The Ultimate 3-D Printing Quiz

Estimated Completion Time
3 min
The Ultimate 3-D Printing Quiz
Image: Photo courtesy of Stratasys, Inc.

About This Quiz

Regular printers are pretty handy, but their up-and-coming cousins, 3-D printers, add a whole new dimension to the printing process. Literally! How much do you know about the fascinating field of 3-D printing? Take this quiz and find out!
Which of the following is NOT a 3-D printing approach?
computer numerical controlled (CNC) machining
fused deposition modeling (FDM)
photopolymerization
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

CNC machining is a subtractive process. The other answers listed are additive manufacturing (AM) processes referred to as 3-D printing.

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Who owns the trademarked 3-D printing procedure actually called 3-D Printing (3DP)?
Objet Geometries
Stratasys
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

MIT licenses 3-D printer manufacturers to use 3DP technology, a binder 3-D printing approach. To obtain a license, a manufacturer must demonstrate the use of a unique combination of materials in the 3DP process.

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What's the term used to describe 3-D printing when it's used to create models for testing a product's design?
rapid prototyping (RP)
rapid prototype modeling (RPM)
fused deposition modeling (FDM)
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Rapid prototyping (RP) has been a major player in the development of 3-D printing.

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What was the name of the first commercially successful 3-D printer using the inkjet approach for rapid prototyping (RP)?
the V-Flash personal 3-D printer
the stereolithograph apparatus (SLA)
the ModelMaker
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The ModelMaker by Solidscape came out in 1994.

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Which of the following fields or industries have used 3-D printing?
art
medical
all of the above
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The variety of applications for 3-D printing continues to grow, from automobiles to artwork, fabrics to furniture, and jet planes to jewelry.

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Which of the following 3-D printing approaches involves melting the material, then allowing it to cool and solidify to form each new layer?
sintering
solidifying
binding
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

In a sintering approach to 3-D printing, each new printed layer is formed by melting a powder. These particles fuse together and form a specific shape. Each new layer adheres to the previous.

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In what year was 3-D printing industry leader 3D Systems founded?
1978
1986
1990
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Since its 1986 founding, 3D Systems, based in Rock Hill, S.C., has created several products using different 3-D printing approaches. Some of its trademarked 3-D printing innovations are now used throughout the industry.

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Which of the following 3-D printing approaches uses a liquid glue added to a fine powder?
photopolymerization
binder 3-D printing
multi-jet modeling (MJM)
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The binder is in liquid form, and it's applied to the fine powder to create each new layer.

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Which of the following 3-D printing approaches applies an ultraviolet light to a liquid polymer to change it into solid plastic?
photopolymerization
binder 3-D printing
fused deposition modeling (FDM)
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Photopolymerization uses an ultraviolet laser and a perforated platform that moves through the liquid polymer during the printing process.

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Which of the following 3-D printing approaches uses inkjet technology to apply a liquid that quickly solidifies to form each new layer?
binder 3-D printing
smooth curvature printing (SCP)
direct 3-D printing
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Direct 3-D printing applies a liquid form of a wax or plastic polymer to form each new layer of the solid shape it's printing.

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Which of the following materials have been used to create objects with 3-D printers?
plastic
ceramics
all of the above
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

This is an easy one. Scientists and inventors are continually experimenting with different materials for use in 3-D printing.

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Which of the following 3-D printer models is priced under $10,000 and is small and light enough to fit on a desktop?
Solidscape R66PLUS
V-Flash from 3D Systems
uPrint by Stratasys
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Many Solidscape printers are small enough for your desktop, and the uPrint by Stratasys is one of the more affordable desktop-sized 3-D printers. However, the V-Flash is the only model listed that's priced under $10,000.

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Why is binder 3-D printing faster than direct 3-D printing?
The nozzles in binder 3-D printers only dispense the binder rather than all of the materials used.
The binding process melts particles instead of gluing them.
Direct 3-D printing is an old technology that isn't improving.
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Since the nozzles dispensing the binder don't have to provide all the materials used in the final object, they can be smaller and can work faster than they would in direct 3-D printing.

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What are the names of two companies that provide 3-D printing services for the average person who doesn't want to buy the equipment?
Stratasys and Solidscape
Shapeways and Ponoko
Shapeways and Pikchur
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Shapeways and Ponoko each let you send in your own 3-D designs for printing. They also give you the option to set up an online store, allowing you to make money when other shoppers order prints of your design.

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Before you print out something on a 3-D printer, which file format should you convert your file to?
STL
SLT
SLS
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The STL file format was developed by 3D Systems in 1987 and is the most widely accepted file format for 3-D printers. STL stands for "standard tessellation language."

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One 3-D printing process has the trademark name of SLS. What does SLS stand for?
solid laser surfacing
surface laser sintering
selective laser sintering
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Selective laser sintering (SLS) is a form of 3-D printing that uses a laser to melt flame-retardant plastic powder, which then solidifies to form a printed layer.

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What type of software can you use to design a 3-D object that you want to print?
graphic image production (GIP)
3-D image modeling (3IM)
computer-aided design (CAD)
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Computer-aided design (CAD) and computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) are technologies that incorporate the power of computers in manufacturing for a wide variety of parts and products. 3-D printers are designed to work from files produced by CAD software.

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What's the official term from ASTM International describing manufacturing technology that creates an object by adding material on a layer-by-layer basis?
additive manufacturing (AM)
rapid prototyping (RP)
3-D printing (3DP)
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

ASTM International, formerly the American Society for Testing and Materials, has been working to create standards for what it officially calls additive manufacturing (AM), an area that includes (and is often referred to as) 3-D printing.

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What sort of material did physicist and maker Windell Oskay use in his home-built 3-D printer?
plastic
gold
sugar
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

In 2007, Windell Oskay wrote a series of blog posts on his Web site, EvilMadScientist.com, chronicling his adventures building the CandyFab, a 3-D printer which used sugar as the printing material. Pretty sweet, huh?

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Which of the following is the opposite manufacturing approach to additive manufacturing (AM)?
computer numerical controlled (CNC) machining
carved computer rendering (CCR) machining
subtractive machining (SM)
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Computer numerical controlled (CNC) machining is a subtractive, rather than an additive, process, kind of like carving a statue from stone. CNC machines remove material from a block until the material that's left is in the shape you wanted.

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You Got:
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Photo courtesy of Stratasys, Inc.