EMM 3810 Mechanical Engineering

Laboratory III

UNDERGRADUATE
LABORATORY MANUAL

This manual is an important reference manual for

laboratory procedures, report preparation, and
grading policies for EMM 3810.

February 2019

Prepared by:
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Azmah Hanim Mohamed Ariff
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page
1.0 The Importance of Effective Communication 3
2.0 Laboratory Attendance Policy 3
3.0 General Laboratory Policies 3
4.0 General Guidelines for Laboratory Reports 5
4.1 General Rules 5
4.2 Format and Organization 5
4.3 Style 6
4.4 Technical Content 6
4.5 Common Errors and Omissions 7
5.0 Grading of Laboratory Reports & Required Format 8
6.0 Description of Report Sections 9

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1.0 THE IMPORTANCE OF EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION
Today’s employers expect their engineers to be able to communicate efficiently
and effectively. Reports you prepare for a future employer that are poorly organized and
difficult for the employer to follow are not likely to promote your advancement in that
organization. By developing an aptitude for clear and efficient technical writing and
reporting, you will be more valuable to your employer and to society than if you know
only the technical side of engineering. This guide should help you toward that goal, both
in school and after graduation. While different organizations and individuals may have
slightly different standards or practices, you will find that those presented here are highly
desirable. The practices outlined here are also consistent with accepted standards for the
publication of technical papers.
The chief criterion of a good report is that it shall convey what the investigator
has accomplished and the conclusions he or she has drawn in a way that is clear, concise,
neat, and easily understandable by the reader. Your report must show good understanding
of the principles upon which the experiment was based. A report that is poorly organized
and difficult for the instructor to follow is not likely to inspire a high grade.

2.0 LABORATORY ATTENDANCE POLICY

No absences will be permitted without medical excuse or other acceptable causes.
Students may be required to complete any work missed due to absence.

3.0 GENERAL LABORATORY POLICIES

1. At the beginning of any lab courses, the instructor will discuss the specific safety
guidelines for that particular lab.
2. No alterations of equipment shall be made without the consent of the instructor or
technicians. Suggestions for improving the operation of equipment are always
welcome.
3. Any necessary equipment and tools, if not already available, must be obtained
from an instructor or laboratory technician.

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4. At the end of each laboratory period, groups are responsible for ascertaining that
water, air, electricity, equipment items, etc., are turned off.
5. Each group member is responsible for all equipment assigned to the group.
Failure to return equipment will result in financial assessment.
6. Do not "borrow" any tools or equipment from other laboratories. If anyone
outside of your group "borrows" tools or equipment belonging to the Lab, report
it to the instructor.
7. Students are expected to become familiar with the operation of all experimental
equipment. Be sure you understand the operation of all equipment before
beginning an experiment. If you have any questions, ask the instructor or
technician.
8. All data are to be recorded in the lab sheet given. It must be kept well
organized and neat. Pages with the raw data collected must be dated and
signed by the instructor or technician on the day of the experiment. Some
general guidelines for recording data in the laboratory are itemized below:
a. Make a sketch of the experimental set-up and write a brief description.
b. Record initial experimental conditions, such as ambient or sample
temperature, base pressure in vacuum system, materials used, time of day
etc.
c. Record actual measurements, not calculated analyses. This is very
important when you have to analyze anything that went wrong in the
experiment. If the data is processed rather than raw, it becomes more
difficult to deconvolute the data and pinpoint the problem.
d. Record anything of significance that happens during the experiment. The
more remarks you have in your notes, the better you will be able to recall
the experiment when you have to write the lab report.
9. Please notify the technician or instructor when the supply of an expendable
material runs low or when something is broken. Irresponsible usage of equipment
or supplies may result in financial assessment to the group.
10. All reports assigned must be submitted to complete the requirements of the
course.

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4.0 GENERAL GUIDELINES FOR LABORATORY REPORTS
Some guidelines for the contents and organization of a good lab report are
presented below.

4.1 General Rules:

1. A technical report will be submitted for each experiment by each group unless
otherwise instructed.
2. Proofreading of laboratory reports is considered to be mandatory, not optional.
Spellchecking alone (by means of a word processor) is strongly recommended,
but it does not constitute sufficient proofreading.
3. Reports are due within one week after experimental time. Reports submitted after
the one week period will not be accepted and the marks will be zero.
4. All laboratory reports become the property of the Department.
5. Each student is responsible for the originality of his/her group technical report and
the data utilized. Copying from unidentified sources such as prior reports is
cheating, and it may result in automatic failure of the course by those involved.
Review the University policy on plagiarism.
6. A complete outline of the report format and description of each section is given
on pages 7 - 14. Check with your instructor to determine if changes in format are
necessary.
7. Students must ALWAYS wear a proper attire as stated in the University policy
guidelines with proper shoes (not applicable for those with medical reason) and
metric card. Failure to do so will result in 10% penalty for the group lab marks.

4.2 Format & Organization

Organize your report into logical sections with titles for each section. Number
ALL pages except the title/cover page. The results you collect should be presented by
means of appropriately numbered Figures and Tables. These results should be integrated
into the Results & Discussion section and the Conclusion section of your report and

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should NOT be reported as a separate section. Each figure must be numbered sequentially
and have a caption. Each figure must be mentioned or discussed in the text. Similarly,
ALL tables must be numbered sequentially and must be mentioned or discussed in the
text. With few exceptions you are expected to consult other reference materials, e.g.,
textbooks, handbooks, journal articles, or other class materials, and these should be
referenced in the proper manner. A nomenclature section defining all symbols used in the
report (e.g. α, ω, E) should be included. If only a few symbols are used, they may be
defined in the text rather than in a separate section.

4.3 Style
Check for correct spelling, grammar, punctuation, etc. Watch for improper
paragraphing. One sentence is rarely sufficient to constitute a paragraph. Your sentences
and thoughts should be clearly stated without confusion on the part of the reader.

4.4 Technical Content

Technical content deals primarily with the Experimental Procedure, Results, and
Discussion sections of your report. You must adequately describe how you obtained the
data that you are reporting. It is expected that you will consult other reference materials,
e.g., textbooks, handbooks, etc., and this reference material will be discussed in your
report. You must give sufficient information to ensure that someone could repeat your
experiment and obtain similar results. ALL of your collected data should be presented
in your report, ensuring that anyone could check your calculations. Discuss your results
and address any of the "Discussions and Conclusions" question list given in the
laboratory handout. Your answers to the “Discussions and Conclusions” questions should
be included in the Discussion section and/or in the Conclusion section and should not be
attached as an Appendix. You should also provide pertinent information on difficulties
you encountered, if any, and suggestions for avoiding possible problems.

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 4.5 Common Errors and Omissions
1. Some of the most common errors that students commit in lab reports involve
Tables or Figures. Be aware that ALL figures and tables must be numbered. All
figures should have figure captions. All tables should have titles. All figures and
all tables should be specifically referred to in at least one location in the text.
2. Another common mistake is to neglect page numbering. ALL pages of the report,
except for the Title page should be numbered, but count the title page as page 1.
3. Never have any writing that presents itself upside down when the report is held in
the normal reading position, or when it is held with the left or bound edge at the
top.
4. You can freely use color in your graphs or figures. Since the submission of report
will be in electronic copy, there will be no cost incurred on your part. Make sure
that the figures and tables are of high resolution and quality.

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5.0 GRADING OF LABORATORY REPORTS & REQUIRED FORMAT
The final laboratory grade will be determined by averaging the grades received on
individual laboratory reports. Each laboratory report will be graded on the basis given
below. Please see the following section for detailed descriptions of each section. Slight
variations in the format may be permitted at the discretion of the instructor.

Required Report Format:

Order of Presentation in Suggested Order of
Assigned Marks %
the Report Writing*
Title Page
Abstract 10 Last
Table of Contents
Introduction 10 5th
Theory 5th
Experimental Apparatus &
15 1st
Procedure
Results and Discussion
Result 20 2nd
Discussion 25 3rd
Conclusion 15 4th
Nomenclature
References 5 6th
Appendices
Total 100

* The last column suggests the order in which the sections of the report should be written.
It is NOT the order in which the sections are to be presented in the final report.

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6.0 DESCRIPTION OF REPORT SECTIONS

Title Page – The title page should include a title for the experiment being reported, the
author(s) (the names of the group leader and group members). The title page should also
indicate the date on which the report is due, the date it is actually submitted, the name of
the instructor, and the name of the representative of instructor who explained about the
methodology.

Abstract – A good abstract is brief, about 200 to 300 words. The goal is to provide the
reader with some idea of the objectives of the report and a summary of the most
important results and conclusions. For examples of good abstracts, see papers published
in technical journals such as Metallurgical & Materials Transactions. The abstract should
be written on a separate page after the rest of the report has been written. Treat the
Abstract and Conclusions with respect. Scientists, engineers and supervisors often read
these first to see if the rest of the report is worth reading.

Table of Contents – The Table of Contents lists the divisions and subdivisions of the
report and the page numbers on which they appear.

Introduction – The introduction should state the subject, purpose and scope of the work.
It should provide the reader with enough background information to explain the motive
for the work, including conditions and limitations under which the experiments were
performed. If necessary, include literature references on the subject. A mere restatement
of the objective on the lab handout is not sufficient.

Theory – Any theory or equations needed in analyzing or computing report data should
be included. This section may be combined with the introduction if brief, or presented in
a separate section, if lengthy. State only the principles upon which the equations are
based and provide references.

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Experimental Apparatus – The testing equipment and materials used in the project
should be described in this section in sufficient detail so that the reader would know what
specific equipment or instrument was used. Include line drawings, circuit diagrams, flow
sheets, etc., if appropriate for special apparatus or arrangements. Drawings are not
necessary for common items (balances, lismus papers, water container, etc.) which can be
simply identified by size or type. Photographs are acceptable, but only if they add
meaning to the context.

Experimental Procedure – Procedures used should be described in sufficient detail and

clarity that someone else could repeat the experiment and obtain similar results. Include
for example, time required to reach steady state, time between measurements, length of
an individual experiment or measurement, number of measurements taken, sampling
techniques, etc. Measurements of pressures, flow rates, temperatures should be described
here as well. This section is often combined with the previous section.

Results – All of the data you collect must be presented as either Tables or Figures as
appropriate, in this section. Figures include photographs, photomicrographs, graphs,
charts, drawings, etc. Tables and Figures must be sequentially numbered. If the results
are presented in a separate section from the discussion, then this section would be simply
a presentation of the data or results, without any interpretation of it. Unless otherwise
instructed, you should present your results together and integrated with a discussion as
described below. ALL of your Tables and Figures should be specifically referred to by
number in the text of your discussion. You should not have any Tables or Figures that are
not mentioned in the text of your report.
Tables and Figures should appear after their first mention in the text. If small they
may be inserted between or within a paragraph. Larger Tables or Figures may be placed
on a separate page, and that page should be numbered in sequence with other pages. In
addition to a number each table or figure should have an informative title or caption, or
legend, so that each figure or table is self-explanatory. There should be no need for the
reader to refer back to the text for necessary information. This is very important. Never

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have any writing that presents itself upside down when the report is held in the normal
reading position, or when it is held with the left or bound edge at the top.
Tables – If tables are less than a page long, they may be run in the text, in other
words, it is not necessary to place a ¼ page table on a page by itself. When
possible, avoid continuing tables from one page to the next. If you must continue
a table on the next page you must repeat the column headings. Abbreviations may
be used in the column and row headings, but the nature of the quantities being
listed must be clear. For tables the number and caption appears above the table
not below. Be sure to include the units of any tabulated values. An example of an
appropriate table of results is shown below:

Table 1.1: Sheet resistance of 100 nm thick sputtered Au films vs. process
pressure

Figures –Unlike tables, figure numbers and captions must appear underneath the
figure. In most engineering reports graphical presentation of the results is
overwhelmingly employed because of the ease of showing trends, scatter of the
points and as an aid in correlating the data. Consequently, well prepared graphs
(figures) are essential for writing an intelligent discussion. It is preferable to use
appropriate graphing software or a spreadsheet with graphing capabilities such as
Microsoft Excel. Each graph should be considered an independent unit and should
be understood with little or no reference to the rest of the report. It should not be
necessary to refer to another page or a nomenclature table to learn what the
symbols or the plotted lines represent, it should be clearly indicated on the graph.
Discussion – This is perhaps the most important part of the report, for it represents your
interpretation of the results of the experiment. The results should be presented in
graphical form wherever possible, but tables are also effective. If there are any

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calculations, they should be presented here. Frequent references should be made to
figures, tables and equations, and an analysis of the data should be included. Sample
calculations are usually better presented in an appendix. Compare your results with
theory or previous work and discuss points of similarity or divergence. Evaluate trends in
the results and any conclusions that can be drawn. Development of conclusions must
begin in this section where they can be supported by logical argument, even though they
will be dealt with exclusively in another section. In the event of poor results, explain how
the experiment could be modified to obtain satisfactory ones. Be sure to present a logical
and practical approach for these improvements. This important section demonstrates
your thinking and understanding of what you intended to do.

Summary & Conclusions – This section is a recapitulation of the most important points
made in the discussion and is intended to leave the reader with a strong impact and
provide a ready reference. It is not a copy of the abstract. Be brief but complete. Some
prefer to present these points as a numbered or bulleted list (use complete sentences).
Some prefer to use paragraphs. You can incorporate a discussion of study questions if
any were included on the lab handout, especially if these help you to formulate the
conclusions that you have drawn. For maximum credit, you should attempt to show that
you have understood the objectives and the principles involved. How does the material
you learned in another class, found in another textbook, or read in the library relate to this
experiment. In other words show some original thinking and analysis. Treat the abstract
and conclusions with respect. Scientists and engineers often read these first to see if the
rest of the report is worth reading.

Nomenclature (optional) – Symbols used in equations should be defined here. Be sure

to include the units in the definition. If only a few symbols are involved they may be
defined in the text rather than in a special section.
References – References must be provided for the work done. The format for references
should follow those of a standard refereed technical journal in the field. Each reference
should be indicated in the text in at least one location. You are required to include a
minimum of two types of references. You can select from books, journal articles,

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newspaper articles, websites, etc. A website is not mandatory, for example, you could
have one book and three journal articles. Generally it is considered unwise to limit your
references to websites. The following is an example of proper referencing. Imagine the
following paragraph is in the Introduction or Discussion section of your report.
As a part of their 50th Anniversary celebration in 2007, members of The
Minerals, Metals & Materials Society (TMS) selected the “Top Ten Materials
Moments” from a list of 100 candidates. The process was similar to what
architects have done for the ten greatest architectural achievements or civil
engineers for the greatest civil engineering achievements. Potential candidates for
the Top Ten ranged from Georgius Agricola’s publication of De Re Metallica to
Mendeleev’s devising the periodic table [1]. The members of TMS voted the
periodic table as the top materials moment. A list of the complete top ten has been
published [2,3]. An interesting historical note concerning De Re Metallica is that
even though it was originally published in Latin in 1556, it was translated into
English by Herbert Hoover (later to become President of the U.S.) and his wife
Lou and published in 1912 [1]. It was republished in 1950 and remains in print.
If you cite one of the same references in the body of your report a second or a third time,
insert the same number again, even if it is in multiple locations. It is important that each
and every item in your list of references be connected to at least one location in the text
of your report as shown above. In the References section of your report you would then
arrange the references in the order they first appeared in the body of your report, as
shown below.
1. Georgius Agricola, De Re Metallica, translated from 1st Latin Ed. of 1556 by H.
Hoover & L. Hoover, Dover Publications, Inc., New York, 1950.
2. James Robinson, “You Voted, We Counted: The 50 Greatest Moments in Materials,
Part II: 1-10,” JOM, vol. 59, no. 3, 2007, pp. 14-19.
3. The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society. “The Greatest Moments in Materials
Science & Engineering.” http://www.materialmoments.org/. (1/24/2008)
The above references are a book, journal article and website, respectively. Proper formats
must be used for each.

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Appendices – Detailed technical information which would clutter the results or
discussion should be included in these sections. The appendix could include a set of
sample calculations from original data to final results, copies of original data sheets,
computer programs, and others. Present information in a way that makes spot checking
easy. Some people prefer to use a different page numbering system for appendices so that
appended material can be prepared and numbered at any time. This is not mandatory but
is acceptable and may take the form:
A.1, A.2, etc., for Appendix A; B.1, B.2, etc., for Appendix B.

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