MECHANICAL ENGINEERING LAB REPORT FORMATThe purpose of the BU lab program is to both provide a personal experience of the physical principles and also give students pracce communicang their ndings in a clear, concise manner with easily idenable objecves, metrics, and results. All lab reports in the ME curriculum should be wrien using the same format. Click on any item below for further informaon concerning that lab report secon.Further informaon about the use of graphics and avoiding plagiarism are found at the end of this page.
Note that this is a standard format but that it is not the only format possible for a lab report. We have selected it because it is clear and concise and will provide consistency across the program.1.Title page 2.Introducon 3.Theory 4.Measurement Methods (spot checks)5.Analysis and Results 6.Discussion and Conclusions 7.References 8.Appendices Students should arrive to perform a lab able to describe the goal of the lab and the methods that will be used. If data sheets are supplied as part of the lab, students should bring them to the lab. If there are nodata sheets supplied, students should arrive at the lab with a data template they created. Students should also be prepared to complete their spot checks as they perform the lab.An example lab report can be accessed here.
General Tips:
Reports should be wrien in third person. Occasional usage of rst person is allowed in order to alleviate overuse of the passive voice.
Any gure or table that appears in the report should be numbered and referred to in the text of the report.
The report should be wrien concisely.
Many wring errors can be eliminated by reading the report out loud to oneself.
Title Page:
This should include the tle of the lab, course number, names of all members of the lab group, and the date on which the lab was performed. Please make this a separate page.
Write this as if it is going to your boss. How will they know what this report is about?Top
Introducon:
This should briey state in your own words
what
you are trying to accomplish and
why
you are performing the experiment. Do not simply copy or paraphrase the lab handout.
DO NOT write a queson. DO NOT re-write the lab handout. Give a synopsis of what you did, why you did it, and major principles you employed to do it. NO FIRST PERSON.
Theory:
This should explain the relevant theory that describes the physical principle of the lab. Equaons should be properly numbered (in parentheses on the right margin), and all variables should be explained in the text. Be sure to properly document any derivaons that are appropriate for the lab.
Prove you know the concepts behind what you used. Do it briey, concisely and correctly. You must do a lile reading on the topic and put things into your own words. Equaons MUST BE TYPED. ALL variables must be dened. A nomenclature secon as an Appendix can be referenced.
Measurement Methods (and spot checks):
This should explain the measurement techniques, equipment used, and procedures to be employed in the lab. It is almost always desirable to do an analysis of some data points in the lab while the experiment is running. This is called a spot check. A spot check permits you to see if the results make sense, or if the experiment is generang data that is obviously erroneous and either the experiment or your method of analysis needs correcng. Your prelab preparaon should idenfy the relevant equaons, along with the necessary unit conversions & constants to reduce in-lab me. Then in the lab, you will only need to plug in your experimental values. The method for performing this spot check should be described in this secon.During the lab, be sure to make a note of problems with the equipment, if appropriate and include this informaon in your nal report.
DO NOT re-write the lab handout. DO NOT write a list of steps. In a technical report, you summarize what you did in prose format. You may use present or past tense, but be consistent. Give enough detail that a
Unlock this document
Upload a document to download this document or subscribe to read and download.
or
Unlock this page after an ad
competent person could re-do exactly what you did and obtain the same results. Make sure you menon all components used and how they were used.
Analysis and Results:
This secon should summarize and display the results of the experiment. This secon should be purely factual, where the results are displayed primarily in the form of graphs. Describe the results clearly and concisely. Do you see expected trends? Figures should be numbered and have a capon below the gure. Use tables if appropriate. Tables should be numbered, and have a tle above. Cite equaons fromprevious secons as necessary.Figure axes should be properly labeled, with proper units. If you have mulple trends to show, make sureto include a legend that compensates for black and white prinng if you don’t have access to a color printer (ie, use disnct symbols)! Use linear or log scaling where appropriate. If you are going to comment on how two results compare then they need to be ploed on the same graph. Do not include graphs of each individual trial. Combine them into composite gures for easy comparison.
Introduce and discuss all tables and gures within text – do not just throw them in. Use proper units and signicant gures.
Discussion and Conclusion:
This should examine whether the lab sased the stated purpose, and explain what you have observed and learned. Try to explain any dierences that you observed between theory (or accepted experimentaldata) and experimental results. What are the implicaons of your results? How could they be used in thefuture? What dierent methods could you use in the future? What parameters were more important in design, less important? Why?
References:
If you used informaon from external sources (ie, other than the lab manual or your own work), be sure to cite these references using appropriate bibliographic style. Quong references without a proper citaon is plagiarism.
Unlock this document
Upload a document to download this document or subscribe to read and download.
or
Unlock this page after an ad
Appendices:
The raw data from the lab should be included in an Appendix. Sample Calculaons can be included in an appendix. Data tables that are not crucial to the discussion in the lab of the results but may be helpful to the reader as a reference can be included as an appendix. The use of appendices helps to uncluer the lab report.
More Info on Graphics:
Introduce each graphic before it appears in document.
o
Readers will not know the purpose of a graphic unl you tell them. NEVER include a graphic without menoning it in the text. This includes stu in an Appendix.
Place the graphic as close as possible to its discussion in the text.
o
To avoid confusing people, don’t make your readers ip forward/backward unnecessarily.
Label each gure and table with a number and a capon.
o
Your graphic should be able to “stand” on its own – the reader may only see the graphic and capon… make sure they know what it means.
Present the graphics professionally.
o
Sloppiness undermines the quality of the document. Take your me to do it right.
Make sure the graphic is large enough to see clearly, and of high enough resoluon.
o
Seems obvious… but if your graphics aren’t 100% legible, they’re 0% useable.
Avoid cluering the document with unnecessary graphics.
o
As with any good thing, too much can be a problem. Use graphics to enhance understanding of material, In long reports, redundant pix can be moved to an appendix.
Further guidelines for presenng data (plots etc.) can be accessed here.
Avoiding Plagiarism:
It can be dicult when you’ve collected informaon from a variety of sources to avoid represenng someone else’s words or ideas as your own. Please note, these are some examples of plagiarism:
Copying a phrase, sentence or passage from a source and not giving credit to the original author;
Summarizing or paraphrasing someone else’s ideas without acknowledging the source;
Allowing someone else to write signicant porons of your document for you without adming the help;
Forgeng to place quotaons around another writer’s words;
Unlock this document
Upload a document to download this document or subscribe to read and download.
or
Unlock this page after an ad
