What the FE Reference Handbook prints, and what it doesn't
This page is for FE candidates who study with the FE Reference Handbook and want to know, before exam day, which methods they'll have to carry in their heads. It lists methods the book leaves to you, methods it files under another chapter, forms that differ from the way most courses teach them, and one printed formula that gives the wrong answer. Every finding comes from the book itself, with page numbers. We're independent and not affiliated with NCEES.
· by the FE → PE Prep team
The handbook is one book for every FE exam, with a chapter per discipline, so a method can turn up under a chapter that isn't yours. If you're still choosing, see our comparison of which FE exam to take.
Not in the book: bring these with you
Each touches a topic on at least one FE exam specification. Under each is what the book does print nearby, so you know where you'll land if you go looking.
Moment distribution
Missing from 10.6: moment distribution and its distribution factors; the slope-deflection equations.
The book prints the ingredients under Structural Analysis: the stiffness of a member whose far end is fixed and a carryover factor of one-half (p. 274, Beam Stiffness and Moment Carryover), and fixed-end moments for a uniform load and a point load (p. 277, Member Fixed-End Moments). For a beam with one redundant support, its own route is the force method (p. 276).
On the specification for FE Civil (elementary statically indeterminate structures)
Bisection, secant and other numerical methods
Missing from 10.6: the bisection method; the secant method; a formula for interpolating between table values; Runge–Kutta methods.
Numerical Methods is two pages (pp. 62–63): difference equations, Newton's method for roots and for minimization, the forward rectangular, trapezoidal and Simpson's rules for integrals, and Euler's method for differential equations.
On the specification for FE Other Disciplines (roots of equations, convergence); FE Environmental (algebraic equations and roots); FE Chemical (numerical methods); FE Mechanical (numerical methods)
Declining-balance and sum-of-years'-digits depreciation
Missing from 10.6: declining-balance depreciation; sum-of-years'-digits depreciation.
Depreciation (p. 236) is straight line, MACRS, with its table of factors on p. 237, and book value.
On the specification for FE Chemical (depreciation); FE Environmental (depreciation); FE Other Disciplines (depreciation)
Incremental benefit-cost analysis
Missing from 10.6: incremental benefit-cost analysis for choosing between alternatives.
Benefit-Cost Analysis (p. 237) gives the test for one project: benefits at least equal to costs. Choosing among mutually exclusive alternatives means comparing the extra benefit with the extra cost from one alternative to the next, and that procedure is yours to know.
On the specification for FE Chemical (benefit-cost); FE Civil (benefit-cost); FE Electrical and Computer (cost-benefit); FE Environmental (benefit-cost); FE Mechanical (cost-benefit); FE Other Disciplines (benefit-cost)
Flow nets
Missing from 10.6: flow nets, with their flow lines and equipotential lines.
Seepage and groundwater appear as Darcy's law (p. 298), the constant-head and falling-head permeability tests (p. 297), well drawdown (pp. 298–299) and a factor of safety against seepage liquefaction (p. 266).
On the specification for FE Civil (groundwater: flow, wells, drawdown); FE Environmental (groundwater flow)
The liquidity index
Missing from 10.6: the liquidity index.
The soil index properties on p. 266 include the plasticity index, the liquid limit minus the plastic limit.
On the specification for FE Civil (index properties and soil classifications)
Infinite-slope stability
Missing from 10.6: the infinite-slope method.
Slope stability is one case: failure along an assumed planar slip surface, with the factor of safety as the available shearing resistance over the mobilized shear force (p. 271).
On the specification for FE Civil (slope stability)
The Henderson–Hasselbalch equation
Missing from 10.6: the Henderson–Hasselbalch equation.
Acids, Bases, and pH (p. 87) defines pH, the acid dissociation constant, pKa and the ion product of water. A buffer's pH has to be worked from the dissociation constant.
On the specification for FE Other Disciplines (acids and bases: pH, buffers); FE Chemical (acids, bases, pH, pK); FE Environmental (acid-base)
The Routh–Hurwitz test
Missing from 10.6: the Routh–Hurwitz stability test.
Control Systems (pp. 231–232) gives the closed-loop characteristic equation, steady-state error by system type, and gain and phase margins.
On the specification for FE Electrical and Computer (stability); FE Chemical (process control: stability)
BJT load lines
Missing from 10.6: load lines and collector characteristic curves.
The bipolar junction transistor table (p. 391) gives the current relationships, equivalent circuits for the active, saturation and cutoff regions, and the small-signal model.
On the specification for FE Electrical and Computer (models, biasing, and performance of discrete devices)
Counters and registers
Missing from 10.6: counters, registers and latches.
Digital logic (pp. 395–397) covers logic gates, De Morgan's theorems, SR, JK and D flip-flops with a state-transition table, and Karnaugh maps, then moves on to computer networking.
On the specification for FE Electrical and Computer (flip-flops and counters)
Power-factor correction
Missing from 10.6: power-factor correction.
AC Power (p. 368) defines real, reactive and complex power, leading and lagging power factor, and the power triangle.
On the specification for FE Electrical and Computer (power factor); FE Other Disciplines (power factor)
In the book, but not where you'd look
Look a method up by the name you were taught and you can land in another discipline's chapter, or on a different quantity with the same name. Remember the heading and the page, not just the name.
Fixed-end moments are in two places
Missing from 10.6: an index entry for the p. 142 table.
Member Fixed-End Moments (p. 277, Civil Engineering) covers a beam fixed at both ends under a uniform load and under a point load. A fuller table, Fixed End Moments (p. 142, Mechanics of Materials), adds beams whose far end is pinned.
On the specification for FE Civil (elementary statically indeterminate structures)
Reaction kinetics are under Chemical Engineering
Missing from 10.6: rate laws in the Chemistry and Biology chapter (pp. 86–94).
Zero-, first- and second-order and reversible rate laws (p. 244), the Arrhenius equation (p. 243) and batch and flow reactors (pp. 243–246) are in Chemical Reaction Engineering.
On the specification for FE Environmental (kinetics)
Half-life is under Environmental Engineering
Missing from 10.6: a half-life in the reaction-kinetics pages (pp. 243–246).
Half-life is printed under Radiation (p. 335): radioactive decay, the combined effective half-life, and the half-life of a contaminant that degrades at a first-order rate.
On the specification for FE Other Disciplines (industrial hygiene: half-life); FE Environmental (kinetics: growth and decay)
Michaelis–Menten and Monod sit in different chapters
Missing from 10.6: an index entry for Michaelis–Menten.
The Michaelis–Menten equation is in Chemical Engineering, inside Reactions of Shifting Order (p. 245). Monod kinetics for microbial growth is in Environmental Engineering (p. 328), and the index lists it.
On the specification for FE Environmental (kinetics); FE Chemical (reaction rates and order)
Kirchhoff, in the index, means circuits
The index's Kirchhoff entry is the circuit laws (p. 363). The chemistry relation that carries a heat of reaction to another temperature is on p. 152, under Heats of Reaction in Thermodynamics; the Chemistry and Biology chapter defines heats of reaction in words (p. 86).
On the specification for FE Chemical (heats of reaction and mixing)
Classical control is under Instrumentation, Measurement, and Control
Transfer functions, steady-state error, gain and phase margins, and first- and second-order step responses are on pp. 231–234 of that chapter. Bode plots and decibels are in Electrical and Computer Engineering (p. 378).
On the specification for FE Electrical and Computer (control systems); FE Mechanical (control systems); FE Chemical (process control)
Permeability tests are with the water-resources pages
The constant-head and falling-head tests are on p. 297, under Hydraulic Conductivity/Permeability, well after the geotechnical section (pp. 265–273).
On the specification for FE Civil (laboratory and field tests)
Printed differently from the way it's usually taught
These are in the book, but in a form, sign or notation that can catch you out if you copy them without looking.
Electrode potentials are oxidation potentials
The table on p. 93 lists Standard Oxidation Potentials for Corrosion Reactions, written as anode half-cells, so each sign is the reverse of the standard reduction potential most chemistry courses use: copper's entry is negative and zinc's positive. The note under the table says so.
On the specification for FE Chemical (electrochemistry); FE Other Disciplines (oxidation and reduction, corrosion control); FE Environmental (oxidation-reduction)
The ideal gas law is per unit mass
Missing from 10.6: the ideal gas law in moles, PV = nRT.
Page 144 prints it per unit mass, with a gas constant specific to each gas: the universal constant divided by the molecular weight. The universal constant is listed per kmol and per lbmol, and per mole in liter-atmospheres. Convert moles to mass, or the constant to molar units, before you use it.
On the specification for FE Chemical (ideal gas law); FE Mechanical (properties of ideal gases); FE Other Disciplines (ideal gas law)
Earth pressure assumes a soil with no cohesion
Missing from 10.6: an earth pressure with a cohesion term; a tension-crack depth.
Page 269 gives the Rankine active and passive coefficients, and the at-rest coefficient, for a smooth wall, a soil with no cohesion (c = 0) and level backfill.
On the specification for FE Civil (active/passive/at-rest pressure)
Settling time uses the 2% band
Missing from 10.6: a 5% settling time.
Page 234 defines the settling time of a second-order system as the time to settle within 2% of the final value. A course that used a 5% band gets a different answer.
On the specification for FE Electrical and Computer (settling time)
Two notation traps on p. 31
In the concentration of a vaporized liquid in a ventilated space, the nonideal mixing factor k multiplies the ventilation rate in the denominator, so a smaller k means a higher concentration. Courses that size dilution ventilation with a safety factor K of 1 or more apply it the other way round, so entering a safety factor as the book's k is off by a factor of K squared. In Sweep-Through Concentration Change on the same page, C0 is the inlet concentration and C1 the initial one.
On the specification for FE Other Disciplines (ventilation rates); FE Chemical (industrial hygiene)
A printed formula that gives the wrong answer: p. 267
Consolidation settlement on p. 267 is split into three cases by where the initial and final effective stresses fall against the preconsolidation stress, the most the clay has carried before. In the third case the clay starts below the preconsolidation stress and ends above it, so the settlement is a recompression part plus a virgin-compression part. The book's virgin-compression term takes the logarithm of the final stress over the initial stress. It should be the final stress over the preconsolidation stress, because the compression index belongs only to the loading beyond it. As printed, the steeper index is applied across the recompression range as well, which counts that range twice and makes the settlement too large.
You don't need another textbook to see it: the book's own cases disagree. A clay whose final stress ends just below the preconsolidation stress falls under the first case, and one that ends just above it falls under the third. A tiny extra load can't make the settlement jump, so the two cases have to agree where they meet. As printed, they don't, because the third case adds a virgin-compression term over the whole recompression range. With the preconsolidation stress under the second logarithm, that term is the logarithm of 1, which is zero, and the cases meet.
In numbers, for our own example: a 3 m clay layer with an initial void ratio of 1.0, a recompression index of 0.05 and a compression index of 0.30, an initial effective stress of 60 kPa and a preconsolidation stress of 120 kPa. Loaded to 119 kPa, the first case gives about 22 mm. Loaded to 121 kPa, the third case as printed gives about 160 mm; corrected, about 24 mm. Loaded to 200 kPa, the printed form gives about 258 mm against about 122 mm corrected, more than double.
The book's introduction says examinees aren't penalized for handbook errors that affect an exam question. Know the corrected form anyway, and if a settlement answer looks large, check which stress sits under the second logarithm.
Using the book on exam day
- Search the book's words, not your course's. Methods sit under the book's own headings, such as Beam Stiffness and Moment Carryover or Member Fixed-End Moments, and a name you learned can point to another chapter, as Kirchhoff does.
- Some equations are pictures. In the PDF of version 10.6, an equation can be drawn rather than typed, so a search for it can come back empty even though it's on the page. The definitions of natural frequency and damping ratio on p. 113 are an example. Search for the words around an equation instead.
- The index won't be there. The book's introduction says the exam's PDF leaves out the index, along with the cover, the introductory material and the exam specifications. Learn where your topics live while you study.
- Check your version. Page numbers here are version 10.6's. The version is on the copyright page of your copy.
For how the exam itself is built and scored, see how hard the FE exam is.
Common questions
- Is moment distribution in the FE Reference Handbook?
- Not in version 10.6: it has neither moment distribution and its distribution factors nor the slope-deflection equations. It does print the ingredients: the stiffness of a member whose far end is fixed and a carryover factor of one-half (p. 274), and fixed-end moments (p. 277, with more cases on p. 142).
- Does the FE handbook cover declining-balance depreciation?
- Not in version 10.6: it has neither declining-balance depreciation nor sum-of-years'-digits depreciation. Its Depreciation section (p. 236) is straight line, MACRS and book value.
- Which version of the FE Reference Handbook does this page cover?
- Version 10.6 (eighth printing, April 2026). NCEES's FE exam page names no version; it tells you to download your free copy through MyNCEES. If your copy shows a different version on its copyright page, check the pages before you rely on anything here.
- Is the index in the handbook you get on exam day?
- No. The book's introduction says the exam's PDF leaves out the cover, the introductory material, the index and the exam specifications, so learn where your topics are while you study.
- Is there a mistake in the FE Reference Handbook?
- Version 10.6 has one we can prove from the book itself: in the third case of consolidation settlement on p. 267, the second logarithm divides the final stress by the initial stress where it should divide by the preconsolidation stress. The book's own cases disagree where they meet, which is how you can see it.
- Can you bring your own copy of the handbook to the FE exam?
- No. The handbook's introduction says no personal or printed copies are allowed in the exam room; the computer-based exam includes a PDF version for you to use.
How we checked, and sources
We read every page cited here on October 25, 2026. For each thing we say the book lacks, we searched three separate text extractions of the PDF alongside a term we knew was printed, so a broken search couldn't pass for a blank page; read the book's index at the right letter; and looked at the rendered pages where it would sit, because some equations are pictures a text search can't see. Anything we couldn't prove all three ways isn't on this page. We found these while checking the hints in our own practice problems against the book.
- NCEES, FE Reference Handbook, version 10.6 (eighth printing, April 2026), including the FE exam specifications printed at the back (pp. 477–500). Free with a MyNCEES account.
- NCEES, the FE exam page, read October 25, 2026.
FE exam pages and free problems
Practice with the book open
Free practice sets for every FE discipline we cover: exam-style questions, with the full worked solution and an explanation of what each wrong option was testing. No signup.
Page numbers and findings refer to the FE Reference Handbook, version 10.6 (eighth printing, April 2026). The handbook is NCEES's, and this page quotes none of it beyond section headings. Independent study resource; not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by NCEES.