Guidelines for Lab

8/14/2019 Guidelines for Lab

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GUIDELINES FOR WRITING A LAB REPORT

Many young engineers find that writing a good lab report is a difficult task and those who hav

mastered this task found that it took hours of practice. Report writing is an important part o

any project. Its purpose is to tell other people, not nearly as familiar about the experiment as th

experimenter, what was done, how it was done, why it was done, and having done it, what thresults and conclusions are (Doyle, 1987). It also helps the experimenter to organize his thought

and is a permanent record of the work that can be referenced at a later date. The lab report shoul

be concise, legible and well organized. The format provided below is designed to help studentlearn how to communicate results from the experiments performed in this class. It will b

followed throughout the semester.

Lab Report Format

1. Cover Sheet

a) Experiment Title

b) Experimenters Namec) Group Number

d) Course Section and Instructors Namee) Date of experiment performed

2. Introduction (1 page double-spaced maximum length)

a) Background information as to why the experiment is being performed

b) Brief review of theory

c) Clearly state the questions (or objectives) that are intended to be answered inthis experiment.

d) Briefly describe the experiment that will be used to answer the questions posed

3. Schematic (1 page per experiment)

The schematic is the only reference you will have as to how the experiment was se

up and performed. It is the "experimental procedure". Therefore, it should b

descriptive and representative of the experiment. These following guidelines mu

be followed:a) Draw the set-up (3-D drawing is encouraged)

b) Label all equipment

c) Draw all connections using straight edge

d) Where multiple connections are required, add notes to avoid confusione) Add notes insofar as it is necessary to explain procedures that are no

readily apparent.f) Additional pages of detailed drawings (e.g. specimens) can be added a

necessary but should be kept to a minimum. Lab handout drawings ma

also be included in the appendix and referenced as necessary.

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4. Analysis of Results

This section should include answers to the questions posed in the Report section o

the lab handout. The section is divided into two sub-headings:

a) Data Reduction - here an outline is presented of the methods used to reduc

the data. Equations should be introduced, followed by an explanation of each termin the equation followed by a reference to a sample calculation in the appendix.

Example: The bending stress was calculated using the equation from simple beam

theory

=

Mc

I(1)

(1)

where is the bending stress, M is the applied moment, c is the distance from th

neutral axis to the point of interest and I is the moment of inertia. The moment i

calculated using .......(etc.). Sample calculation #1 of bending stress is given i

the appendix C.

b) Comparisons - Graphs and tables requested from the report section ar

included in this section. Comparisons with expected results or with otheexperimental results also should be placed in this section. See comments on table

and graphs in "Important Tips on Writing a Lab Report."

5. Discussion

The Discussion section is for evaluating the experiment by discussing the results

the comparisons and the limitations. To aid in preparing the discussion, the Repo

section of the lab handouts have questions in Italics that should be addressed ithis section. The answers to these questions as well as general conclusions an

limitations that need be added should be placed in the following sub-headings.

a) Conclusions - clearly state the conclusions to the questions posed in th

Introduction as derived from the experiment. The conclusion should be we

supported by the results. As an example, "Good correlation (r = 0.99, or %

difference < 5%) between theory and experimental results indicate that linear beamtheory is a good assumption for the aluminum beam in bending." The question

posed in the introduction would have been "Is linear beam theory applicable for

thin aluminum beam in bending? The section must also discuss answers to thquestions posed in the report section of the handout.

b) Limitations and Experimental Error - Limitations to the experiment antheory as well as possible reasons for experimental error should be discussed

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Limitations consist of those things the experimenter would have liked to show b

experiment or by analysis but were not able to due to the limitations of th

experiment or the theory. Experimental error can consist of two types: (1) thosthat are a result of the experimental design (e.g. boundary condition

misalignment, load rate, etc.) or limitations of the equipment used (e.g. inadequat

number of digits for measuring resistance when high precision is required); and (2those types caused by the experimenter (e.g. improperly recording data, bumpin

the test fixture, etc.). The second type of error will be minimized by prope

laboratory technique. Therefore, when errors are discussed, reports should focuon error type (1) and not "human error", unless the human error is clearl

indicated.

This section should also address questions pertaining to specific questions in thReport section that pertain to limitations and error.

6. ReferencesList any pertinent references (if any) that may have been used in preparation of

the report.

7. Appendix

This section contains all supplementary material that is referred to in the repor

such as handouts, raw data in the data sheet, sample calculations, and in generaanything that would clutter up the report if it were located elsewhere.

THE ABOVE REPORT GUIDELINE MUST BE STRICTLY ADHERED TO OR

THE REPORT WILL BE RETURNED WITH NO GRADE!!

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Guidelines for Lab