Engineering · Past QCAA questions All past questions
2023 · Section 2 · Short response

Question 11

[4 marks] Simple familiar
Topic guidesPremiumTopic guide 12 · The three Unit 4 plasticsTopic guide 12 · Worked example: 2023 Question 11
Game plansPremium5.2 Tell ABS, PC and PA6 apartTemplate T6 Recall ladder
The question

State four contemporary engineering applications for acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS).

[4 marks]

Watch the situation first

ABS turns up wherever a moulded part has to take a knock

These are the four applications in QCAA’s sample answer. The ABS part in each is drawn in blue. Watch what each one has to survive.

Automobile bumper bar: it takes a knock and springs back Electrical wall socket: the ABS insulates the live pins Face shield: flying debris bounces off Hard hat: a falling bolt does not crack it Four applications, four marks automobile bumper bar high impact resistance electrical wall socket excellent electrical insulation 230 V in the pins face shield high impact resistance hard hat high impact resistance

QCAA’s marking notes say these applications need impact resistance. Name a real product, one per line, and each one earns a mark.

Now for the engineering

Pick four answers and see which ones the marker accepts

Twelve answers students give. Some are ABS applications, some belong to polycarbonate or PA6, and one is not an application at all. Pick four.

Your four lines appear here, in the order you pick them.

Marks earned

QCAA marking guide · 4 marks

Work through the solution one mark at a time

Try each step yourself before you reveal it. One mark for each application, and nothing needs explaining.

Step 1 · First application1 mark

Start with the syllabus list. Automobile parts come first, and a bumper bar is a part you can name.

“1. automobile bumper bar”

Marker: provides a contemporary engineering application

Step 2 · Second application1 mark

Move to a different category. Electrical equipment uses ABS for its insulation.

“2. electrical wall socket”

Marker: provides a second contemporary engineering application

Step 3 · Third application1 mark

Personal protective equipment is on the 2026 syllabus list for ABS.

“3. face shield”

Face shields are listed under ABS as protective equipment, and motorcycle face shields are also listed under polycarbonate. For this question either reading is fine, because the answer names the product.

Marker: provides a third contemporary engineering application

Step 4 · Fourth application1 mark

“4. hard hat”

Any four, for example automobile bumper bar, electrical wall socket, face shield, hard hat

The notes say these applications “require impact resistance” and list what may be accepted:

  • automobile parts, e.g. dashboards, interior trims
  • household electrical appliances, e.g. kitchen appliance housing and parts, light switches
  • business equipment, e.g. computer keyboard components, printer parts, power tool housing
  • other suitable response consistent with a reasonable understanding.

Marker: provides a fourth contemporary engineering application

Putting it all together

Each phrase of the question gave you something

“State”
Give each answer clearly and stop. A noun phrase per line is enough.
“four”
Four marks, one per application. The paper even numbers the lines 1 to 4.
“contemporary engineering applications”
Real products in use today. A property such as impact resistance is the reason for an application, so it is not one.
“acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS)”
The full name tells you which list to recall. Lenses belong to polycarbonate and gears to PA6.
What makes this simple familiar

QCAA did not publish a band for this question. It reads as simple familiar because it is straight recall of the syllabus list, one mark per item, with nothing to explain. ABS is still one of the three Unit 4 plastics for 2026, with polycarbonate and PA6. Its 2026 application list is longer than the one 2023 students had: it adds personal protective equipment such as face shields and hard hats, and high-strength construction uses, so every answer here still earns its mark.

If I had to guess where you might lose marks, it would be writing a property, such as “high impact resistance”, on one of the four lines. That is why ABS is chosen, and it is not an application. The other loss is borrowing from the wrong list: safety glasses and skylights are polycarbonate, gears and fishing line are PA6. The 2023 subject report lists current uses of plastics in a contemporary engineering context among the practices to strengthen.

Only mark this done when you could do it without help. Reading the solution does not count.

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Question wording, any figures and marking-guide steps are from the 2023 QCAA Engineering external assessment, © State of Queensland (QCAA) 2023, licensed under CC BY 4.0, and have been adapted, except where a third-party source is named. Tangent Tuition is not affiliated with the QCAA.

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