3 APRIL 2023 Page 1 of 11 MECN2012

UNIVERSITY OF THE WITWATRSRAND, JOHANNESBURG

SCHOOL OF MECHANICAL, INDUSTRIAL & AERONAUTICAL ENGINEERING

MECN2012 - COMPUTING SKILLS AND SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. ANSWER ALL FIVE QUESTIONS for a total of 60 marks

2. A maximum of 1 HOUR 45 MINUTES is allowed
3. 6 bonus marks may be awarded in addition to the above
4. Bonus questions are indicated by *
5. Calculators may be used

QUESTION 1

Show all workings when making the conversions which follow (Answer in the provided answer
booklet):
a) Convert 145010 to binary and hence to hexadecimal (4 marks)
b) Without first converting to decimal, add 10101102 and 10101112.
Convert the result to hexadecimal and then directly from hexadecimal to decimal. (6 marks)
c) *Without first converting to decimal, add the tetradecimal (base 14) numbers 3B914 and
8D414, where the characters A, B, C, D and E are used to represent register values of 10, 11,
12, 13 and 14 respectively. (1 mark)

(Total: 10 Marks + 1 Bonus Mark)

QUESTION 2

Using the MCQ cards provided, please answer the following questions:

I. Which of the following statements is false about the colon ( : ) in MatLab:

a. It is used to denote ranges
b. It is used to suppress output to the command line
c. It is used to index an entire row or column in a matrix
d. It is used in the declaration of a ‘for’ loop
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II. Which of the following statements is true about the ‘clear’ function as seen below in MatLab:

a. Clears screen output in the Command Window

b. Deletes listed variables
c. Suppresses variables in the Command Window
d. Deletes all variables in the Workspace

III. Which of the following statements about the ‘SWITCH-CASE’ algorithm is false:
a. It only tests a single variable for equality
b. If none of the case conditions are met, the logical value 0 is returned
c. It is a branching algorithm that tests against a list of possible discrete values
d. Only one case can be valid

IV. Which of the following is a looping structure:

a. ‘while’ algorithm
b. ‘if’ algorithm
c. ‘switch-case’ algorithm
d. All of the above

Questions V to VII must be answered given the following matrix:

0 50 0 5
⎡ 10 30 ⎤ ⎡2 3⎤
⎢ ⎥ ⎢ ⎥
Forces= ⎢ 20 15 ⎥ Positions= ⎢ 4 1⎥
⎢30 −20⎥ ⎢6 2⎥
⎢40 −40⎥ ⎢2 1⎥
⎣50 0⎦ ⎣ 10 3⎦

V. Select the line of code that will produce the following command line output:

20 15
𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆 = � �
30 −20

a. SelectForces = Forces ([3 4] , length(Forces))

b. SelectForces = Forces (3:4, :)
c. SelectForces = Forces (:, 1:2)
d. SelectForces = Forces (:, 3:4)
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VI. Select the line of code that will produce the following command line output:
0 250
⎡ 20 90 ⎤
⎢ ⎥
Moments= ⎢ 80 15 ⎥
⎢ 180 −40 ⎥
⎢ 80 −40 ⎥
⎣ 500 0 ⎦

a. Moments = Forces*Positions
b. Moments = Forces x Positions
c. Moments = [Forces(:,1)*Positions(:,1) Forces(:,2)*Positions(:,2)]
d. Moments = Forces·*Positions

VII. Select the matrix that is produced by the following line of code:

Merged = [Forces(4:5,1) Positions(4:5,1) ; Forces(1,2) Positions(1,2)]

30 −20
a. Merged = �40 −40�
50 0
b. Merged = �30 −20 50�
40 −40 0
30 −20
c. Merged = �40 −40�
50 5
d. Merged = �30 −20 50�
40 −40 5

Questions VIII to X must be answered given the following matrices:

5 3 9 6 3 8
𝐴𝐴 = �2 8 2� 𝐵𝐵 = �9 8 2�
6 4 1 3 5 1

VIII. Given matrices A and B, which logical array is true for the following logical statement A | B
0 0 0
a. ans = �0 0 0�
0 0 0
1 1 1
b. ans = �1 1 1�
1 1 1
0 1 0
c. ans = �0 1 1�
0 0 1
1 0 1
d. ans = �1 0 0�
1 1 0
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IX. Given matrices A and B, which logical array is true for the following logical statement A>=2

1 1 1
a. ans = �0 1 0�
1 1 0
0 0 0
b. ans = �1 0 1�
0 0 1
1 0 0
c. ans = �0 0 0�
0 0 0
1 1 1
d. ans = �1 1 1�
1 1 0
X. Select the matrix that is produced by the following line of code:

B (end) = 3;

6 3 8
a. 𝐵𝐵 = �9 8 2�
3 3 3
6 3 8
b. 𝐵𝐵 = �9 8 2�
3 5 3
c. 𝐵𝐵 = �6 3 8�
9 8 2
d. None of the above, the matrix sizes are incompatible

Questions X must be answered using the following Venn diagram:

XI. *If the shaded area represents the Inclusive set, which of the following Boolean Operators is
equivalent to the Venn diagram:
a. A AND B
b. NOT B
c. NOT A
d. A NOR B

(Total: 10 Marks + 1 Bonus Mark)

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QUESTION 3

a. All questions refers to the program below called Factorial.m that displays all factorials from
1 to n. Where a factorial, n!, is defined as the product of all integers from 1 to n.

For example if n = 5, the programs must display:

Entries in the matrix are the results of 1!, 2!, 3!, 4! and 5!. Complete the value table given on
page 8 for the program called Factorial.

b. * All questions refers to the program below called UnknownOperation.m, it displays a

number after performing an unknown operation. Use this program to answer Questions i to iii.
Answer these questions in the provided answer booklet.
i. Describe in words what operation this program performs. (1 Mark)
ii. What result/ number/ matrix will be displayed in the Command Window? (1 Mark)
iii. What MatLab Built-in function performs the same operation as program? (1 Mark)

(10 Marks + 3 Bonus Mark)

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QUESTION 4

Use the answer sheets on Page 9 of this question paper to answer this question. Please ensure that you
answer all questions as required and carefully read the instructions related to each question.

All questions refers to the program below called Common_Multiples.m, which displays the first n
common multiples of two numbers, for example the first 5 common multiples of 2 and 3 are:

6, 12, 18, 24, 30

There are five errors in the code shown, some of which may be terminal. Any errors in the code are
syntax and not arithmetic errors.

a. Below is a list of these five errors. For each of the lines listed below: select the error from the
list provided (1 mark); select the effect it would have on the functioning of the code (1 mark);
and provide the corrected syntax (1mark):
i. Line 1 (3 marks)
ii. Line 9 (3 marks)
iii. Line 16 (3 marks)
iv. Line 18 (3 marks)
v. Line 23 (3 marks)
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b. *What is the function of a break point in error checking and debugging? (1 Marks)

(Total: 15 Marks + 1 Bonus Marks)

QUESTION 5

a. The following questions relate to flowcharting. Question i should be answered in the provided
answer booklet on the answer sheet at the end of this question paper.

Consider Pascal’s Triangle used to determine binomial coefficients, where each row begins and ends
with the number 1, and every entry in the row is the sum of the 2 adjacent elements in the preceding
row (i.e. 𝑃𝑃𝑛𝑛𝑘𝑘+1 = 𝑃𝑃𝑛𝑛−1𝑘𝑘 + 𝑃𝑃𝑛𝑛−1𝑘𝑘+1 ):

Where;

𝑃𝑃 is the binomial coefficient.

𝑛𝑛 is the row number.

𝑘𝑘 is the position of the binomial coefficient in the row.

Draw a flow chart for a program to calculate the binomial coefficients in the nth row given the starting
vector [1 1] which represents the binomial coefficients in the 1st row.

(Total: 15 Marks)

[TOTAL: 60 Marks]
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QUESTION 2 ANSWER SHEET Student Number:____________

Please clearly circle ONLY the answer that you wish to give for each question. Do not circle more
than one answer as such questions will be disregarded. Students are encouraged to first mark their
answers in pencil so that only the final answer circled in pen is graded. You do not have to answer
every question.

I. A B C D
II. A B C D
III. A B C D
IV. A B C D
V. A B C D
VI. A B C D
VII. A B C D
VIII. A B C D
IX. A B C D
X. A B C D
XI. *A B C D
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QUESTION 3 ANSWER SHEET Student Number:____________

Please enter the values in the given value table. Circle or highlight the value which changes in each line
of the table. You may use as many or as few lines as needed but may not exceed the number of lines
provided. Please draw a line through any unused lines. Lines that contain only an “end ” must not be
included in the value table.

Line # n Store Counter Fact Is Counter<=n? Screen

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QUESTION 4 ANSWER SHEET Student Number:____________

a. For each question, first circle the error type, then circle the effect on the code, and finally provide
the corrected line of code by writing it neatly in the provided space.

Multiple circled options, unless one is explicitly clear, will result in a mark of zero for that question.
Note that only one of these errors occurs per line given.

When selecting the effect type, please circle the option corresponding to one of these descriptions:

A - Compilation error
B - Runtime error
C - Infinite loop - Program starts execution but becomes stuck in an infinite loop due to error
code
D - Output value error - Program completes execution but output is of unexpected or incorrect
value
E - Output format error - Program completes execution but output is of unexpected or
incorrect format

i. Line 1 – Error 1

Error: Undefined or incorrect Incorrect

Parenthesis Error
Variable/Function Operator/Algorithm Syntax
Effect: A B C D E
Fix:

ii. Line 9 – Error 2

Error: Undefined or incorrect Incorrect

Parenthesis Error
Variable/Function Operator/Algorithm Syntax
Effect: A B C D E

Fix:
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iii. Line 16 – Error 3

Error: Undefined or incorrect Incorrect

Parenthesis Error
Variable/Function Operator/Algorithm Syntax
Effect: A B C D E
Fix:

iv. Line 18 – Error 4

Error: Undefined or incorrect Incorrect

Parenthesis Error
Variable/Function Operator/Algorithm Syntax
Effect: A B C D E
Fix:

v. Line 23 – Error 5

Error: Undefined or incorrect Incorrect

Parenthesis Error
Variable/Function Operator/Algorithm Syntax
Effect: A B C D E
Fix:

b. *_____________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________

Student Number:____________