Free SIFT Exam Flashcards

Compare one decisive feature—such as an opening, angle, count, or orientation—across all choices. A fixed comparison order reduces rescanning and helps preserve accuracy under severe time pressure.

A rotation turns a figure without reversing its handedness; a reflection flips it like a mirror. Trace an asymmetric feature clockwise around the figure: its order stays the same after rotation but reverses after reflection.

A tiny gap can make one otherwise identical figure open rather than closed. Checking closure early catches a high-value difference that a quick silhouette comparison can miss.

Follow the target's exact sequence of line lengths, turns, and intersections. Background lines may cross the target, but they do not replace or bend its required segments.

Extra lines can pass through or extend beyond the target without erasing it. Judge whether every required target segment is present in the correct relationship, not whether the target appears in isolation.

It is the target's most distinctive corner, angle, or junction. Locate that rare feature first, then trace outward; this is faster and less error-prone than searching for the entire outline at once.

It changes the pitch of all main-rotor blades together, changing total rotor thrust. Raising collective usually requires a coordinated power increase and anti-torque pedal input.

It changes blade pitch according to rotor position, tilting the rotor disc and redirecting thrust. The helicopter then accelerates in the direction of the tilted thrust vector.

They vary tail-rotor thrust, or the equivalent anti-torque system, to control yaw and counter main-rotor torque. They do not directly command bank like the cyclic.

It transfers collective and cyclic control inputs from the nonrotating controls to the rotating rotor blades. Collective input changes all blades together; cyclic input varies pitch around the disc.

More collective increases rotor drag and the engine torque needed to maintain rotor speed. The fuselage tends to react opposite the rotor's rotation, so the pilot coordinates anti-torque pedal input.

Upward airflow through the descending rotor disc drives the blades, not engine torque. The pilot manages rotor energy with collective and airspeed so it can be used to reduce descent and cushion landing.

The rotor moves into cleaner, less recirculated air and becomes more efficient. The helicopter may require less induced power for the same lift than it did in a hover.

Forward speed reduces relative airflow over the retreating side. The rotor system compensates with higher blade angle of attack, but at high demand that angle can exceed the stall limit.

In forward flight, the advancing blade sees greater relative airspeed than the retreating blade. Rotor systems compensate through blade flapping and cyclic pitch so lift stays more nearly balanced.

Near the surface, the ground limits rotor downwash development and weakens induced flow and tip-vortex effects. The rotor therefore produces a given lift more efficiently than it does out of ground effect.

Pitch attitude is the aircraft's orientation relative to the horizon; angle of attack is the angle between an airfoil's chord and the relative wind. Wind and flight path can change angle of attack without the same change in pitch attitude.

The rotor thrust vector gains a horizontal component that accelerates the helicopter, while its vertical component supports weight. Maintaining altitude during the tilt generally requires enough total thrust to preserve the vertical component.

Compare the visible horizon with a fixed cockpit reference. A tilted horizon signals bank; using the cockpit frame prevents you from judging the picture as an outside observer.

It generally indicates a nose-high attitude because the nose has risen relative to the horizon. Confirm with the full scene rather than treating horizon height alone as proof of climb.

Nose attitude and vertical movement are related but not identical. An aircraft can be nose-high while descending, so classify the picture's attitude only from cues the image actually provides.

Use a fixed sequence: determine bank from horizon tilt, pitch from horizon height, then lateral or heading cues from terrain or runway position. Separating the axes prevents one strong cue from overriding the others.

Switching unconsciously from the pilot's viewpoint to an outside-observer viewpoint. Stay seated mentally in the cockpit and label directions from that perspective before comparing choices.

It must follow from stated facts without adding an unstated assumption. An answer can be generally true yet still be wrong if the passage does not supply the needed link.

Choose the statement that covers the author's central claim and the role of the supporting details. A narrow example is too limited; a broad theme that the text never develops is too expansive.

Words such as always, never, and only make a claim stronger than qualified passage language. Accept an absolute answer only when the text supports that exact scope.

Locate the exact sentence or logical link that supports each choice. Prefer the answer requiring the fewest assumptions, even if the other sounds more familiar from outside knowledge.

Treat the stated condition as a boundary on the conclusion. If a passage says an outcome occurs when a condition is met, do not assume the outcome occurs when that condition is absent.

Multiply the original value by 1 + r, with r written as a decimal. Using r alone finds only the amount of increase, not the new total.

Keep corresponding quantities in the same positions, then cross-multiply and solve. Before accepting the result, check that its direction matches the situation: more input should not produce less output unless the relationship is inverse.

Use it when groups contribute different numbers of observations or values have different weights. Multiply each value by its weight, sum those products, then divide by the total weight.

Distance = rate × time. Use consistent units before calculating; for example, convert minutes to hours before multiplying by miles per hour.

The slower leg consumes more time, so the arithmetic mean overstates average speed. Compute total distance divided by total time; for equal distances, this produces the harmonic mean of the two speeds.

Convert each worker's completion time into a rate, add the rates, then invert the combined rate to get time. Adding completion times directly ignores simultaneous work.

Simplify each side by distributing and combining like terms. Then use inverse operations to isolate the variable while performing the same operation on both sides.

Add the exponents: a^m × a^n = a^(m+n). This rule applies to multiplication, not addition; a^m + a^n cannot generally be combined that way.

Perimeter measures boundary length in linear units; area measures covered surface in square units. A shape can have the same perimeter as another shape but a different area.

Only to right triangles: a² + b² = c², where c is the side opposite the right angle. Do not use the formula on an arbitrary triangle without first establishing a right angle.

An estimate predicts the answer's sign and size, exposing misplaced decimals or unit errors. It is a reasonableness check, not a replacement for exact work when the choices are close.

Torque equals force times the perpendicular distance from the pivot to the force's line of action. Increasing that moment arm increases turning effect without increasing force.

When clockwise torque equals counterclockwise torque about the fulcrum. A smaller force can balance a larger load if it acts through a proportionally longer moment arm.

A machine that reduces required input force increases the distance over which that force must act. Ideally it trades force for distance; it does not create energy or eliminate work.

Count the rope segments directly supporting the moving load. More supporting segments reduce ideal input force, but require pulling proportionally more rope.

A small driver turning a larger driven gear reduces output speed and increases output torque ideally. Adjacent external gears also rotate in opposite directions.

Pressure equals force divided by area. With the same force, a smaller contact area produces greater pressure; spreading the force over more area lowers pressure.

Pressure applied to a confined fluid is transmitted throughout it. A larger output-piston area converts that pressure into greater force, while the larger piston moves a shorter distance.

Buoyant force equals the weight of the fluid displaced. An object floats in equilibrium when buoyant force balances its weight; density determines how much must be submerged to displace that weight.

Voltage, current, and resistance: V = I × R. At fixed voltage, increasing resistance decreases current; at fixed resistance, increasing voltage increases current.

A series circuit has one current path, so an open breaks the whole circuit. A parallel circuit has multiple branches, so another branch can still conduct if one branch opens.

A nonzero net force. Balanced forces produce no acceleration, which means an object can remain at rest or continue at constant velocity rather than necessarily stopping.