An integer is any whole number, including zero. An integer can be either positive or negative. Examples include -77, -1, 0, 55, 119.
| Branch | Air Force |
| MOS | 4B031 |
| Title | Bioenvironmental Engineering |
| Description | Performs and manages bioenvironmental engineering activities in the fields of industrial hygiene, occupational health, radiological health, and environmental protection to ensure healthful working conditions are maintained and that the environment is not adversely affected by Air Force operations. Supervises and performs bioenvironmental engineering medical readiness activities. Evaluates and conducts bioenvironmental engineering programs. Prepares and reviews reports. Consults with supervisors for corrective steps to be taken where health violations or deficiencies exist. Ensures that programs are being carried out and that control measures are adequate. Conducts internal inspections to ensure coverage of activities assigned to bioenvironmental engineering. Provides guidance and supervision in selecting protective equipment, and monitors its use in the industrial environment. Supervises and performs bioenvironmental engineering functions. Reviews plans, work orders, contracts, and specifications for compliance with environmental and occupational health directives. Serves as a member on committees for occupational health, environmental protection, and medical readiness matters. Reviews environmental assessments and statements. Evaluates drinking water quality, swimming pools, and public bathing areas. Evaluates domestic waste treatment and solid waste disposal systems and procedures. Identifies and evaluates potential pollution sources. Develops, implements, and conducts water pollution surveillance programs. Investigates chemical spills and other environmental releases, collects samples and coordinates necessary corrective actions with state, federal, and local officials. Reviews supply issue documents for hazardous and toxic substances, assigns issue exception codes, and monitors issue, use, and disposal of such materials. Performs source and ambient monitoring. Coordinates with civilian regulatory agencies on environmental monitoring matters. Conducts evaluations and reviews procedures for compliance with pollutant discharge limits. Supervises and performs surveys of industrial shops. Surveys workplace, collects employee data, determines workplace monitoring requirements based on the nature and condition of the work environment and agents present, and performs needed sampling. Collects industrial hygiene data on noise, ionizing and non-ionizing radiation, illumination, ventilation, air quality, ergonomics, and thermal stress to assess degree of hazard and worker exposure. Maintains and quality controls case files. Maintains and calibrates survey equipment. Performs, plans and directs duties in bioenvironmental engineering medical readiness. Performs and directs surveys to detect and identify chemical, biological, and radiological contaminants. Provides technical assistance and guidance to base disaster preparedness personnel in detecting warfare agents. Advises on health hazards and protective measures for exposed populations and emergency response personnel. Advises on decontamination procedures for medical personnel, patients, equipment, and medical facilities. Provides training for medical personnel, advice and guidance for training non-medical personnel in the medical aspects of defense against nuclear, biological, and chemical agents. Performs and directs radiological health functions. Develops and maintains an inventory of all radiation sources, both ionizing and non-ionizing, on the installation. Surveys facilities, equipment, materials, and operations for ionizing and non-ionizing radiation hazards and monitors radioactive waste disposal and shipment to ensure compliance with current environmental, safety, and health standards, and licensing or permit requirements. Investigates suspected overexposures. In the absence of the bioenvironmental engineer, may be appointed as radiation safety officer. Supervises and conducts the personnel dosimetry program. Assists base activities in implementing radiation protection programs and in correcting deficiencies. Qualification in and possession of AFSC 4B051. Also, experience performing and supervising industrial hygiene, occupational health, environmental protection, medical readiness and radiological health surveys to include the preparation of all related correspondence, reports, and charts. Qualification in and possession of AFSC 4B071. Also, experience managing industrial hygiene, community environmental surveillance, and radiological health programs. |
| Subtests | Arithmetic Reasoning, Paragraph Comprehension, Word Knowledge |
An integer is any whole number, including zero. An integer can be either positive or negative. Examples include -77, -1, 0, 55, 119.
A rational number (or fraction) is represented as a ratio between two integers, a and b, and has the form \({a \over b}\) where a is the numerator and b is the denominator. An improper fraction (\({5 \over 3} \)) has a numerator with a greater absolute value than the denominator and can be converted into a mixed number (\(1 {2 \over 3} \)) which has a whole number part and a fractional part.
The absolute value is the positive magnitude of a particular number or variable and is indicated by two vertical lines: \(\left|-5\right| = 5\). In the case of a variable absolute value (\(\left|a\right| = 5\)) the value of a can be either positive or negative (a = -5 or a = 5).
A factor is a positive integer that divides evenly into a given number. The factors of 8 are 1, 2, 4, and 8. A multiple is a number that is the product of that number and an integer. The multiples of 8 are 0, 8, 16, 24, ...
The greatest common factor (GCF) is the greatest factor that divides two integers.
The least common multiple (LCM) is the smallest positive integer that is a multiple of two or more integers.
A prime number is an integer greater than 1 that has no factors other than 1 and itself. Examples of prime numbers include 2, 3, 5, 7, and 11.
Fractions are generally presented with the numerator and denominator as small as is possible meaning there is no number, except one, that can be divided evenly into both the numerator and the denominator. To reduce a fraction to lowest terms, divide the numerator and denominator by their greatest common factor (GCF).
Fractions must share a common denominator in order to be added or subtracted. The common denominator is the least common multiple of all the denominators.
To multiply fractions, multiply the numerators together and then multiply the denominators together. To divide fractions, invert the second fraction (get the reciprocal) and multiply it by the first.
An exponent (cbe) consists of coefficient (c) and a base (b) raised to a power (e). The exponent indicates the number of times that the base is multiplied by itself. A base with an exponent of 1 equals the base (b1 = b) and a base with an exponent of 0 equals 1 ( (b0 = 1).
To add or subtract terms with exponents, both the base and the exponent must be the same. If the base and the exponent are the same, add or subtract the coefficients and retain the base and exponent. For example, 3x2 + 2x2 = 5x2 and 3x2 - 2x2 = x2 but x2 + x4 and x4 - x2 cannot be combined.
To multiply terms with the same base, multiply the coefficients and add the exponents. To divide terms with the same base, divide the coefficients and subtract the exponents. For example, 3x2 x 2x2 = 6x4 and \({8x^5 \over 4x^2} \) = 2x(5-2) = 2x3.
To raise a term with an exponent to another exponent, retain the base and multiply the exponents: (x2)3 = x(2x3) = x6
A negative exponent indicates the number of times that the base is divided by itself. To convert a negative exponent to a positive exponent, calculate the positive exponent then take the reciprocal: \(b^{-e} = { 1 \over b^e }\). For example, \(3^{-2} = {1 \over 3^2} = {1 \over 9}\)
Radicals (or roots) are the opposite operation of applying exponents. With exponents, you're multiplying a base by itself some number of times while with roots you're dividing the base by itself some number of times. A radical term looks like \(\sqrt[d]{r}\) and consists of a radicand (r) and a degree (d). The degree is the number of times the radicand is divided by itself. If no degree is specified, the degree defaults to 2 (a square root).
The radicand of a simplified radical has no perfect square factors. A perfect square is the product of a number multiplied by itself (squared). To simplify a radical, factor out the perfect squares by recognizing that \(\sqrt{a^2} = a\). For example, \(\sqrt{64} = \sqrt{16 \times 4} = \sqrt{4^2 \times 2^2} = 4 \times 2 = 8\).
To add or subtract radicals, the degree and radicand must be the same. For example, \(2\sqrt{3} + 3\sqrt{3} = 5\sqrt{3}\) but \(2\sqrt{2} + 2\sqrt{3}\) cannot be added because they have different radicands.
To multiply or divide radicals, multiply or divide the coefficients and radicands separately: \(x\sqrt{a} \times y\sqrt{b} = xy\sqrt{ab}\) and \({x\sqrt{a} \over y\sqrt{b}} = {x \over y}\sqrt{a \over b}\)
To take the square root of a fraction, break the fraction into two separate roots then calculate the square root of the numerator and denominator separately. For example, \(\sqrt{9 \over 16}\) = \({\sqrt{9}} \over {\sqrt{16}}\) = \({3 \over 4}\)
Scientific notation is a method of writing very small or very large numbers. The first part will be a number between one and ten (typically a decimal) and the second part will be a power of 10. For example, 98,760 in scientific notation is 9.876 x 104 with the 4 indicating the number of places the decimal point was moved to the left. A power of 10 with a negative exponent indicates that the decimal point was moved to the right. For example, 0.0123 in scientific notation is 1.23 x 10-2.
A factorial has the form n! and is the product of the integer (n) and all the positive integers below it. For example, 5! = 5 x 4 x 3 x 2 x 1 = 120.
Arithmetic operations must be performed in the following specific order:
The acronym PEMDAS can help remind you of the order.
The distributive property for multiplication helps in solving expressions like a(b + c). It specifies that the result of multiplying one number by the sum or difference of two numbers can be obtained by multiplying each number individually and then totaling the results: a(b + c) = ab + ac. For example, 4(10-5) = (4 x 10) - (4 x 5) = 40 - 20 = 20.
The distributive property for division helps in solving expressions like \({b + c \over a}\). It specifies that the result of dividing a fraction with multiple terms in the numerator and one term in the denominator can be obtained by dividing each term individually and then totaling the results: \({b + c \over a} = {b \over a} + {c \over a}\). For example, \({a^3 + 6a^2 \over a^2} = {a^3 \over a^2} + {6a^2 \over a^2} = a + 6\).
The commutative property states that, when adding or multiplying numbers, the order in which they're added or multiplied does not matter. For example, 3 + 4 and 4 + 3 give the same result, as do 3 x 4 and 4 x 3.
Ratios relate one quantity to another and are presented using a colon or as a fraction. For example, 2:3 or \({2 \over 3}\) would be the ratio of red to green marbles if a jar contained two red marbles for every three green marbles.
A proportion is a statement that two ratios are equal: a:b = c:d, \({a \over b} = {c \over d}\). To solve proportions with a variable term, cross-multiply: \({a \over 8} = {3 \over 6} \), 6a = 24, a = 4.
A rate is a ratio that compares two related quantities. Common rates are speed = \({distance \over time}\), flow = \({amount \over time}\), and defect = \({errors \over units}\).
Percentages are ratios of an amount compared to 100. The percent change of an old to new value is equal to 100% x \({ new - old \over old }\).
The average (or mean) of a group of terms is the sum of the terms divided by the number of terms. Average = \({a_1 + a_2 + ... + a_n \over n}\)
A sequence is a group of ordered numbers. An arithmetic sequence is a sequence in which each successive number is equal to the number before it plus some constant number.
Probability is the numerical likelihood that a specific outcome will occur. Probability = \({ \text{outcomes of interest} \over \text{possible outcomes}}\). To find the probability that two events will occur, find the probability of each and multiply them together.
Many of the arithmetic reasoning problems on the ASVAB will be in the form of word problems that will test not only the concepts in this study guide but those in Math Knowledge as well. Practice these word problems to get comfortable with translating the text into math equations and then solving those equations.