What do FE Electrical practice problems actually look like?

Multiple choice, four options, usually phrased 'most nearly', with options close enough that you cannot eliminate them by inspection. Many carry a figure: a circuit schematic, a spectrum sketch, a block diagram, a logic diagram. NCEES gives 110 questions in a 6-hour appointment, of which 5 hours 20 minutes is exam time, so the working time per question is under three minutes once you allow for reading, a handbook lookup and a check.

Is there really that much maths on the FE Electrical exam?

Mathematics is tied with Circuit Analysis for the largest knowledge area at 11-17 questions, and FE Electrical and Computer is the only FE exam where mathematics is the largest area at all. It is also the largest mathematics allocation in the FE programme — around 40% more than FE Civil or FE Other Disciplines at 8-12, and roughly double FE Environmental at 5-8. On every other FE exam the biggest block is a subject area: water resources, thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, material and energy balances. Here it is the mathematics itself.

How many questions are on each FE Electrical topic?

Mathematics and Circuit Analysis lead at 11-17 each. Power Systems and Digital Systems follow at 8-12, then Electronics at 7-11 and Control Systems at 6-9. Linear Systems, Signal Processing, Communications, Computer Systems and Engineering Economics get 5-8 each; Probability and Statistics, Ethics and Professional Practice, Properties of Electrical Materials, Electromagnetics, Computer Networks and Software Engineering get 4-6 each. That is 17 knowledge areas, and the ranges sum to between 100 and 154 against an exam of 110 questions.

Do I need to know computer science for the FE Electrical exam?

Yes. Digital Systems at 8-12, Computer Systems at 5-8, Software Engineering at 4-6 and Computer Networks at 4-6 are all on the same paper as power systems and electromagnetics. Our companion guide works through what that split means in practice and why it is the defining feature of this exam.

What reference material do you get on the FE Electrical exam?

The exam is closed book with an electronic reference: the NCEES FE Reference Handbook is supplied on-screen as a searchable PDF, and no personal copies or outside material are allowed. With 17 knowledge areas spanning power engineering through software, searching it quickly is a substantial part of the skill — practise with the searchable PDF rather than a printed copy.

FE Electrical practice problems: the maths is the exam

Mathematics is the largest knowledge area on the FE Electrical and Computer exam, at 11 to 17 of the 110 questions — and this is the only FE exam where that is true. On every other one the biggest block is a subject: water resources, thermodynamics, fluid mechanics. The three problems below make the point a second way. All three are electrical, and all nine wrong answers are mathematics.

Updated August 31, 2026 · by the FE to PE Prep team

110

Questions

5h 20m

Exam time

Knowledge areas

11–17

Mathematics

The circuit is rarely the difficulty

Work through the three problems below and check what each wrong answer actually is. A 2π. A fold you stopped one step short of. A sign. None of the nine requires you to have misunderstood a circuit, a filter or a sampler — and that is the shape of this exam.

The electrical step is usually one line. Corner frequency is one division. Op-amp gain is one ratio. Aliasing is one subtraction — done twice. The marks are not in the physics.
A conversion you performed correctly is still an answer. In the RC problem, 6250 rad/s is right, necessary, and on the option list. Writing it down means forgetting only that the question said hertz.
Doing the right operation too few times is the subtlest failure. The 16 kHz tone folds to 6 kHz, which is still above the baseband limit and must fold again to 4 kHz. Stopping at 6 feels like finishing.
The clock is the same as every FE. Six hours sounds generous, but only 5 hours 20 minutes is exam time — the rest is a nondisclosure agreement, a tutorial and a scheduled break. Across 110 questions that is under three minutes each.

Three real problems

One from Linear Systems, one from Signal Processing, one from Electronics — drawn from our free FE Electrical set, and none of them the three worked in the companion guide. Try each before opening the solution, and read the distractor notes.

1. Corner frequency of a first-order RC filter

The transfer function is given to you. There is one time constant and one division. This problem is here because of what happens to the four options once you have done the electrical part correctly.

1
medium
A. Transient/frequency response, resonance, Laplace & transfer functions
The RC network shown is a first-order low-pass filter with $R = 1.6$ kΩ and $C = 0.1$ µF, so $H(s)=\dfrac{1}{RCs+1}$ . Its corner (−3 dB) frequency is most nearly:
1. 6250 Hz
2. 39269.9 Hz
3. 1989.4 Hz
4. 994.7 Hz
Show the answer & worked solution
Answer: D.994.7 Hz
$RC=1.6\,k\Omega\times0.1\,\mu F=0.16$ ms, so $\omega_c=1/(RC)=6250$ rad/s and $f_c=\omega_c/(2\pi)=994.7$ Hz. Distractors report $\omega_c$ in rad/s as if it were Hz (skip the $2\pi$ ), multiply by $2\pi$ instead of dividing ( $(2\pi)^2$ too high), and use $\pi$ instead of $2\pi$ (doubling $f_c$ ).

What the distractors teach: Every single wrong answer is a 2π. Report the angular frequency as though it were a frequency in hertz and you get 6250 — a number you must compute on the way, which makes it the easiest thing to write down. Multiply by 2π instead of dividing and you get 39,269.9. Use π where the relationship wants 2π and you get 1989.4, exactly double the truth. Not one of the three has anything to do with filters, resistors or capacitors. The circuit was never the difficulty.

2. Alias frequency of an under-sampled tone

A 16 kHz tone sampled at 10 kHz. Everyone who has met Nyquist knows this will alias. Almost nobody gets the alias frequency right first time, and the reason is arithmetic rather than signal theory.

2
medium
A. Sampling, analog & digital filters, Z-transforms
A 16 kHz sinusoidal tone is sampled at $f_s = 10$ kHz — below the Nyquist rate (see spectrum sketch). The apparent (alias) frequency of the tone in the sampled signal is most nearly:
1. 4 kHz
2. 16 kHz
3. 1 kHz
4. 6 kHz
Show the answer & worked solution
Answer: A.4 kHz
Sampled images appear at $|f-kf_s|$ : $|16-10|=6$ kHz and $|16-20|=4$ kHz. Only 4 kHz lies in the baseband $[0,\ f_s/2=5\ \text{kHz}]$ , so the tone appears at 4 kHz. Distractors stop after one subtraction ( $f-f_s=6$ kHz, which still exceeds $f_s/2$ and must fold again), repeatedly subtract $f_s/2$ as if the spectrum replicated every half sample rate (1 kHz), and report the original 16 kHz tone as if sampling preserved it.

What the distractors teach: The trap is stopping too early. Subtract once — 16 minus 10 — and you get 6 kHz, which looks like a finished answer. It is not: 6 kHz still sits above the 5 kHz baseband limit, so it has to fold again, landing at 4 kHz. The other two options are cruder: subtract half the sample rate repeatedly and you get 1 kHz, or report the original 16 kHz as though sampling had preserved it. This is the single most instructive question in our free FE Electrical set, because the wrong answer is what you get from doing the right operation one time too few.

3. Output of an inverting op-amp

Electronics carries 7–11 questions and this is its most fundamental configuration. Two resistors, one ratio, one minus sign. The distractors are a catalogue of the ways that minus sign and that ratio go wrong.

3
medium
A. Diodes, transistors, op-amps, instrumentation & power electronics
The ideal inverting op-amp circuit shown (±15 V supplies) has input resistor $R_1=10$ k $\Omega$ and a 47 k $\Omega$ feedback resistor. With $v_{in}=0.2$ V applied, the output voltage is most nearly:
1. -0.0426 V
2. 0.94 V
3. -0.94 V
4. 1.14 V
Show the answer & worked solution
Answer: C.-0.94 V
$v_{out}=-\dfrac{R_f}{R_1}v_{in}=-\dfrac{47}{10}\times0.2=-0.94$ V (the virtual ground forces the input current $v_{in}/R_1$ through $R_f$ ). Distractors drop the minus sign, apply the NON-inverting gain $1+R_f/R_1$ , and invert the resistor ratio ( $-R_1/R_f$ ).

What the distractors teach: Drop the sign and you get +0.94 V, which is the right magnitude attached to the wrong polarity — and on a multiple-choice paper both are printed. Apply the non-inverting gain 1 + Rf/R1 instead of the inverting −Rf/R1 and you get 1.14 V: the correct formula for a different circuit. Invert the resistor ratio to −R1/Rf and you get −0.0426 V. Three failures, none of them about op-amps: a sign, a formula chosen for the wrong topology, and a ratio the wrong way up.

Where the 110 questions come from

Seventeen knowledge areas, the joint-most of any FE exam. Read the first row before anything else.

FE Electrical and Computer knowledge areas and question counts, per the NCEES specification
Knowledge area	Questions
MathematicsTied for the largest area on the exam — and the largest mathematics allocation in the whole FE programme. Algebra and trigonometry, complex numbers, discrete mathematics, analytic geometry, calculus, differential equations, linear algebra, vector analysis.	11–17
Probability and StatisticsMeasures of central tendency and dispersion, probability distributions, expected value, estimation.	4–6
Ethics and Professional PracticeCodes of ethics, licensure, liability, public protection, intellectual property.	4–6
Engineering EconomicsTime value of money, cost estimation, risk identification, analyses.	5–8
Properties of Electrical MaterialsChemical, electrical, mechanical and thermal properties; semiconductor materials.	4–6
Circuit Analysis (DC and AC Steady State)Tied with Mathematics for the largest area. KCL and KVL, series/parallel equivalents, Thevenin and Norton, node and loop analysis, waveform analysis, phasors, impedance.	11–17
Linear SystemsFrequency and time response, resonance, laplace transforms, transfer functions, 2-port theory.	5–8
Signal ProcessingSampling, analog filters, digital filters, Z-transforms, continuous and discrete time convolution.	5–8
ElectronicsModels and characteristics of diodes and transistors, amplifiers, operational amplifiers, instrumentation, power electronics.	7–11
Power SystemsSingle and three-phase power, transmission and distribution, voltage regulation, transformers, motors and generators, power factor correction.	8–12
ElectromagneticsElectrostatics and magnetostatics, wave propagation, transmission lines, electromagnetic compatibility.	4–6
Control SystemsBlock diagrams, bode plots, closed-loop and open-loop response, controller performance, stability.	6–9
CommunicationsModulation, fourier transforms, multiplexing, digital communications, communications channels.	5–8
Computer NetworksRouting and switching, network topologies, network models and security, local area networks.	4–6
Digital SystemsNumber systems, boolean logic, logic gates and circuits, logic minimisation, state machines, timing, programmable logic devices.	8–12
Computer SystemsArchitecture, microprocessors, memory technology and systems, interfacing.	5–8
Software EngineeringAlgorithms, data structures, software design methods, software implementation, programming concepts.	4–6

Mathematics at 11–17 is the largest allocation in the FE programme: about 40% more than FE Civil or FE Other Disciplines at 8–12, and roughly double FE Environmental at 5–8. It is also the only case where mathematics outranks every subject area on its own exam. Candidates who plan revision around circuits and power tend to discover this in the wrong room.

The other defining feature of this exam — that it is really two professions on one paper — is covered in the companion guide, along with the pass rate: how hard is the FE Electrical and Computer exam?

Common questions

What do FE Electrical practice problems actually look like?: Multiple choice, four options, usually phrased 'most nearly', with options close enough that you cannot eliminate them by inspection. Many carry a figure: a circuit schematic, a spectrum sketch, a block diagram, a logic diagram. NCEES gives 110 questions in a 6-hour appointment, of which 5 hours 20 minutes is exam time, so the working time per question is under three minutes once you allow for reading, a handbook lookup and a check.
Is there really that much maths on the FE Electrical exam?: Mathematics is tied with Circuit Analysis for the largest knowledge area at 11-17 questions, and FE Electrical and Computer is the only FE exam where mathematics is the largest area at all. It is also the largest mathematics allocation in the FE programme — around 40% more than FE Civil or FE Other Disciplines at 8-12, and roughly double FE Environmental at 5-8. On every other FE exam the biggest block is a subject area: water resources, thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, material and energy balances. Here it is the mathematics itself.
How many questions are on each FE Electrical topic?: Mathematics and Circuit Analysis lead at 11-17 each. Power Systems and Digital Systems follow at 8-12, then Electronics at 7-11 and Control Systems at 6-9. Linear Systems, Signal Processing, Communications, Computer Systems and Engineering Economics get 5-8 each; Probability and Statistics, Ethics and Professional Practice, Properties of Electrical Materials, Electromagnetics, Computer Networks and Software Engineering get 4-6 each. That is 17 knowledge areas, and the ranges sum to between 100 and 154 against an exam of 110 questions.
Do I need to know computer science for the FE Electrical exam?: Yes. Digital Systems at 8-12, Computer Systems at 5-8, Software Engineering at 4-6 and Computer Networks at 4-6 are all on the same paper as power systems and electromagnetics. Our companion guide works through what that split means in practice and why it is the defining feature of this exam.
What reference material do you get on the FE Electrical exam?: The exam is closed book with an electronic reference: the NCEES FE Reference Handbook is supplied on-screen as a searchable PDF, and no personal copies or outside material are allowed. With 17 knowledge areas spanning power engineering through software, searching it quickly is a substantial part of the skill — practise with the searchable PDF rather than a printed copy.

Build your study plan

Tell us how long you have. We'll budget your hours across every knowledge area using the official NCEES question weights — the heaviest areas get the most time, which is the opposite of how most people study.

Work through seven more

Ten free FE Electrical and Computer problems in total — a loaded voltage divider, power factor correction, network topology, AM spectra, cascade feedback, transmission-line reflection — each with the figure and the full worked solution. No signup.

Try the free FE Electrical set Explore FE Electrical

Format, knowledge areas and appointment length are from the NCEES FE Electrical and Computer specification. The per-question time and the comparisons drawn against other FE specifications are ours, not NCEES figures. Specifications and fees change over time — confirm current specifics at ncees.org. Independent study resource; not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by NCEES.