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Pressure, heat and expansion explain much of what you meet on site: why an upstairs shower runs weaker than a downstairs tap, why a sealed system's pressure rises as it heats and why a long hot pipe run needs room to move. The free question set checks those principles and the calculations that go with them.
Measure the head as the vertical height from the water level down to the outlet, then convert it to pressure. The figure you get is the static pressure with every outlet closed; pipes, fittings and other open outlets reduce it once water flows.
Work through a head-pressure exampleMultiply the mass of water by the temperature rise and by the specific heat capacity of water. A litre of water has a mass of about a kilogram, so a cylinder's volume in litres gives its mass; divide the energy by the heater's power for a heat-up time.
Work through a cylinder heat-up exampleHeat passes through a pipe wall by conduction, is carried round by moving water or air by convection, and crosses a gap by radiation. Name the path first; the way to reduce a heat loss depends on which path it takes.
Revise the three ways heat movesFor a calculation, write down what you are finding and put every input into matching units before you substitute: metres of head for pressure, kilograms and degrees for heat, kilowatts and hours for energy. For a question that asks why, name the principle first, then choose the answer that applies it.
A plumbing science mock test checks recall and method without the explanation after each answer. The same principles run through the system units, so come back to them when a cold water or heating question turns on pressure or expansion.
The free test offers 5, 10 or 25 questions from this same set, with an optional practice timer. In Test mode, answers and explanations appear after you finish. Repeated tests reuse this bank, so a higher score can reflect familiarity.
Set up a free Plumbing science testPlumbing courses teach the science behind the trade alongside the system units: units and measurement, pressure and flow, heat and energy, and how materials behave. Use this set to check those principles, then compare your revision plan with the units in your own qualification handbook.
Keep one to hand. The calculations need only multiplication, division and unit conversions, such as metres of head to bar or minutes to hours. Write each step with its unit, so a slip is easy to find when you check the explanation.
Yes. The Test setup uses 5, 10 or all 25 questions from this set. Choose an optional practice timer and review the explanations after finishing. For broader plumbing revision, add the cold water, hot water and heating sets as well.
All 25 questions on this page are free, with no account or card required. They are selected from the maintained Plumbing science question bank. Premium opens the full bank of 128 questions, more modules and Weak-Spot Review.
A free account saves the answers you give while signed in and lets you continue across devices. Without an account, this browser can remember your place for 30 days; it does not transfer earlier guest answers into an account. Signing up keeps the same free question allowance.