
QUESTIONS BASED ON SAFETY
Nowadays shipping companies are much concern about the safety
of personnel and cargo as well. So, they want to check the
knowledge of cadets by asking safety related question.
339Q; What do you understand by the PPE? Does it remain
same for all the jobs which are carried out on ship?
Ans. PPE stands for
Personal Protective
Equipments.
PPE used to protect the
person from hazards such
dust, dirt, fumes and sparks
etc. It is the barrier between
hazard and person.
There are various types of
PPE as per the assigned job
hence PPE does not remain
same for all the jobs which
are carried out on ship.
Below are the basic PPE which the one has to wear before
entering to the engine room of the ship.
340Q; Which type safety shoes the one has to wear before
going to operate/ repair any electrical equipment?
Ans. Rubber type of safety shoes.
341Q; What do you understand by Man-overboard
condition?
Ans. Man overboard condition may be defined as an emergency
in which a person has fallen off a boat or ship into the water.
342Q; How would you define your own safety?
Ans. "Safety means keeping yourself and others free from harm
or danger. It means taking care not to fall or bump or run into
things. It also means to avoid accidents by being careful with what
you are doing."
343Q; What is the meaning of 'Work at Height'?
Ans. In general any work above 2 meters from ground can be said
as 'work at height'.
344Q; What is Confined Space?
Ans. An area which is small and enclosed or an area where one
entry and exits or where a man cannot work comfortably in any
location is known as a confined space.
345Q; How would you define House Keeping?
Ans. House Keeping means not only cleanness but also include
orderly arrangement of operations, tools, equipments storage
facilities and suppliers.
346Q; What are the hazards in welding?
Ans. The common hazards in welding are Electric shock, Fumes
and gases, Fire and explosions and Injuries from insufficient PPE.
347Q; What do you understand by SOLAS?
Ans. SOLAS stands for Safety of Life at Sea. SOLAS is an
International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea. It is an
international maritime treaty which sets minimum safety
standards in the construction, equipment and op eration of
merchant ships.
348Q; What is the full form of SCBA? What is this device for?
Ans. SCBA stands for 'Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus'.
Before making an entry to any enclosed space on ship the
personnel should wear this SCBA. The SCBA used onboard ship
is of the open circuit type mostly. In this, the exhaled air is
discharged to the atmosphere while air from the cylinder is made
available for inhalation.
351Q; How would you define piracy?
Ans. Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or
boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically
with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable items or
properties. Those who engage in acts of piracy are called pirates.
349Q; What are the different types of fire extinguisher and in
which case fire these extinguishers are being used?
Ans. The below image is showing the type of fire extinguisher
and also showing in which type fire these extinguishers can be
used.

350Q; What do you mean by fire triangle?

Ans. The Fire Triangle or Combustion Triangle or Fire Diamond
illustrates the three elements a fire needs to ignite: heat, fuel, and
an oxidizing agent (usually oxygen). A fire naturally occurs when
the elements are present and combined in the right mixture.
352Q: What is the full form of EPIRB & SART?
Ans. EPIRB stands for Emergency Position Indicating Radio
Beacon.
SART stands for Search and Rescue Transponder.
353Q: If you are in fire compartment what you will do first?
Ans. The first thing you should care about is your own safety by
judging the intensity of fire. If the intensity of fire is small, then
go for portable fire extinguisher to extinguish the fire otherwise
evacuate the compartment as soon as possible and inform the
bridge/higher authorities.
354Q: How many lifeboats are there on a merchant vessel.
Ans. In general, two life-saving boats are there on a merchant
vessel. One is on port side and another one is on starboard side of
the ship. One life-saving boat is lifeboat and another one is a
rescue boat.
355Q; What is lifebuoy?
Ans. A buoyant support such as a lifebelt for keeping a person
afloat in water.

356Q; Do You Know What is Safety Tag?

Ans. Safety tag can be defined as a paper board on which warning
safety instructions are mentioned.
357Q; How would you define accident?
Ans. It is an unexpected or unplanned event which may or may
not result in injury or damage or property loss or death.
358Q; What do you understand by Risk assessment?
Ans. Risk assessment is systematic process of evaluating the
potential risks that may be involved in a projected activity or
undertaking.
359Q; What do you understand by MLC?
Ans. MLC stands for Maritime Labour Convention. The Maritime
Labour Convention 2006 (MLC) is an international agreement of
the International Labour Organisation ('ILO') which sets out
seafarers' rights to decent conditions of work. It is sometimes
called the seafarers' Bill of Rights. It applies to all seafarers,
including those with jobs in hotel and other passenger services on
cruise ships and commercial yachts
360Q; What is COC?
Ans. COC stands for Certificate of Competency. The certificate
of competency (COC) is a form of licence every mariner is
granted to work on ships. The certificate ensures that the
concerned person has the sufficient knowledge and skills to sail
on ocean going vessels.
However, COC is not something that once awarded cannot be
taken back, cancelled, or suspended. Its validity is directly
proportional to the conduct and performance of a seafarer.
361Q; What classification society do in shipping?
Ans. A classification society (however called) is a non-
governmental organization that establishes and maintains
technical standards for the construction and operation of ships and
offshore structures.
362Q; What is STCW?
Ans. STCW stands for Standards of Training, Certification and
Watchkeeping for Seafarers. The International Convention on
Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for
Seafarers, 1978 sets minimum qualification standards for masters,
officers and watch personnel on seagoing merchant ships and
large yachts.
363Q; What are the basic courses of STCW?
Ans. Below are the basics courses of STCW.
 Personal Survival Techniques (PST)
 Personal Survival & Social Responsibilities (PSSR)
 Elementary First Aid (EFA)
 Fire prevention & fire fighting
 Security training for seafarers
364Q; What is IMO?
Ans. IMO stands for International Maritime Organisations which
is a regulating body which regulates the shipping industry.
365Q; Tell me some IMO convention?
Ans. Below are some IMO conventions
 International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea
(SOLAS), 1974, as amended
 International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution
from Ships, 1973, as modified by the Protocol of 1978
relating thereto and by the Protocol of 1997 (MARPOL)
 International Convention on Standards of Training,
Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW) as
amended, including the 1995 and 2010 Manila
Amendments.
 Convention on Facilitation of International Maritime Traffic
(FAL), 1965
 International Convention on Load Lines (LL), 1966
 International Convention on Maritime Search and Rescue
(SAR), 1979
366Q; What are the four elements of fire tetrahedron?
Ans. Four elements of fire tetrahedron are oxygen, heat, fuel and
chemical chain reaction.
367Q; The maximum allowable weight of a portable fire
extinguisher is?
Ans. 23kgs.
368Q; Name Two Types of Fire Alarm Systems.
Ans. Manual and Automatic.
369Q; What Two Colours Are Generally Accepted for Danger
and Non-danger?
Ans. Red for danger and Green for non-danger.
370Q; Name the Elements that Comprise the Triangle of
Fire?
Ans. Fuel, Heat, and Oxygen.
371Q; What Is Hazard?
Ans. Hazard is inherent property of a substance or an occurrence
which has potential to cause loss or damage property, person or
environment.
372Q; What do you understand by safety policy?
Ans. Any company has a social and legal obligation to provide a
safe and health working environment to all their improvement to
all their employees.
QUESTIONS BASED ON GENERAL KNOWLEDGE
Before going for an actual interview, cadets should have a basic
general knowledge and should be aware of the current maritime
happenings.
Below are some basic questions which have been asked in recent
various interviews.
373Q; What is capital of Denmark?
Ans. Copenhagen.
374Q; What is capital of Norway?
Ans. Oslo.
375Q; What is capital of Panama?
Ans. Panama City.
376Q; Which city of India is known as Blue city?
Ans. Jodhpur, Rajasthan.
377Q; Silicon Valley of India is?
Ans. Bengaluru, Karnataka.
378Q; Suez Canal connects which two seas?
Ans. Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea.
379Q; What two bodies of water do the Panama Canal
connect?
Ans. It connects North Atlantic Ocean and South Pacific Ocean.
380Q; What is full form of GMT?
Ans. Greenwich Mean Time.
381Q; What is GMT of India?
Ans. India Standard Time is 5 hours 30 minutes ahead of
Greenwich Mean Time (GMT+5.30).
382Q; Which is busiest port of world?
Ans. Port of Shanghai. As the largest port in China, the Port of
Shanghai is also the busiest port in the world.
383Q; Which is largest container port of India?
Ans. Nhava Sheva now known as Jawaharlal Nehru Port is the
largest container port in India, situated at the mainland of Konkan
area across the Navi Mumbai Maharashtra.
384Q; What is full form of AM and PM?
Ans. "AM" stands for Anti Meridiem - which means "before noon
"and "PM" stands for Post Meridiem - which means "after noon".
385Q; What do you understand by latitude and longitude in
geography?
Ans. In geography, latitude is a geographic coordinate that
specifies the north-south position of a point on the Earth's surface.
Longitude, is a geographic coordinate that specifies the east-west
position of a point on the Earth's surface.
386Q; What is difference between port and harbour?
Ans. Harbour is a place on the coast where ships, boats and barges
can seek shelter from a stormy weather. Port is a location on the
coast that can be used to load and unload cargo.
Harbours do not provide as many facilities as ports.
387Q; What is leap year?
Ans. Leap year is a year, occurring once every four years, which
has 366 days including 29 February as an intercalary day.
388Q; Which is longest river in world?
Ans. Longest river is Nile.
389Q; Where is Sahara Desert located?
Ans. North Africa.
390Q; Which ship is the first container ship in the E-class of
eight owned by the AP. Moller-Maersk Group?
Ans. Emma Maersk.
391Q; What is Sagarmala project?
Ans. Sagarmala project have 4 important aim-
 Port Modernization - Under this project the 9 major and 200
minor ports in India will be modernized to load and unload
the cargo at a much faster rate than present. Also, the cargo
carrying capacity of all the ports will be doubled.
 Port Connectivity - All the ports will be connected to each
other with the help of new railway tracks, roadways and
hinterland to transport the cargo at a much efficient rate.
 Port-Led Industrialization - An industrial corridor will be
made near to the ports so that the products produced in India
will be transported with a minimum cost. This will support
the Make in India initiative of the government.
 Coastal Community Development - The people who live in
the coastal regions of India will get a lot of job opportunities
because of this project.
392Q; What is full form IPL?
Ans. The Indian Premier League (IPL) is a professional league
for Twenty20 cricket competition in India.
393Q; When the National Maritime Day is celebrated in
India?
Ans. 5th April.
394Q; The World largest desert is?
Ans. Sahara.
395Q; The device used for measuring altitudes is?
Ans. Altimeter.
396Q; The Gate way of India is located in?
Ans. Mumbai.
397Q; Which Port is known as Maritime Hub?
Ans. Singapore.
398Q; How many oceans are there?
Ans. Including Antarctic ocean there are 5 oceans.
399Q; How many seas are there?
Ans. 7 seas.
400Q; How many states are there in India?
Ans. India has 29 states.
401.Q Have you watched Captain Phillips movie?
Ans. If you have seen this movie then say yes and explain the
reasons what special you have learned from this movie otherwise
say no.