Materials Engineering Lab

Guidelines of ME 251 Lab Report

Each experiment that you have taken should be typed, and you will be required to use a graphics program, such as EXCEL for data analysis and evaluation. Do not use personal pronouns, i.e. we, you, he, she, him, or her. This is because technical writing needs to be factual and not based on opinions. Below is detailed information about the report. 

Cover Page (5)

The cover page should have the class title and section, experiment title, student name, instructor’s name, experiment date, and submission due date.

Introduction (10)

This section includes the purpose of the experiment and its objectives. The importance of the experiment should be explained well. Students should state why this information is useful for engineering prospective.

Theory (10)

In this section, the basic theory behind the experiment is explained. The definitions of all new terms and the equations used during the experiment should be given.

Experimental Setup and Procedure (5)

The procedure used for the experiment is described, and the apparatus used are noted. Students should include sketches or pictures of the equipment or specimens if they make the report clearer. Students should use their own words. Some procedures in the lab packet may not have been used. Please follow the WSU Academic Honesty rules and regulations. 

Results (10)

This is where the data collected from the experiment is listed properly. Use your notebooks during the experiments and take notes, so that you cannot forget when you write your report. If the amount of data is small, a table will suffice. If there are large quantities of data, they should be presented in graphs. If tables are used, they should be labeled consecutively with roman numerals as follows: Table I, Table, II, Table III, Table IV, etc. The captions should be placed above the tables. If figures (graphs, pictures, and other non-table data) are used, they should be labeled consecutively with Arabic numbers as follows: Figure 1, Figure 2, Figure 3, Figure 4, etc. The captions should be placed below the figures. Refer the tables and figures in your paragraphs, as well. 

Analysis (10)

Students discuss and analyze the results of the experiment. They compare the experimental data with the theoretical results predicted by the equations in the theory section of the report and manual. Any discrepancy should be examined.

Conclusions (5)

In this section the whole paper comes together. It should include a brief summary of the experimental goals and procedures, as well as what was learned from the data and from the analysis.

References (5)

Students should list all of the sources to which they referred during the experiment. This may include books, journal paper and conference proceedings, websites, and the lab manual itself. At least two sources MUST be listed for a full credit. Use footnotes to refer to sources, i.e. “The hardness of 4140 Q&T steel is 30 HRC1.” For example,