Mechanical Reasoning Test
Which of five bands you land in, from Building Mechanical Foundations up to Mechanical Reasoning Standout. Levers & Balance, Gears & Rotation, Pulleys & Springs, and Fluids & Pressure, scored separately so one strong area cannot hide a weak one. Whether you lose marks on single rules or on multi-step setups such as compound gear trains.
What You'll Discover
Your mechanical reasoning band
Your mechanical reasoning bandWhich of five bands you land in, from Building Mechanical Foundations up to Mechanical Reasoning Standout
Four topic scores
Four topic scoresLevers & Balance, Gears & Rotation, Pulleys & Springs, and Fluids & Pressure, scored separately so one strong area cannot hide a weak one
Where to revise first
Where to revise firstWhether you lose marks on single rules or on multi-step setups such as compound gear trains
Sample Result
🔬 Research & Sources
Mechanical reasoning is the practical use of a few ideas from school physics: moments about a pivot, ratios in gears and pulleys, how springs stretch, and pressure in liquids and gases. The questions are original JobCannon practice items written in words, so there are no diagrams to decode, and electricity is not covered. This is an in-house educational check, not a published or licensed aptitude test: it has no published norms and no reliability or validity study, so it gives no percentile and no IQ figure.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where do the questions come from?
JobCannon wrote every question for this test around standard school-level mechanics: levers, gears, pulleys, springs and pressure. None are copied from another test. Each question was checked so that exactly one of the four answers follows from the physics, and the correct answer is recorded by its wording on the server rather than by its position, so where an answer sits tells you nothing.
Is this the mechanical aptitude test an employer would give me?
No. Employers use their own tests, with their own questions, formats and time limits, and many show a picture of a machine. This test is practice for the underlying skill: reading a described mechanism and working out what it does. A good result here suggests your basics are in place, but it is not a prediction of how you would score on any particular company's paper.
What does "ignore friction" mean in the questions?
Where it matters, a question tells you to ignore friction and the weight of ropes, pulleys or levers, so you can use the ideal rule. Real machines lose some force to friction, which is why a real pulley system always needs slightly more effort than the ideal figure. Reading for that instruction is part of the skill, because it tells you which simplification the question expects.
Do I need a calculator?
Almost never. The numbers are chosen to work out by hand, and many questions are about the direction or the size of a change rather than an exact value, such as whether a gear spins faster or slower. If you do use a calculator or paper, treat it as you would on a real assessment and only where the instructions for that assessment allow it.
Why are the problems written in words instead of diagrams?
A described problem loads quickly, reads well on a phone and can be read aloud by a screen reader, which a drawing cannot. The trade-off is that you must picture the machine yourself. That is a useful habit: sketching the lever or gear train on paper before you choose an answer is exactly what helps on tests that do show pictures.
Does a low score mean I am not mechanical?
No. The test samples a narrow set of ideas, so a low score usually means a rule has not been practised yet, not that you lack the aptitude. Many people have strong hands-on skills and still stumble on written ratio problems. The four sub-scores show which area to work on, and the practice page has worked examples for each one.
How is the test scored?
Each question has exactly one correct answer and earns equal credit, with no penalty for a wrong answer. The server compares your answers with the key and returns a percentage, one of five bands and four topic scores. The bands describe your result on this set of questions only. There are no published norms for this test, so it gives no percentile and makes no comparison with other people.
How can I get better at mechanical reasoning?
Learn one rule at a time and apply it to three or four examples before moving on: the lever rule first, then gear ratios, then pulleys and springs, then pressure. Write the rule down before you calculate, and finish each answer with a quick sense check, such as whether the longer lever arm needs less force. The JobCannon practice page walks through all four areas.