⚙️ Unit 7 — Paper 1
Unit 7 — Mechanical Principles
Unit 7 digs into the physics of how mechanical systems work. Forces, motion, energy and machines — this unit gives you the tools to analyse real engineering problems like calculating reaction forces on a beam, working out how fast a gear turns, or determining whether a structure will hold. It's one of the most calculation-heavy units, but each topic has direct applications in engineering design and analysis.
1,000+ questions across all units
Start Revising Unit 7 →
Some topics covered in this unit
Forces and equilibrium — static systems, free body diagrams, resolving forces and conditions for equilibrium
Beams and reactions — simply supported and cantilevered beams, point loads, distributed loads and reaction force calculations
Stress, strain and Young's modulus — how materials deform under load and how engineers predict failure
Work, energy and power — mechanical work, kinetic and potential energy, power and efficiency of machines
Rotational motion and gears — angular velocity, gear ratios, torque and mechanical advantage
Friction and motion — types of friction, coefficient of friction and its effect on mechanical systems
Sample question
Beams and Reactions
A simply supported beam of length 4 m carries a 1000 N point load at its midpoint. What is the reaction force at each support?
✓ Correct answer: C — 500 N. For a simply supported beam with a central point load, the load is shared equally between both supports by symmetry. Each reaction = 1000 ÷ 2 = 500 N. For off-centre loads, take moments about one support to find the other reaction.
Ready to test yourself on Unit 7?
TLQuiz offers free T-Level Engineering revision questions mapped to the specification. Create an account and start practising in seconds.
Start Revising Unit 7 →
All T-Level Engineering units