ME 470B - Mechanical Engineering Systems Laboratory

[FULL LAB TITLE]

Group 15
Lab Performed: DATE
Lab Report Due: DATE

“I pledge my honor that I have abided by the Stevens Honor System.”

The report has been prepared by:

Group Leader:
Ellen Drennan
Chiyere Emili
Anthony Falconite
Matthew Foerst
Abstract
The abstract is a one-paragraph, self-contained synopsis of the report. The
abstract specifies why work was performed, what was done by whom, the results of the
work, and the conclusions of the findings. A person who reads the abstract should not
have to read the rest of the report unless they want to know the details.The abstract is
necessary for longer documents, but can often be eliminated from shorter documents.
You should write abstracts for your reports in ME 470 as we want you to
practice this skill. It is usually helpful to write the abstract last.

Introduction
The introduction provides the context for performing the experiment and ends with the
hypothesis and objective. Start with broad, but relevant, statements about the particular
topic. Remember, the audience is broadly familiar with mechanical engineering,
so basic ideas need not be explained. Make sure to cite any sources (a textbook is a
valid source) used to make these statements.Next, narrow down the scope of the
statements so the particular engineering problem can be defined and its significance
explained. Explain why it is important, what has been done in the past, what methods
were used to test it, etc. Finally, introduce the hypothesis and explicitly state the
objective of the experiment (note that a hypothesis is not required for all labs in ME
470). The hypothesis is a statement that can be tested. For example, in the tablet
press lab, “The compression force exerted by the tablet press is (or is not)
expected to increase the hardness of the tablets it creates”. The hypothesis
does not need to be formally stated on its own, but should be incorporated into the
objective. The point of the experiment is to provide data with which to test the
hypothesis. The question posed by the hypothesis should be answered in the
`Discussion' section. A possible objective statement might be “The objective is to
determine the effect of tablet press operational parameters (or combination of
parameters) on the measured characteristics (weight, thickness, hardness) of the
tablets it produces”.

Theory & Experimental Procedure

The theory is presented if it is necessary to interpret analyses or calculations in the
report. This section includes a derivation of relevant equations and/or an
explanation of the physical principles used in the analysis. It is not always
necessary.This section is sometimes referred to by other names such as
“Apparatus and Experimental Procedure," or others. The details of the
procedure are given in the lab handout, so just provide a concise summary of what
was done. It is ok to leave out any obvious steps. The point of this section is that
someone who reads it should be able to repeat your work.While writing in the
active voice is often preferred because it is more direct, writing this section in the
passive voice is common practice. For example, “The mass flow rate was increased to 3
kg/s." The passive voice here only states what was done, and makes no mention of who
did it, thereby reinforcing the idea that anyone can run the experiment.

Results
Organize the raw data so that the information can be presented clearly and concisely in
the form of charts or tables. State the results briefly, reserving the interpretation for the
`Discussion' section. Write something about each graph/table that was included,
and use the past tense. Number each graph/table and provide a caption. Table
captions should be included above the table while figure captions are placed beneath
the figure.

Discussion
This is the most important section of the report. Provide an interpretation of the results
and how they relate to the hypothesis/objective. Compare the results obtained
with those that were expected. Discuss any reasons for the discrepancy, and any
sources of error.When appropriate, an error analysis should be performed here.
Answer any questions posed in the handout, and suggest any improvements.
Finally, draw some conclusions by relating the findings to something that was written
in the `Introduction' section.

Conclusion
Reiterate the conclusions from the end of the `Discussion' section; the conclusion does
not state anything that has not already been mentioned. A separate conclusions section
is helpful for longer documents, but a shortened, single paragraph version should be
fine in this class.

References
Cite any of the sources used to prepare the report. Provide authors, title, publisher,
page number, date of publication, etc. Some journals require specific citation style, but
for this class, choose any standard style and stick with it. For example:[1] J. Doe, J.
Smith, "Flame Temperature". Combustion Journal, Vol. 5, p. 95, 1974.
Appendices
The appendix is the place to include any miscellaneous information or raw data.•The
reader is not reading the report to process and make sense of raw data. That is the
author's job. The text of the report should contain graphs and tables that are easy to
interpret. If raw data is to be included, it should be placed in the appendix so as not to
disturb the flow of the text.•Sample calculations or extensive derivations should also
be included in the appendix so they do not interrupt the text.