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Northern Ireland · CCEAQ&A
Technology and DesignQ&A by dot point
A short Q&A bank for every Northern Ireland Technology and Design syllabus dot point. Each question and answer is drawn directly from our worked dot-point page, so you can scan key concepts before opening the long-form answer.
Computer-aided design and manufacture
Designing
- Communicating design ideas: freehand sketching, rendering, isometric and orthographic working drawings, dimensioning, and the use of CAD.9Q&A pairs
- Design influences and sustainability: consumer demand, the market, consumer law and standards, and designing sustainably using the six Rs.7Q&A pairs
- Ergonomics and anthropometrics: human factors in design, anthropometric data, percentiles, and designing products to fit the user.7Q&A pairs
- Evaluation and product analysis: testing a product against the design specification, evaluating against user needs, and analysing existing products.8Q&A pairs
- The iterative design process: identifying a problem, writing a design brief and specification, researching, generating and developing ideas, planning, making and evaluating.5Q&A pairs
Electronic and control systems
- Electronic components and quantities: conductors and insulators, resistors, capacitors, diodes and LEDs, and using Ohm's law V = I R.5Q&A pairs
- Input subsystems: switches, the light-dependent resistor, the thermistor, and the voltage divider that turns a sensor's resistance change into a voltage signal.8Q&A pairs
- Logic gates and digital control: the AND, OR, NOT, NAND and NOR gates with truth tables, combining gates, and flowcharts for program control.6Q&A pairs
- Microcontrollers (PICs) and timing: programmable control with a microcontroller, and resistor-capacitor timing where the capacitor charges to create a delay.8Q&A pairs
- Output devices: lamps, buzzers, motors and relays, and the transistor used as an electronic switch to control a larger current from a small input.6Q&A pairs
- The systems approach: representing electronic and control systems as input, process and output blocks, with feedback, using block (systems) diagrams.6Q&A pairs
Materials and manufacturing
- Finishing techniques: why surfaces are finished, and finishes for timber, metal and plastic - varnish, paint, oil, polish, anodising, plating and self-finishing.7Q&A pairs
- Health and safety: identifying hazards and risks, risk assessment, personal protective equipment, machine and tool safety, and safe handling of materials and substances.6Q&A pairs
- Joining and assembly: permanent and temporary joins - adhesives, mechanical fixings, knock-down fittings, soldering, brazing and welding, and timber joints.5Q&A pairs
- Material categories - ferrous and non-ferrous metals, thermoplastics and thermosetting plastics, hardwoods, softwoods and manufactured boards, and composites - and their working properties.7Q&A pairs
- Scales of production - one-off, batch and mass production - and aids to manufacture such as jigs, moulds, fixtures, templates and patterns.5Q&A pairs
- Shaping and forming processes: marking out, wasting (cutting and drilling), deforming and reforming such as line bending, vacuum forming and injection moulding.6Q&A pairs
- Smart and modern materials: shape memory alloys, thermochromic and photochromic materials, quantum tunnelling composite and other responsive materials, and their uses.5Q&A pairs
Mechanisms and motion
- Belt and pulley drives, and chain and sprocket drives: transmitting rotary motion over a distance, the velocity ratio, and choosing between them.5Q&A pairs
- Motion converters: cams and followers, crank and slider, rack and pinion, and screw threads, and the motion change each produces.5Q&A pairs
- Gears and gear trains: simple gear trains, gear ratio, the effect on speed, torque and direction, idler gears, and compound gear trains.7Q&A pairs
- Levers and linkages: the three classes of lever, the principle of moments, mechanical advantage, and linkages that change the direction of motion.6Q&A pairs
- The four types of motion - linear, rotary, reciprocating and oscillating - and the idea of mechanisms converting one type of motion into another.5Q&A pairs
Optional routes and the design project
- Unit 3 Design and Manufacturing Project (controlled assessment): the design folder and made outcome, the stages assessed, and how marks are awarded - an overview.6Q&A pairs
- Unit 2 optional areas of study: Option A electronic and microelectronic control systems, Option B mechanical and pneumatic control systems, and Option C product design.5Q&A pairs
Pneumatic systems and control
- Pneumatic control: 3/2 and 5/2 directional control valves, controlling single and double-acting cylinders, and speed control with flow-restriction valves.7Q&A pairs
- Pneumatic components: the air supply, single-acting and double-acting cylinders, and the force a cylinder produces from pressure and area.7Q&A pairs