Engineering Homework Help

1. Introduction states the objective of the experiment and provides the reader with background to the experiment. State the topic of your report clearly and concisely, in one or two sentences.

2. Theory provides a brief background using your own words, that allows the reader to completely comprehend the theoretical background required to understand the purposeand the goals of the design project or lab. You can use figuresfrom your project or lab handout in your report. However, you cannot copy sentences or paragraphs from the lab handout.

3. Materials (or Equipment) can usually be a simple list, but make sure it is accurate and complete.

4. Procedure describes the process in chronological order. Please number all the steps in your procedure. Using clear paragraph structure, explain all steps in the order they actually happened, not as they were supposed to happen. If your professor says you can simply state that you followed the procedure in the manual, be sure you still document occasions when you did not follow that exactly (e.g. “At step 4 we performed four repetitions instead of three, and ignored the data from the second repetition”). If you’ve done it right, another person should be able to duplicate your experiment.

5. Results are usually dominated by calculations, tables and figures; however, you still need to state all significant results explicitly in verbal form.

• Number and Title ALL tables and graphs

• Provide ALL calculations (typed)

• Include ALL theoretical and measured results in one or more tables that makes it easy for the reader to compare your results and understand them. Don’t forget to include % error calculations to prove that your results are correct.

6. Discussion (or Analysis) is the most important part of your report, because here, you show that you understand the experiment beyond the simple level of completing it. Explain. Analyze. Interpret. Some people like to think of this as the “subjective” part of the report. By that, they mean this is what is not readily observable. This part of the lab focuses on a question of understanding “What is the significance or meaning of the results?” To answer this question, use both aspects of discussion:

• Analysis: What do the results indicate clearly? What have you found? Explain what you know with certainty based on your results and draw conclusions

• Interpretation: What is the significance of the results? What ambiguities exist? What questions might we raise? Find logical explanations for problems in the data

More particularly, focus your discussion with strategies like these:

• Compare expected results with those obtained.
If there were differences, how can you account for them? Saying “human error” implies you’re incompetent. Be specific; for example, the instruments could not measure precisely, the sample was not pure or was contaminated, or calculated values did not take account of friction.

• Analyze experimental error.
Was it avoidable? Was it a result of equipment? If an experiment was within the tolerances, you can still account for the difference from the ideal. If the flaws result from the experimental design explain how the design might be improved.

• Explain your results in terms of theoretical issues.
Often labs are intended to illustrate important physical laws, such as Kirchhoff’s voltage law, or the conservation of energy. Usually you will have discussed these in the introduction. In this section move from the results to the theory. How well has the theory been illustrated?

• Relate results to your experimental objective(s).
If you set out to identify an unknown metal by finding its lattice parameter and its atomic structure, you’d better know the metal and its attributes.

• Compare your results to similar investigations.
In some cases, it is legitimate to compare outcomes with classmates, not to change your answer, but to look for any anomalies between the groups and discuss those.

• Analyze the strengths and limitations of your experimental design.
This is particularly useful if you designed the thing you’re testing (e.g. a circuit).

• Include any extra-credit work or results here.

7. Conclusion can be very short in most laboratories or project. Simply state what you know now or have learned for sure, as a result of the lab.

• Minimum Requirements
Clearly state what you have learned from the lab/project, and justify your answer.

• Additional requirements (if needed → extra credit)Suggest any new recommendations or procedures that you will do to improve the results.