E45L: Properties of Materials Laboratory

Laboratory Guide

Instructor: Lane W. Martin

E45L Properties of Materials

Laboratory Guide

Overview
The seven laboratory experiments associated with this course will give you a practical hands-on
introduction to the properties of materials, as a complement to your E45 lectures and problem sets. You
will be collecting and analyzing data representing the mechanical behavior (hardness, strength, toughness,
ductility) of materials, the phase transformation behavior of a binary (two-component) alloy, the plastic
deformation and annealing behavior of nonferrous alloys, the microstructural changes accompanying the
heat treatment of steel, and the electrical properties of conductors, semiconductors, and insulators. You
will perform experiments guiding the design, fabrication, characterization, processing and selection of
materials for engineering applications that can be applied or adapted to other materials encountered or
discovered in your engineering career.
The purpose of this document is to introduce you to some of the key aspects of this laboratory experience
including aspects of laboratory safety, production of laboratory reports (i.e., scientific writing), and more.

E45L: Properties of Materials Laboratory

Laboratory Guide

Instructor: Lane W. Martin

Laboratory Safety
During these laboratory experiments, you will be working at temperatures high enough to melt metallic
alloys, at voltages large enough to induce dielectric breakdown in insulators, and with hydraulic machinery
powerful enough to pull apart one-inch diameter steel rods, along with other real engineering tools.
Consequently, you will view an informational safety video during the first session of this laboratory, dress
appropriately in the lab, and act responsibly in the lab. Everyone should be on constant guard, aware of the
location of all emergency electrical cutoff switches, wash fountains and exits. If you have any doubt about
the configuration or safety of an experimental setup, or any other questions about safety, STOP what youre
doing and consult your Graduate Student Instructors.
Organization and Assistance
Two Graduate Student Instructors (GSIs) are assigned to each laboratory section with responsibility for
safety in the lab, supervising the lab experiments, answering your questions, and holding office hours
outside of laboratory time. One of the two acts as "primary" GSI in your section, and grades your lab reports.
E45L is organized into several sections to accommodate enrollment. Each section lasts three hours, and is
scheduled to complete seven experiments within the fourteen weeks of the semester. It is important to
remain in your chosen lab section throughout the semester. If you must make up a missed lab, please
consult your GSI in advance to make the necessary arrangements.
Attire and Attendance
For safety reasons you will be expected to come to lab with proper attire: long pants and closed toe shoes
are required. If you come to lab with inappropriate attire you will not be permitted to complete the lab.
Attendance is required. If you do not attend the lab you will receive no credit. If you need to attend a
separate lab section due to medical reasons or related, you must contact the GSI as soon as possible.
Remote Preparation and Good Laboratory Habits
As with all properly conducted experiments, several of the labs in this course require prior preparation.
Please be sure to read through each lab experiment before coming to lab, and finish the required
preparation before entering the laboratory for your session. There may be a short quiz at the beginning of
each lab section to ensure students are coming prepared. The manual will be accessible on-line at each
workstation during lab sessions, but you should bring a sturdy, bound notebook to the lab to record data
and observations that are required for your lab reports. It is also recommended that you bring a printed
copy of the lab manual. You will see in the manual that most labs have Data Sheets to direct the gathering
of data and facilitate the analysis of your results. Your data must be transcribed or directly entered into a
spreadsheet (Microsoft Excel for example) to be included in your lab reports. It is most important to review
all Data Sheets in advance, so that the information requested in each case can be properly gathered and
recorded. There may be other preparation work needed to convert units, locate physical constants used in
calculations, and set up programming functions in spreadsheets or graphical formatting for specific data
sets.
A word on the importance of detailed record keeping. We are insistent on detailed laboratory record
keeping for many reasons. In fact, this might be one of the most important aspect of your job as a scientist
or engineer in the future. From a practical standpoint, detailed record keeping takes the guessing game out
of things. If you note oddities or other observations, that weird data point might be much more

E45L: Properties of Materials Laboratory

Laboratory Guide

Instructor: Lane W. Martin

understandable in context later on. Accurate record keeping is also essential for repeatability. Science is
based on your ability to repeat your findings and tell others how to repeat something. A detailed record of
your experimental parameters, processes, etc. are key to this. Finally, laboratory notebooks are legally
binding documents. When you work in a research laboratory or company, your laboratory notebook is a
legal, law-binding record of your work. The difference between you or your company getting a patent and
making billions of dollars and your competitor getting that patent could come down to how detailed and
accurate your laboratory notebook is.
Laboratory Data Acquisition
To facilitate the collection of data and to expedite digital data processing, a number of E45 stand-alone
data acquisition tools have been developed and written in LabVIEW, a programming application available
from National Instruments for instrumentation and control. Descriptions follow. During all data acquisition
it is important to save your data file to the E45 folder of the hard disk and back it up to a USB drive.
E45L Temperature Stripchart Program. In this program, there are three displays and two controls. The
three displays show the same information (degrees Celsius versus time) in different formats. The Normal
Resolution Display shows 25 minutes of data, and the High Resolution Display shows 100 seconds of
data (see Figure). A Temperature Display shows the last temperature value in digital format for highest
accuracy. The two controls are the Run button and the Start/Stop Recording button. The Run button is
the right-facing arrow in the upper left hand corner of the screen. Clicking this button starts the program
and begins plotting the data on the displays, but the program is not recording any data to disk at this point.
When you first click the Run button, you will be asked to name the file that is to retain your acquired data.
It is suggested that your "File Name" include the lab number, your section number and your name(s) or
initials, up to 31 characters. To begin recording data to disk, click the Start Recording button in the lower
right hand corner of the screen. The Start/Stop Recording button activates the record status light when
clicked, changing from a flashing red light to a steady red light. Recording begins immediately, but any data
displayed on the screen before the start
of recording is not captured. To stop
recording, click the same Stop
Recording button. Both data display
and data recording will stop. After you
have acquired your data, you may use
the scroll bars at the bottom of both the
Normal Resolution Display and the
High Resolution Display to review the
data that has passed off the display
area. When finished, you can click the
Close box located in the upper lefthand corner of the windows, or select
Close from the File menu. If you want
to start another acquisition, you will
have to quit the program and restart.
Laboratory Data Handling
You can capture all data files and either back them up to a portable USB drive or attach them to an email
message to your CalMail account for later access. When acquiring data, do not perform any other parallel

E45L: Properties of Materials Laboratory

Laboratory Guide

Instructor: Lane W. Martin

operations to avoid errors. After data acquisition is complete, the data displays can be edited by doubleclicking the maximum or minimum values along each of the axes. By keying in a new value and pressing
Enter, the axes will be re-scaled. This will allow you to remove out-of-range data from the display. Once
you have edited the display to your liking, you can convert it to final format for inclusion in your lab reports
Grading
All seven labs are graded as formal lab reports, prepared and submitted individually by each student.
Please remember that even though you may be sharing data files, calculations, and troubleshooting in the
lab, your reports should be your OWN work. Reports are based upon your group-acquired data, but they
describe your individual interpretation and evaluation of that data, and your individual answers to the
questions posed at the end of every lab description. Please read all sections of the Lab Manual carefully
and include in your reports all content specified for each lab, such as data sheets, data analysis, materials
from your prior preparation exercises, and most importantly, answers to all questions posed at the end of
the lab descriptions.
It is expected that you will use word processing, spreadsheet, bibliographical, line-art, graphing, and
possibly page layout applications as appropriate for the preparation of your reports. "Presentation" formats
such as Microsoft PowerPoint are not appropriate. Your report will be evaluated as a professional
document, free of spelling, syntax, and grammatical errors, uniform in data layout, sequentially paginated,
with all appropriate references fully cited. For more detailed guidance in technical writing, please consult
the available literature, such as M.-C. van Leunen, A Handbook for Scholars, Revised Edition, Oxford
University Press, New York, (1992).
Plagiarism is a serious offense and will not be tolerated. You are strongly encouraged to work together in
the lab and outside of the lab as all scientists routinely do, to develop data sheets, to perform the
calculations needed for data analysis, to cross-check one another for accuracy, and to share your thoughts
with one another about possible interpretations of data. And you should feel free to discuss all experimental
procedures and results openly. But when writing your final report, you must not plagiarize the writing of your
classmates in the current or prior offerings of E45. It is understood that some lab write-ups will necessarily
share the same Experimental Results because of the way data sets may be gathered. However, all other
components of the lab write-ups must be your own work; "cut-and-paste" sharing is NOT permitted. A
second, often misunderstood, infraction under plagiarism is a failure to cite original sources of information.
If, for example, you decide to perform a Google search on hardness and find information useful enough
to include in your report, you must reference it by listing the URL. Reference citations are required for any
abstract ideas that you might use, even if not accompanied by downloaded images, "cut and paste" text, or
duplication of language from the source. If the idea, description, metaphor, or other content is not yours, it
must be referenced.
Laboratory reports will be graded on two components: content (80%) and presentation (20%). Highest
priority and maximum points will be given for answering all questions posed in the Lab Manual. Your
answers to those questions must be presented in the Discussion section of your report (see description
below). It is recommended that you consult your textbook or other technical literature for any facts needed
to complete your answers, and include full citations to those materials in your References (see examples
below). The next level of priority goes to clear and precise data sheets, figures, drawings, and other data
presented in the Experimental Results section of your report. All other sections listed below must be
included in your report (Appendices optional), for full points.

E45L: Properties of Materials Laboratory

Laboratory Guide

Instructor: Lane W. Martin

Laboratory Reports
The main output of your laboratory experience will be written laboratory reports. Laboratory reports are
written in the format prescribed for formal technical publications. Those formats can vary, but we will use
the prescribed format noted below. Each section must appear in your report, even if the content is very
brief. Please note carefully the contents of each section and assure your writing conforms to these
guidelines. Recall that the point of the laboratory report is to describe, in sufficient detail, the major
observations/findings of your work, the methodology you used to obtain those results (so that the reader
could repeat the experiment themselves), the data itself (including some mixture of raw and processed
data), the analysis you did to the data, as well as the conclusions of your work. In this section a general
style guide is given along with a detailed discussion of the parts of the lab report. This is the style that the
GSI will be using for grading.
Your Laboratory Report must:
Be typed using a word processing software such as Microsoft Word, LaTeX, GoogleDocs, or otherwise.
Be single-spaced, Arial size 10 font or Times New Roman size 11 font for Microsoft Word (or standard
LaTeX font).
Be no more than 6 pages in length plus figures, captions, references, appendices (which are not
counted in the 6 pages). We dont need a book, we need the minimum, focused text. Reports shorter
than 6 pages are FINE as long as they address the needs of the report.
Written in fully justified format, with 1-inch margins on all sides of the page, and have numbered pages.
Have a header that includes the names of your group members and the experiment title (smaller fonts
are allowed here to keep the margins at 1 inch).
In addition to these formatting requirements, your laboratory report must also include the following structural
sections in this order:
Cover Page
Please include the following information in this order on the cover page: lab number; title of laboratory
experiment; your name; members of your lab team; your lab section number; the date of the experiment;

E45L: Properties of Materials Laboratory

Laboratory Guide

Instructor: Lane W. Martin

and the date of submission (as shown in the example here). You are encouraged to be creative with the
remainder of the title page layout. The body of the report should begin on a new page.
Abstract or Executive Summary
The abstract is a short, concise summary, most often written in past tense, passive voice, explaining what
was done experimentally and what was concluded from the data. It should appear on the first page of the
report, before any other text. Label the subheading Abstract or Executive Summary followed by the text
of this section. See Appendix B for more information on what will be expected from you on this section.
Introduction
The introduction establishes the context of your experiment and gives any background information that
might help the reader understand the importance of this work. Also included is a statement of the purpose
of the work, such as, your hypothesis or at least the questions you investigated. Explain the rationale and
approaches and the outcomes your study revealed. When writing the introduction you should use the active
voice as much as possible. Avoid first-person references if possible. In general you would like the
introduction to answer the following set of well-established questions:
What did you study?
Why is it important to understand this topic?
What did you know about this before you studied it?
How has the study advanced your knowledge?
The introduction section should be well referenced including appropriate texts and peer reviewed and
review literature. There is an expectation that you will have some references in this section.
Experimental Procedure
In this section you explain ''clearly" how you carried out the experiments in your study. Describe your
experimental design clearly, including the actual experimental procedures you used (schematic illustrations
can be very helpful in this regard). In this section you should also discuss how your data was analyzed.
How the data is summarized and how you are reporting the data: means, percents, standard deviations,
etc. Any statistical tests you used to analyze your data need to be discussed here as will any other numerical
or graphical techniques you applied to your data.
Ideally this should read as if you are verbally describing your processes for the experiments. Using the
active voice is allowed, but the third person, passive is the preferred approach. Avoid writing in the first
person in this section. Also remember to write in the past tense. This need not be long, just get the main
points across.
Results and Discussion
In this section you need to write concisely and objectively. This sections function is to present your results
in an objective manner. The presentation should be in a logical manner, generally sequentially using both
Tables and Figures along with the text. If you take the time to generate high quality Tables and Figures
the results section can be organized around these. You should (in this course) report your negative results
as well. In writing this section you will most likely notice the passive voice dominating, use the active voice
as much as you can work it into your write up. Again you have already done the work so this should be
written in the past tense. It is easy to start writing paragraphs that all look and sound alike in the section,
make an effort to avoid repetitive paragraph structures.
Some common mistakes to avoid:

E45L: Properties of Materials Laboratory

Laboratory Guide

Instructor: Lane W. Martin

Do not reiterate each and every value from your Tables and Figures. Only the key results need to be
presented.
Do not make a Table of data and then plot this same data in a Figure. You need to make a decision on
the best way to present the data. I would general represent things as graphs given enough data and that
it makes sense to do so.
Do not tell your reader all about the raw data. You went through the time and effort to do the statistics
so this is what you need to present.
You should compare your results to know actual values and determine the % difference. Just presenting
the two numbers without any thought to how your results compare to the real world is not sufficient. Include
what may have caused the difference and how you can improve the experiment if you were to redo it.
Discuss any potential applications of these materials.
Figures and tables should be incorporated into the text at this point and aligned in professional, nonintrusive manner. All figures and tables MUST have a caption and should be called in the text (e.g., Figure
4.11).
Conclusion
Start by restating the objectives of your experiments, generally from your introduction and relate these to
your results. Summarize the content of your report and highlight any successes or failures of your
experiments. It is also appropriate to suggest future experiments or improvements to you would
recommend. Keep it short and sweet.
References
Referencing is a standardized way of acknowledging the sources of information and ideas that you have
used in your document. List of ALL the references used in the text must be written. Do not use footnote in
your report. List the references in chronological order as they appear in the text.
References should be done in the AIP Format. Here are some examples:
Generic: A. B. Author1, D. C. Author2, E. F. Author3, Journ. Title Abb. Vol#, PageStart (Year).
Specific example: Z. W. Shan, G. Adesso, A. Cabot, M. P. Sherburne, S. A. Syed Asif, O. L. Warren,
D. C. Chrzan, A. M. Minor, A. P. Alivisatos, Nature Mater. 7, 947 (2008).
Appendices
You MUST include all raw data collected in the lab in an appendix. This data can be a hard copy from your
lab notebook, or the data can be transcribed into a table in a program like Excel. A lab report submitted
without the raw data will receive no credit. If for any reason you made use of data from another class
member during your lab section, you must cite that class member when presenting your data. Also, in the
Appendices, you shield include all optional supporting materials here. These could include extended
calculations, MatLab workbooks, look-up tables, downloaded materials used for analysis and the like.
They serve the purpose of supporting your interpretations by revealing all of your work and the resources
used in your analyses.

E45L: Properties of Materials Laboratory

Laboratory Guide

Instructor: Lane W. Martin

Helpful Information
Producing Tables
Tables are one of the most used objects in scientific publications. Tables are assigned numbers
independently from figures and are assigned the numbers in the order in which they appear in the text. The
first Table is Table 1, the next Table 2... etc. The legends go above the Table; tables are read from the top
down. The typeset of tables should be based on the following rules: 1) Never use vertical lines; 2) Avoid
double lines; 3) Place the units in the heading of the table (instead of the body); 4) Do not use quotation
marks to repeat the content of cells.
Producing Figures
Figures help you relay your message to the reader and are often easier to understand for a reader than the
actual text, for these reasons you should take some time and care when generating your figures. Figures
are numbered chronologically as they appear in the text. The first figure is Figure 1 and the next is Figure
2... etc. The caption for a figure goes below the figure.
Further Stylistic Points
Avoid the use of First or Second person to describe what occurred in the lab such as I did or You did.
Instead say This was done.
The Passive Voice The passive voice is used to describe the experiment. This is done to reinforce that
the experiment and results are ultimately what the report is about. The sample was heated for 15 minutes
at 200C." instead of The investigator heated the sample for 15 minutes at 200C.

E45L: Properties of Materials Laboratory

Laboratory Guide

Instructor: Lane W. Martin

Laboratory Report Grading Rubric

Required components (contributions to the lab report grade shown in red). At a minimum start a new section
for each item in red. The title page and executive summary should be on separate pages. Single space
your report, margins one inch, figures must be clear and readable, references sufficient to determine
sources.
Title page 5%
Abstract or Executive summary 10%
Introduction and background 15%
o Motivation for the experiment 7.5%
o Background theory 7.5%
Experimental Procedure 15%
o Description of experimental setup 5%
o Procedures used to conduct the measurements 5%
o Experimental variables tested (and not tested, as appropriate) and why 5%
Results and Discussion 30%
o The 30% is divided evenly by the measurement descriptions. There should be a separate
measurement description for each variable tested.
o Discuss the results of your findings. Compare your values with the actual values (these
values you can find online) and determine the % error. Include what may cause this error
and how you can improve the experiment if you were to redo it.
o Discuss (potential) applications of these materials and implications of your findings for
applications or processing routes.
Conclusions 10%
o What information did you obtain from the data 5%
o How does this relate to the motivation & theory 5%
Writing, Formatting, and Professionalism 15%
o Spelling, grammar, organization, (mis-)use of space, references, formatting, figure quality,
etc.
o Overall effectiveness and clarity of the report.
o Poor or inadequate references, failure to reference the right types of materials, etc.
o Failure to acknowledge the source for any data used that is not obtained by you including
the names of the persons who obtained that data, the approximate time period when the
data was measured.
o Verbose writing style use concise and proper language. If you can write something in 1
sentence, not 10.
Do not plagiarize this includes reproducing text from papers, texts, other class members, etc. This
will result in an immediate 0 score for the assignment.
We have the versions you can find online dont just try to turn in the old reports, we look for this!

E45L: Properties of Materials Laboratory

Laboratory Guide

Instructor: Lane W. Martin

APPENDIX A Laboratory Notebook Overview

The Laboratory Notebook
The purpose of a laboratory notebook is to record what you did in sufficient detail that you can reproduce
what you did for example through a detailed description of the apparatus and the procedures used to
acquire the data, explain problems with the data based on information you recorded in the lab notebook,
record any events that might have affected the data, record things that went well, etc.
Suppose that the data looks good but the values change suddenly in the middle of the experimental run.
You find that if it were not for the sudden change your data would have explained the behavior you observe
very well. What caused the sudden change? Referring to the lab notebook you find that you bumped the
lab bench between those two measurements. Conclusion: the change in the data was due to bumping the
table. You may be able to correct for that change and show that the data works.
Suppose that the position of the sample in the apparatus matters? If you write down where you placed the
sample in the apparatus you can reproduce the behavior and at least all samples will be measured at the
same position.
Suppose that you and another group run the same experiment but get different results. How do you account
for the difference? You refer to your lab notebook and they refer to theirs and you find that the difference
was the heating rate (so the experiments in fact were not the same) so the difference in the results may be
due to the different heating rate. Now you have learned not only what you set out to learn but also what the
effect of heating rate is.
NOTE: the purpose of the lab notebook is NOT to record only your successes. Indeed it is most important
to record the things that went wrong as these are most likely to affect your results. Experiments almost
never go completely right. Consequently you are often faced with how to deal with bad data. If you always
insist that all data agree with a trend you will never succeed. You also cannot just ignore data points that
do not fit your idea of what the trend should be. However, as in the manufacturing case study, if you can
sort through your data and figure out what the problem was you may be able to correct for it, determine
what to change about the experiment, and possibly show which data is reliable and why.
Elements of the Laboratory Notebook
The following outlines the expectations for your laboratory notebook (assuming you use a classic pen and
paper version, but the lessons stand for electronic versions as well) and what should be included in it for
each laboratory portion of the course:
Your laboratory notebook needs to be either of a stitched or glue type of binding. A three ring binders
and/or loose paper will not be acceptable for this class, nor are they acceptable in the real work once
you are employed.
The size of the notebook you use is a personal choice; just remember that if you choose a notebook
that is small drawing detailed figures will not be easy. A notebook that is standard page size allows you
to easily print out figures or data and go back and glue it into your notebook next to the original figure
or data.
Your pages will need to be numbers, whether you number them or the notebook comes numbered is
up to you.

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Every page should be dated. If you start a new experiment or start a new day of work begin a new page
in the notebook.
A sketch or photographs of the apparatus should be included in the notebook along with a description
of how the apparatus was connected together (as appropriate). If you measured out a sample record
how the sample was prepared.
For example, 10 mg of camphor was measured out from the reagent bottle onto a glass slide. Next 15
mg of succinonitrile was measured out from the reagent bottle onto the same glass slide. Both materials
were white powders. The two measured samples were mixed on the glass slide with a spatula. After
mixing the combined sample weighted 24 g (1 g apparently was lost, perhaps due to adhesion to the
spatula)
On the outside of your notebook you should put your name, course number, instructors name and your
email address.
If your laboratory notebook does not have a prelabeled section for the table of contents then you should
reserve several pages at the front of your laboratory notebook for your table of contents.
Electronic/digital notebooks are potentially acceptable for this course. In the real-world, the veracity of
such electronic/digital notebooks has not been tested in patent litigation cases. Until a legal standard
exists for the use of digital notebooks, note that your ultimate employer may not allow them.
All writing should be done using permanent ink. What tends to work best is the classic ballpoint pen,
as these cannot be erased and do not smear. Other pens work but tend to smear either by your hand
running across the writing prior to its drying or from an accidental spill. Pencil is never acceptable.
If you make a mistake, and you will, do not attempt to ease or apply white out to the mistake. Simply
put a line or an X through the error and continue on from that point. Draw an X in any large empty
are of your notebook. This way data cannot be inserted into the space later.
Your notebook needs to be recorded in a chronologically order.
Make notes with small written sections about anything that is odd, out of place, or could potentially
impact the outcome of the experiment. For example, note that you bumped the table or something of
this type.

Practical Aspects
The following outlines some practical aspects that should be kept in mind when working on your
experiments and filling in your laboratory notebook.
Record your raw data immediately, do not wait and get distracted, or think that I will remember it. You
can very easily transpose digits or just forget the correct number if interrupted. Without the correct data
it will be much more difficult to write up your lab report.
Your lab notebook is not to tray to carry lab equipment on and should not be used to carry anything
around the lab. It is too easy for you to drop and break the items you are carrying.
Make every effort to keep your lab notebook away from any liquid such as the sink, or other spills which
may occur in the lab. While water may not make your ballpoint pen ink run it does make it difficult to
write on wet pages.
Include more detail in your notes than you think you actually need. This will help when you are
attempting to write up your lab report. This means record anything and everything you observe in your
experiment.
If it matters in what order devices were connected or turned on then you should record that. It is better
to write too much than too little.
Record how you did the experiment. In what order did you make measurements? What were the values
you set the apparatus controls to and in what order? Did you observe any effect of this sequence?

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Record as much of what you did as reasonable. The more you write down the more likely you are to be
able to diagnose problems with the results.
Any experimental values not recorded by a computer should be written in the lab notebook. (What was
the gas flow rate? What voltage did you set the power supply to? Etc.)
If possible/reasonable capture your results in a printed form and incorporate them into the lab notebook.
When practical, print out the data and tape it or glue it into the notebook. Paper can always be read
somehow. Electronic data gets lost, deleted, or becomes obsolete.
Make notes of things that did or might have gone wrong. If you don't notice anything go wrong during
the measurement write that down. That way you know that you did not notice anything strange about
the measurement.
Remember: there are few things in science more annoying than trying to write up an experimental result
and realizing that the observation does not fit the theory but you did not write down some key
experimental procedure that would have allowed you to at least know why the results did not agree with
expectations.

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Instructor: Lane W. Martin

APPENDIX B Abstract or Executive Summary Overview

Overview
An abstract or executive summary is typically required for technical, business, engineering, and
scientific reports or proposals. Writing and perfecting these documents will be an aspect of your future
career in pretty much any field you pursue. The abstract or executive summary is a fully developed miniversion or overview of the report it is not merely an introduction. The executive summary aims to provide
a brief overview of the whole report so that other scientists, engineers, executives, or managers (who are
all very busy) could read the summary alone without the accompanying report and get the gist of what the
document details. It should allow the reader to quickly understand the information contained in the report
and should persuade the reader that the document is worthy of being read in detail. It should provide
concise, complete, specific, and self-sufficient information such that it can be understood in isolation from
the rest of the document. The executive summary should briefly outline the subject matter, the background
problem, the scope of the investigation, the method(s) of analysis, the important findings and important
issues raised in the discussion, and provide the conclusion and recommendations in less than one page.
The abstract or executive summary should not just be an outline of the points to be covered in the report
with no detail of the analysis that has taken place or conclusions that have been reached.
Overall the abstract or executive summary stands as an overview at the front of the report but it is also
designed to be read alone without the accompanying report (this would often occur in the workplace). The
abstract or executive summary should be no more than 1 page long and achieve all of these goals.
Writing an Abstract or Executive Summary
The abstract or executive summary should be written in your own words, using a formal writing style.
Avoid using jargon and informal language. Early in the document, clearly articulate the purpose/aim/goal of
the report using emphasized texted as needed. Briefly provide a context for why this work is timely,
important, and necessary. Throughout the abstract or executive summary one might:
Describe the procedure that was used including the methodology or analytical process used to process
the data collected.
Provide a clear, concise summary of the results of the study. The summation of the major findings may
include a number of sentences or bullet points.
Include recommendations for improvement, aspects that were particularly challenging, and roadblocks
that kept one from achieving an overall goal as needed.
Edit the summary to remove minor points. Use your judgment to ensure that the summary is concise
and to the point.
Remove unnecessary words and sentences. Check the accuracy of grammar, spelling, sentence and
paragraph structures so that things flow nicely.
Use formatting and graphics to highlight the message as needed. Clarity of the summary can be
improved through usage of bullet points and subtitles in the organizational structure. This will also make
it easier for the reader to skim read.
Process involved in writing an Abstract or Executive Summary
The abstract or executive summary is typically not more than a single page in length and should provide
an adequate representation of the entire document in a shortened form. The abstract or executive summary
maybe provided on a separate page at the beginning of the report. An impersonal writing style is used so
as to ensure that the report remains formal especially if the audience is your manager or supervisor. At
least one sentence is provided for each main section of the report. The key points in the abstract or
executive summary should be presented in the identical order as they appear in the report so as to reinforce
the logical flow and cohesion of the document. It may be useful to write the abstract or executive summary

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E45L: Properties of Materials Laboratory

Laboratory Guide

Instructor: Lane W. Martin

after you have written the whole report so that it more accurately reflects the content of the report. Avoid
extensive recycling of sentences or paragraphs from the body of the report as this can be repetitious for
the reader. An example layout and formatting instructions for the executive summary are provided below.

FirstName1 LastName1 & FirstName2 LastName 2 (Group #)

Month Date, 2013

Experiment and Document Title

Project Overview
For all abstracts or executive summaries, the text should be Arial size 10 (this is what you are reading)
or Times New Roman size 11 font. In all cases the text should be single-spaced and fully justified. There
should be a simple heading like that provided here including the names of your group members and your
group number, the date, and the document title.
This section should be a short, concise paragraph that establishes and summarizes the work that was
done, the context in which this work is important, what the major goals/aims/objectives of this work are, and
briefly summarizes the philosophy of how it was done and what was achieved.
Project Methodology
This section should describe the work that was done, the specific techniques, why those approaches
are used and appropriate, and any deviations or important aspects the reader needs to know about your
approach to the experimental work.
Project Findings and Implications
This section subsequently summarizes the major findings of your work and the implications of your
work for the overall course goals and your developing understanding. In this section one can also include
a summary of challenges or roadblocks that kept you from achieving your goals, recommendations or how
to improve the work in the future, and context for how your work informs the design and processing of future
materials.
The document should be self-contained and no more than 1 page long. It should be attached in front of
your main laboratory report. These sections can be including in a single paragraph as needed or can be
broken-out into the sub-sections shown here (at your discretion).

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