Here are the questions for viva with answers for each

subject:

Civil Engineering Materials

1. What are the properties of good quality cement?

Answer: Good cement should have a uniform color, fine texture, quick
setting time, high strength, low heat of hydration, and be free from
lumps.

2. Name different types of cement and their uses.

Answer: Types include Ordinary Portland Cement (general construction),
Rapid Hardening Cement (quick repairs), Sulphate-Resisting Cement
(marine structures), and White Cement (decorative work).

3. What is the initial and final setting time of cement?

Answer: The initial setting time is 30 minutes, and the final setting time is
10 hours as per IS standards.

4. Define specific gravity of aggregates.

Answer: It is the ratio of the weight of aggregate to the weight of an equal
volume of water.

5. What is the difference between nominal and design mix?

Answer: Nominal mix is a fixed ratio of materials, while design mix is
based on specific requirements for strength and durability.
6. Why is curing important in concrete?
Answer: Curing maintains adequate moisture, temperature, and time to
achieve desired strength and durability.

7. What are the types of steel used in civil engineering?

Answer: Common types include mild steel, high-strength steel, and
stainless steel.

8. Define slump test and its purpose.

Answer: The slump test measures the workability of fresh concrete.

9. What are the differences between fine aggregate and coarse

aggregate?
Answer: Fine aggregate passes through a 4.75 mm sieve, while coarse
aggregate is retained on it.

10. Explain the concept of grade of concrete.

Answer: Grade indicates the compressive strength of concrete in N/mm²,
e.g., M20 means 20 N/mm² strength.

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Solid Mechanics

1. Define strain and its types.

Answer: Strain is the deformation per unit length. Types include tensile,
compressive, and shear strain.

2. Explain Hooke’s Law.

Answer: It states that stress is directly proportional to strain within the
elastic limit.

3. What is the difference between elastic and plastic deformation?

Answer: Elastic deformation is reversible, while plastic deformation is
permanent.

4. What is shear force?

Answer: It is the internal force parallel to the cross-section of a structural
member.

5. What is bending moment?

Answer: It is the internal moment causing bending of a beam.

6. State the relationship between shear force and bending moment.

Answer: The derivative of bending moment equals shear force.
7. Define modulus of elasticity.
Answer: It is the ratio of stress to strain in the elastic range.

8. What is Poisson’s ratio?

Answer: It is the ratio of lateral strain to axial strain.

9. Explain the concept of moment of inertia.

Answer: It is the property of a section that resists bending, calculated as .

10. What is a cantilever beam?

Answer: A beam fixed at one end and free at the other.

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Fluid Mechanics

1. Define fluid and its types.

Answer: A fluid is a substance that deforms under shear stress. Types
include liquids and gases.

2. What is viscosity?
Answer: Viscosity is the resistance of a fluid to flow.
3. State Pascal’s Law.
Answer: Pressure in a fluid is transmitted equally in all directions.

4. What is the difference between gauge pressure and absolute pressure?

Answer: Absolute pressure = Gauge pressure + Atmospheric pressure.

5. Explain the concept of buoyancy.

Answer: Buoyancy is the upward force exerted by a fluid on a submerged
body.

6. What is Bernoulli’s equation and its application?

Answer: It relates pressure, velocity, and elevation in fluid flow, used in
pipe flow and venturimeters.

7. Define Reynolds number and its significance.

Answer: Reynolds number predicts flow type: laminar (Re < 2000) or
turbulent (Re > 4000).

8. What are laminar and turbulent flows?

Answer: Laminar flow is smooth, while turbulent flow is chaotic.

9. Define the continuity equation in fluid flow.

Answer: , stating mass conservation in steady flow.

10. What is the venturi effect?

Answer: It describes a decrease in pressure as fluid velocity increases in a
constricted section.

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Physics

1. State Newton’s three laws of motion.

Answer:

First law: A body remains at rest or in uniform motion unless acted upon
by a force.

Second law: .

Third law: For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.

2. What is the difference between scalar and vector quantities?

Answer: Scalars have magnitude only, while vectors have both magnitude
and direction.
3. Define work, energy, and power.
Answer: Work is force applied over a distance, energy is the capacity to
do work, and power is the rate of doing work.

4. What is the law of conservation of energy?

Answer: Energy cannot be created or destroyed, only transformed.

5. Explain the difference between kinetic and potential energy.

Answer: Kinetic energy depends on motion, while potential energy
depends on position.

6. Define torque and its units.

Answer: Torque is the rotational force about an axis, measured in Newton-
meters.

7. What is the principle of moments?

Answer: For equilibrium, the clockwise moment equals the
counterclockwise moment.

8. Define frequency, wavelength, and amplitude.

Answer: Frequency is cycles per second, wavelength is the distance
between peaks, and amplitude is the height of the wave.
9. What is refraction of light?
Answer: It is the bending of light as it passes between media of different
densities.

10. What is Ohm’s Law?

Answer: Voltage equals current times resistance ().

Here are additional questions and answers for the topics:

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Civil Engineering Materials

21. What is Fineness Modulus (FM)?

Answer: Fineness Modulus is an empirical number that represents the
mean particle size of aggregate.

22. What is the difference between OPC and PPC?

Answer: OPC (Ordinary Portland Cement) is pure cement, while PPC
(Portland Pozzolana Cement) contains pozzolanic materials for better
durability.

23. What is the purpose of lime in construction?

Answer: Lime improves plasticity, workability, and strength in mortars and
plasters.
24. What is bitumen, and where is it used?
Answer: Bitumen is a petroleum product used in road construction as a
binding material.

25. What is the function of a sieve analysis?

Answer: It determines the particle size distribution of aggregates.

26. What is creep in concrete?

Answer: Creep is the long-term deformation of concrete under sustained
load.

27. What are the types of defects in timber?

Answer: Types include knots, cracks, shakes, and warping.

28. What is the importance of reinforcement cover?

Answer: It protects reinforcement from corrosion and fire.

29. What is the role of superplasticizers?

Answer: Superplasticizers increase the workability of concrete without
adding extra water.

30. What are the properties of hardened concrete?

Answer: Strength, durability, impermeability, and shrinkage.
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Solid Mechanics

21. What is the elastic limit?

Answer: The maximum stress a material can withstand without
permanent deformation.

22. What are the types of beams?

Answer: Cantilever, simply supported, fixed, and continuous beams.

23. What is the section modulus?

Answer: It is the ratio of the moment of inertia to the distance of the
extreme fiber from the neutral axis.

24. What is a plane of symmetry?

Answer: A plane that divides a body into two equal halves.

25. What is a composite material?

Answer: A material made of two or more constituents, such as reinforced
concrete.
26. What is a truss?
Answer: A structural framework of members connected at joints to form a
rigid structure.

27. What are shear stresses?

Answer: They are stresses acting parallel to a surface.

28. What is meant by the plastic limit?

Answer: The stress level at which material deforms plastically.

29. What are the types of loads?

Answer: Point load, uniformly distributed load (UDL), and uniformly
varying load (UVL).

30. What is buckling in columns?

Answer: Buckling is the sudden lateral deformation of a slender column
under axial compression.

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Fluid Mechanics
21. What is a hydraulic jump?
Answer: It is the sudden rise of water level in an open channel when high-
velocity flow changes to a lower velocity flow.

22. What is cavitation?

Answer: Cavitation occurs when local pressure in a fluid drops below its
vapor pressure, forming vapor bubbles.

23. What are streamlines?

Answer: Streamlines are imaginary lines representing fluid flow, with no
crossing between them.

24. What is dynamic viscosity?

Answer: It is the measure of a fluid’s resistance to shear deformation.

25. What are the units of viscosity?

Answer: Pascal-seconds (Pa·s) or poise.

26. What is the Mach number?

Answer: The ratio of fluid velocity to the speed of sound in that medium.

27. What is specific weight?

Answer: Weight per unit volume of a fluid, .
28. What is the center of pressure?
Answer: The point of application of the resultant pressure force on a
submerged surface.

29. What is a hydraulic gradient?

Answer: It is the slope of the hydraulic grade line representing energy loss
per unit length.

30. What is the purpose of a siphon?

Answer: To transfer liquid over a barrier without using a pump.

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Physics

21. What is angular momentum?

Answer: It is the rotational equivalent of linear momentum, calculated as .

22. What is the unit of power?

Answer: The watt (W).
23. State the principle of conservation of angular momentum.
Answer: Angular momentum remains constant if no external torque acts
on a system.

24. What is Coulomb’s law?

Answer: The force between two charges is directly proportional to the
product of their magnitudes and inversely proportional to the square of
the distance between them.

25. What is a photon?

Answer: A quantum of electromagnetic radiation, representing light as a
particle.

26. Define escape velocity.

Answer: The minimum velocity needed for an object to escape Earth's
gravitational pull.

27. What is thermal expansion?

Answer: The increase in an object’s dimensions due to temperature rise.

28. What is the speed of light?

Answer: Approximately in a vacuum.

29. What is diffraction?

Answer: The bending of light waves around obstacles or through small
apertures.

30. What is polarization of light?

Answer: Restricting the vibration of light waves to a single plane.