Podcast
Engineering Exam Prep
Hosted by Ran Chen, EA, CFP® · EN
Engineering Exam Prep is a free, daily podcast by OpenExamPrep covering the most in-demand engineering licensure exams — including FE Fundamentals of Engineering, FE Surveying, and the full PE catalog (Civil, Civil Geotechnical, Civil Construction, Civil Transportation, Civil Water Resources & Environmental, Mechanical, Electrical, Chemical, Architectural, Agricultural & Biological, Control Systems, and more). Each 5-minute episode breaks down one exam topic with worked-style examples, NCEES Reference Handbook callouts, common exam traps, unit-conversion gotchas, and memory tricks to help you pass on your first attempt. No fluff, no filler — just the concepts you need to know, explained the way the exam tests them. This podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation for everyone — from EITs studying for the FE to working engineers preparing for the PE. For free practice questions, AI-powered explanations, flashcards, and full study guides, visit https://open-exam-prep.com/ Subscribe and listen daily — your PE license is closer than you think.
12episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
FE Exam Prep 23, Kinematics — Constant Acceleration and Projectile Motion
Yesterday00:03:30Tap to summarizeThis podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP® designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation resources and helping learners prepare more effectively for professional certification exams. In this episode you will learn: - How to break down projectile motion problems into independent horizontal and vertical components. - The critical mistake of using the standard range formula for uneven ground and how to correctly solve for time of flight. - To apply the three fundamental constant acceleration equations found in the NCEES FE Reference Handbook. - How to identify common exam traps, such as incorrectly calculating total flight time or misusing sign conventions for acceleration. - The definition and application of the relative velocity equation for solving kinematics problems involving multiple moving objects. For more free exam prep tools, practice questions, and AI-powered explanations, visit https://open-exam-prep.com/ or YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Open-exam-prep
Transcribe →FE Exam Prep 22, Newton's Laws and Free Body Diagram Discipline
2d ago00:03:13Tap to summarizeThis podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP® designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation resources and helping learners prepare more effectively for professional certification exams. In this episode you will learn: - That mastering the Free Body Diagram (FBD) is the most critical first step for solving FE statics and dynamics problems; it requires isolating the body and drawing all external forces. - How Newton's First Law (ΣF = 0) provides the basis for the three equilibrium equations (ΣFx = 0, ΣFy = 0, ΣM = 0) used to solve all 2D statics problems. - To apply Newton's Second Law (ΣF = ma) for dynamics problems where the net forces cause acceleration, using the FBD as the starting point. - How to avoid common exam traps by correctly identifying support reactions: a roller has one force, a pin has two forces, and a fixed support has two forces and a moment. - A simple mnemonic for FBDs: I-A-R-E (Isolate, Applied Loads/Reactions, Axes, Equilibrium equations) to ensure a systematic approach. For more free exam prep tools, practice questions, and AI-powered explanations, visit https://open-exam-prep.com/ or YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Open-exam-prep
Transcribe →FE Exam Prep 21, Significant Figures and Sanity Checks
3d ago00:03:43Tap to summarizeThis podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP® designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation resources and helping learners prepare more effectively for professional certification exams. In this episode you will learn: - The rule of thumb for matching significant figures to input data on the FE Exam. - How to use order-of-magnitude estimates to perform a sanity check and catch decimal errors. - The importance of meticulous unit cancellation to validate your equation setup. - How to spot common exam traps involving numerical precision and mixed unit systems. - A memorable mnemonic, U-S-E (Units, Significant Figures, Estimate), to verify your answers before finalizing. For more free exam prep tools, practice questions, and AI-powered explanations, visit https://open-exam-prep.com/ or YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Open-exam-prep
Transcribe →FE Exam Prep 20, SI vs US Customary — lbm vs lbf and the gc Factor
4d ago00:04:02Tap to summarizeThis podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP® designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation resources and helping learners prepare more effectively for professional certification exams. In this episode you will learn: - The critical difference between pound-mass (lbm) for mass and pound-force (lbf) for force. - Why and when to use the gravitational conversion factor, gc, which is 32.174 lbm·ft/(lbf·s²). - How to correctly apply Newton's Second Law (F=ma) and energy equations (KE, PE) in US Customary units. - The common exam trap involving weight calculations where local gravity (g) is not equal to standard gravity. - Where to find gc in the NCEES FE Reference Handbook and how to spot questions requiring it. For more free exam prep tools, practice questions, and AI-powered explanations, visit https://open-exam-prep.com/ or YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Open-exam-prep
Transcribe →FE Exam Prep 19, Descriptive Statistics — Mean, Median, Variance, Confidence Intervals
5d ago00:03:44Tap to summarizeThis podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP® designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation resources and helping learners prepare more effectively for professional certification exams. In this episode you will learn: - The critical difference between mean and median and why the FE exam tests this with skewed data. - How to identify whether to use the sample (n-1) or population (N) formula for variance, a common exam trap. - The distinction between standard deviation and variance and why units matter on the exam. - The decision criteria for using a z-statistic versus a t-statistic when calculating confidence intervals. - How to quickly find and apply the correct values, like the z-value of 1.96 for a 95% confidence interval, using the NCEES Reference Handbook. For more free exam prep tools, practice questions, and AI-powered explanations, visit https://open-exam-prep.com/ or YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Open-exam-prep
Transcribe →FE Exam Prep 18, Probability Distributions — Binomial, Normal, Poisson
6d ago00:04:54Tap to summarizeThis podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP® designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation resources and helping learners prepare more effectively for professional certification exams. In this episode you will learn: - How to quickly differentiate between Binomial, Normal, and Poisson distribution problems on the FE exam. - The correct application of the Binomial formula for scenarios with a fixed number of success/failure trials. - How to use the z-score and the NCEES FE Reference Handbook's z-table to solve Normal distribution questions. - The method for solving Poisson distribution problems involving event rates over a specific interval. - How to identify common exam traps, such as questions with "at least/at most" phrasing and problems with mismatched rate intervals. For more free exam prep tools, practice questions, and AI-powered explanations, visit https://open-exam-prep.com/ or YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Open-exam-prep
Transcribe →FE Exam Prep 17, Vectors in 3-Space — Magnitude, Unit Vectors, Direction Cosines
1w ago00:03:37Tap to summarizeThis podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP® designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation resources and helping learners prepare more effectively for professional certification exams. In this episode you will learn: - How to calculate the magnitude of a 3D vector using its i, j, and k components. - The definition of a unit vector and how to compute it by dividing a vector by its magnitude. - The direct relationship between a unit vector's components and the direction cosines (cosα, cosβ, cosγ). - The essential identity that the sum of the squares of the direction cosines equals one. - Common FE exam traps, such as sign errors, and confusing direction angles with direction cosines. For more free exam prep tools, practice questions, and AI-powered explanations, visit https://open-exam-prep.com/ or YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Open-exam-prep
Transcribe →FE Exam Prep 16, Matrix Operations — Determinants, Inverse, Eigenvalues
1w ago00:02:44Tap to summarizeThis podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP® designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation resources and helping learners prepare more effectively for professional certification exams. In this episode you will learn: - How to quickly calculate 2x2 and 3x3 determinants using cofactor expansion as found in the NCEES Handbook. - The critical role of the determinant in finding a matrix inverse and why a determinant of zero means no inverse exists. - The setup and solution of the characteristic equation, det(A − λI) = 0, to find a matrix's eigenvalues. - Why matrix multiplication is not commutative (AB ≠ BA) and how this can be a trick on the exam. - How to efficiently solve systems of linear equations (Ax = b) using your calculator and the concept of the matrix inverse. For more free exam prep tools, practice questions, and AI-powered explanations, visit https://open-exam-prep.com/ or YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Open-exam-prep
Transcribe →FE Exam Prep 15, Differential Equations — First and Second Order, Laplace
1w ago00:03:58Tap to summarizeThis podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP® designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation resources and helping learners prepare more effectively for professional certification exams. In this episode you will learn: - How to solve first-order linear differential equations using the integrating factor method from the NCEES Handbook. - The procedure for solving second-order homogeneous differential equations by finding the roots of the characteristic equation. - The specific solution forms for the three cases of characteristic equation roots: real and distinct, real and repeated, and complex conjugate. - A common exam trap involving the missing 'x' multiplier in the solution for repeated roots. - When to apply Laplace transforms on the FE exam, particularly for problems with discontinuous inputs found in dynamics or circuits. For more free exam prep tools, practice questions, and AI-powered explanations, visit https://open-exam-prep.com/ or YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Open-exam-prep
Transcribe →FE Exam Prep 14, Integral Calculus — Substitution, Parts, Common Forms
1w ago00:04:43Tap to summarizeThis podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP® designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation resources and helping learners prepare more effectively for professional certification exams. In this episode you will learn: - How to properly select 'u' for u-substitution by finding a function whose derivative is also in the integrand. - To apply the LIATE mnemonic (Log, Inverse, Algebraic, Trig, Exponential) to correctly choose 'u' for integration by parts. - The critical exam strategy of always checking the NCEES Reference Handbook for common integral forms before attempting other methods. - Common exam traps like mishandling limits of integration in definite integrals and sign errors in the integration by parts formula. - That a definite integral is fundamentally asking for the net area under a curve between two points. For more free exam prep tools, practice questions, and AI-powered explanations, visit https://open-exam-prep.com/ or YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Open-exam-prep
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