LAB REPORT GUIDE

The lab report is an account of a specific experiment that you performed. Its purpose is to give the reader a clear picture of what you did in the lab and also display that you have a clear understanding of what you did, the theory behind it, and why the results may be different than the theoretical calculations. Any electronics engineering lab report should have the following sections. Your report must be word processed and the schematics must be drawn with an EDA (Electronic Design Automation) program such as Multisim. No hand written documents will be accepted.

TITLE: A concise description of the experiment.

NAME: Your name

DATE: When the experiment was performed.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of your experiment should be stated clearly and concisely, in one or several sentences.

Example: The purpose of this experiment was to determine whether measurement of the changes in air-to-earth potential gradient could be used as a reliable and practical method of predicting local thunderstorms.

EQUIPMENT USED: (e.g., Oscilloscope -- Tectronix -Model 2225, Signal Generator - ……..).

PROCEDURE: List sequentially all the individual steps you took in performing this experiment, and what happened at each step. Do not try to analyze or explain the results in this section. Include any circuit diagrams of the circuits you built in the appropriate step. Provide enough detail to the extent that the reader could duplicate your experiment if he desires to do so.

DISCUSSION: Your discussion is the single most important part of your report. In it, you will show your reader that you understand the experiment and can interpret it. Analyze and explain your results, focusing your attention on questions like these:

o What results were expected? What results were obtained? If there were any discrepancies, how can you account for them?

o If you encountered difficulties in the experiment, what were their sources? How might they be avoided in future experiments?

CONCLUSION: The body of your report should end with a brief concluding statement summarizing the significant aspects and results of your experiment. It should tell the reader why the experiment is significant and what implications its results have for your field of study. Your conclusion should contain substantial information about the purpose and significance of the experiment so that the reader will not be tempted to ask the question, "You did all of this work and spent so much time doing it, for what purpose?"