This OER material is intended for use as the first level of Circuit Analysis, with emphasis in Direct Current - dc, for a two and four year engineering technology program. The lecture and laboratory manual contains fifteen weekly lecture and laboratory experiments, and eleven homework. The topics range from basic technical math through principles of circuit analysis such as series, parallel, and series-parallel dc circuit; network theorems (Thevenin’s theorem and maximum power transfer) and circuit methods of analysis (mesh and nodal analysis, source transformation, and source conversion) of solving dc circuits; dc power analysis; capacitance and inductance principles and transient circuit; and introduction to sinusoidal. The course includes a three hours of laboratory work.
Lab experiments include brief introduction of the experimental topics, step by step procedures, tables and graphs to record measurements, and questions to reinforce the understanding of the theory with the experimental results. Each lab experiment is designed to be completed using a two to three hour practicum period. For equipment, each lab station should include a dual adjustable DC power supply and a quality DMM capable of reading DC voltage, current and resistance.
Acknowledgements
I want to give my thanks to my mother Wanxia who has taught me to trust in myself, in my abilities, and in my dreams. As my mom says: “always do with the best you can offer!”
I also want to give thanks to the support of OER in QCC and CUNY that helped me organize the necessary documentation for the publication of this OER material.
Huixin Wu
CURRICULAR OBJECTIVES ADDRESSES BY THIS COURSE
At the end of the course, student shall be able to:
Have the knowledge in applying basic laws such as Ohm’s law and Kirchhoff’s law (including voltage divider rule and current divider rule) in the characterization of series, parallel, and series-parallel dc circuit and be able to find current, voltage, and power dissipation in a resistivity circuit.
Be able to apply Thevenin’s theorem, Norton’s theorem, and maximum power transfer, mesh and nodal analysis, and source transformation in a series parallel resistivity circuit.
Become familiar with the power behavior on a dc circuit such as energy dissipated by a load, and also have the knowledge to calculate the power dissipation for each resistor in a resistivity circuit.
Understand the language of circuit analysis and how to use the engineering technology mathematics to formulate and solve dc electrical circuit.
Become familiar with the basic behavior of capacitance and understand how to solve for an equivalent capacitance in series, parallel, and series-parallel configuration.
Become familiar with the basic behavior of inductance and understand how to solve for an equivalent capacitance in series, parallel, and series-parallel configuration.
Understand the characteristics of a sinusoidal waveform, including its general format and effective value.
Be able to determine the phase relationship between two sinusoidal waveforms of the same frequency.
Become familiar with the response of a resistor, an inductor, and a capacitor to the application of sinusoidal voltage and current.
Show ability to interpret experiment data and find the most feasible method to complete the lab experiment.
CHAPTERS
Chapter 1 covers the technical mathematics that an engineering technology student needs to know in order to solve and complete the analysis of a circuit under dc.It covers power of tens, properties of powers of tens, scientific and engineering notation, prefixes, conversion between prefixes, order of operations, equation with unknown variables, equation in engineering technology with unknown variables.
By the end of chapter 1, students should be able to:
have the knowledge to write a very small or very large number into engineering notation.
apply prefixes to represent each powers of ten and perform conversion between prefixes.
perform arithmetic operation and the rules of order of operation to find an unknown variables.
As we have reviewed the technical mathematics to solve circuit problems, in this chapter we are going to learn the terms and symbols of each element that makes up a circuit. After learning the concepts of how the main components of electricity originate, such as current, voltage, and power, we are going to learn the elements and terminology of an electric circuit.
By the end of chapter 2, students should be able to:
understand the concepts or charge, voltage, current, resistance, and power in electrical circuits.
identify circuit elements such as passive and active elements, independent and dependent sources.
comprehend circuit terminology and how to apply in electrical circuit.
As we already learned in Chapter 2 about circuit terminology and basic circuit concepts such as current, voltage, and power in an electric circuit. In chapter 3 we will learn how these basic concepts are applied in an electric circuit by means of fundamental laws that govern them. These laws are known as Ohm's law, Kirchhoff's laws, and power’s law.
By the end of chapter 3, students should be able to:
understand and apply Ohm’s law to an unknown element value, current, resistance, or voltage.
comprehend the application of Kirchhoff’s law and demonstrate ability to solve an unknown current and voltage within a network.
apprehend the power analysis in a network with respect to current, resistance, and voltage.
Chapter 4 presents the voltage and current behavior through elements connected in series. It introduces the definition of series circuit, current flows and voltage drops through elements connected in series, and the equivalent resistance of a series resistivity circuit.
By the end of chapter 4, students should be able to:
identify a series circuit and the current and voltage through each element in the series circuit.
calculate the equivalent or total resistance of a series resistivity circuit.
apply Kirchhoff’s Voltage Law, KVL, and Voltage Divider Rule, VDR, to find an unknown voltage in a series circuit.
find the equivalent voltage of a series voltage sources.
Chapter 5 presents the voltage and current behavior through elements connected in parallel. It introduces the definition of parallel connectivity, current flows and voltage drops through elements connected in parallel, and the equivalent resistance of a parallel resistivity circuit.
By the end of chapter 5, students should be able to:
identify a parallel circuit and the current and voltage through each element in the parallel circuit.
calculate the equivalent or total resistance of a parallel resistivity circuit.
apply Kirchhoff’s Current Law, KCL, and Current Divider Rule, CDR, to find an unknown current in a parallel circuit.
find the equivalent current source all current sources connected in parallel.
Combination of series circuit and parallel results in series-parallel circuit. Chapter 6 teaches us series-parallel resistivity circuit, how to find the circuit equivalent circuit, and how the current and voltage are distributed through each resistors within the circuit.
By the end of chapter 6, students should be able to:
Analyze part-by-part of a series-parallel circuit and identify if elements are connected in series or parallel.
Find the equivalent resistance in a series-parallel resistivity circuit.
Apply series and parallel circuit characteristic to find the voltage and current distribution in a series-parallel circuit.
Supporting video from youtube.com by The Organic Chemistry Tutor
Chapter 7 presents a tools to solve complex circuit where the traditional method of series-parallel analysis is not enough to find the voltage and current within the circuit. A source transformation is the process of replacing a voltage source in series with a resistor R by a current source in parallel with the same resistor R, or vice versa. The purpose of this substitution is to allow the elements within the circuit to be rearranged, without changing the voltage and current equivalency, in a way that the circuit can be analyzed as series or parallel.
By the end of chapter 7, students should be able to:
convert a current source in parallel with an equivalent resistor to a voltage source in series with the same resistor.
convert a voltage source in series with an equivalent resistor to a current source in parallel with the same resistor.
identify the most feasible way to apply a series or parallel source conversion in a complex resistivity circuit with different sources.
Supporting video from youtube.com by Rose-Hulman Online
Circuits with two or more sources usually can not be solved using the traditional method of solving series-parallel circuit. Therefore, Superposition is another circuit theorem uses to solve circuits with two or more sources. Superposition theorem determines the contribution of each independent source to the variable and then algebraically add them up.
The superposition principle states that the voltage across (or current through) an element in a linear circuit is the algebraic sum of the voltages across (or currents through) that element due to each independent source acting alone.
By the end of chapter 8, students should be able to:
apply superposition theorem to solve unknown value/s in an element of a complex resistivity circuit with different sources.
Supporting video from youtube.com by www.electrical4u.com
Chapter 9 presents a circuit method of analysis to solve for a complex circuit. Mesh analysis provides another general procedure for analyzing circuits, using mesh currents as the circuit variables. Using mesh currents instead of element currents as circuit variables is convenient and reduces the number of equations that must be solved simultaneously.
By the end of chapter 9, students should be able to:
apply KVL to each independent closed loop in a complex circuit and find a simultaneous equation.
know how to solve a linear equation with two unknown variables.
use the mesh current to solve for the individual voltage and current through an element within the circuit.
Supporting video from youtube.com by Neso Academy
It often occurs in practice that a particular element in a circuit is variable (usually called the load) while other elements are fixed. As a typical example, a household outlet terminal may be connected to different appliances constituting a variable load. Each time the variable element is changed, the entire circuit has to be analyzed all over again. To avoid this problem, Thevenin’s theorem provides a technique by which the fixed part of the circuit is replaced by an equivalent circuit. (Fundamental of Electrical Circuit, page 139).
Chapter 10 introduces a new circuit thereom uses to analyze the equivalent voltage and resistance as seen in a load element in a circuit. This theorem is known as the Thevenin's theorem. Thevenin's theorem applies to a circuit where one element or branch of the circuit, the load, changes while the rest of the circuit is fixed. Therefore, instead of analyzing the entire circuit for each changes in the load branch, we can just simplify the fixed part of the circuit into one equivalent voltage source, Thevenin's voltage, VTH, in series with one equivalent resistance, Thevenin's resistance, RTH, as seen by the load element, RL. This simplified circuit results in one series circuit with three elements, VTH, RTH, and RL. Hence, it is easier to analyze the original from its equivalent Thevenin's circuit for each changes in RL.
By the end of chapter 10, students should be able to:
find the equivalent Thevenin’s resistance in a circuit as seen by the load component.
Find the equivalent Thevenin’s voltage source in a circuit as seen by the load component.
Supporting video from youtube.com by The Organic Chemistry Tutor
By the end of chapter 11, students should be able to:
Find the maximum power transfer to a load element using a Thevenin’s equivalent circuit.
Supporting video from youtube.com by All About Electronics and Neso Academy
So far we have limited our study to resistive circuits. Chapter 12 introduces one new and important passive linear circuit element, which is the inductor. Unlike resistors, which dissipate energy, capacitors and inductors do not dissipate but store energy, which can be retrieved at a later time. For this reason, capacitors and inductors are called storage element. Capacitors will be introduced at Chapter 13.
Chapter 12 covers the fundamentals of magnetism and inductance, and how to solve the equivalent inductance of inductors connected in series, parallel, and series-parallel.
Be the end of chapter 12, students should be able to:
understand magnetism and the definition of magnetic field.
find the equivalent inductance in series, parallel, and series-parallel connection.
Supporting video from youtube.com by The Organic Chemistry Tutor, Physics Videos by Eugene Khutoryansky, and Neso Academy
A capacitor is a passive element designed to store energy in its electric field. Besides resistors, capacitors are the most common electrical components. Chapter 13 covers the principle of electrical field, capacitance, and how to solve the equivalent capacitance connected in series, parallel, and series-parallel.
The second topic of chapter 13 is Transient Response in a RC circuit. In electric circuit, transient is a behavior of a circuit that occurs during a transition from one circuit condition to another that differs from the initial condition, such as the change in the amplitude, phase, shape, or frequency of the voltage acting in the circuit, the values of the parameters, or the configuration of the circuit. The Transient Response in a RC circuit is the way the circuit responds to energies stored in the capacitor, C, known as charging phase. If a capacitor has energy stored within it, then that energy can be dissipated/absorbed by a resistor, R, at the discharge phase.
By the end of chapter 13, students should be able to:
understand capacitance and the definition of electric field.
find the equivalent capacitance in series, parallel, and series-parallel connection.
analyze the time constant and instantaneous voltage across the resistor, VR, and capacitor, VC, and current through the capacitor, IC, in the charging phase of a RC circuit.
graph the voltage across the resistor and capacitor, and the current through the capacitor in a RC circuit: charging and dischargin phase
Supporting video from youtube.com by The Organic Chemistry Tutor
By the end of chapter 14, students should be able to:
identify different type of waveforms and the use of them.
read sinewave characteristics such as the amplitude, peak-to-peak value, period, frequency, angular velocity, and phase angle.
Supporting video from youtube.com by David Kaytor, AddOhms, Nexter Power, and Khan Academy
By the end of chapter 15, students should be able to:
understand capacitance and inductance reactance in a series RCL circuit under an ac signal.
calculate the phasor and impedance in a series RCL circuit under an ac signal.
Supporting video from youtube.com by Charles Clayton, Khan Academy, and The Organic Chemistry Tutor
Homework
Instruction: After completing the reading materials in Chapter 1, Technical Math, solve the exercises in homework 1 to strengthen your ability to solve problems with engineering notation and prefixes, unit of measurements, and engineering technology equations with unknown variables.
Instruction: After completing the reading materials in Chapter 2, Introduction to Circuit Analysis, and Chapter 3, Basic Circuit Laws, solve the exercises in homework 2 to strengthen your ability to identify circuit elements and terminology, and to solve circuit problems by applying Ohm's Law, Kirchhoff's Law, and Power's Law.
Instruction: After completing the reading materials in Chapter 4, Series Circuit, solve the exercises in homework 3 to strengthen your knowledge in analyzing the total resistance and current behavior in a series circuit, and the voltage drop and power dissipation by each element in a series circuit.
Instruction: After completing the reading materials in Chapter 5, Parallel Circuit, solve the exercises in homework 4 to strengthen your knowledge in analyzing the total resistance in a parallel circuit, the voltage drop at each element within a series circuit, and the current distribution and power dissipation by each element in a series circuit.
Instruction: After completing the reading materials in Chapter 6, Series-Parallel Circuit, solve the exercises in homework 5 to strengthen your knowledge in analyzing the total resistance in a series-parallel circuit, and the voltage drop, the current distribution, and power dissipation by each element in a series-parallel circuit.
Instruction: After completing the reading materials in Chapter 7, Source Conversion/Transformation, and Chapter 8, Superposition, solve the exercises in homework 6 to strengthen your knowledge in analyzing the voltage and current distribution within a resistivity circuit by applying source conversion and superposition theorem.
Instruction: After completing the reading materials in Chapter 9, mesh analysis, solve the exercises in homework 7 to strengthen your knowledge in analyzing the voltage and current distribution within a resistivity circuit by mesh analysis
Instruction: After completing the reading materials in Chapter 10, Thevenin's Theorem, and Chapter 11, Maximum Power Transfer, solve the exercises in homework 8 to strengthen your knowledge in finding the Thevenin's equivalent circuit as seen by the load element, and the find the maximum power transfer to the load.
Instruction: After completing the reading materials in Chapter 12, capacitance and RC transient circuit, and Chapter 13, magnetic field and inductance, solve the exercises in homework 9 to strengthen your knowledge in analyzing the capacitance and inductance equivalent depending on the circuit connectivity, and the current and voltage behavior of a RC circuit.
Instruction: After completing the reading materials in Chapter 14, introduction to sinusoidal, solve the exercises in homework 10 to strengthen your knowledge in analyzing ac components, sinusoidal definition, through graph and math equations.
Instruction: After completing the reading materials in Chapter 15, phasor and impedance, solve the exercises in homework 11 to strengthen your knowledge in analyzing passive elements' behavior under ac.
Lab experiments from this section is from a collaborative project between the department of Engineering Technology in Queensborough Community College, QCC, and the department of Computer Engineering Technology in New York City College of Technology, NYCCT, is based on creating two laboratory manual for the course of dc circuit analysis and ac circuit analysis. In QCC, the circuit analysis courses are major required courses for students on most of the engineering technology majors. In NYCCT, the circuit analysis courses are major required courses for students in the Electromechanical Engineering Technology and Computer Engineering Technology programs. Creation of these two laboratory manuals that covers the appropriate materials to a sufficient depth of learning circuits analysis while remains readable and accessible manner for the students.
This lab manual section is intended for use in DC circuit analysis laboratory for a two and four year engineering technology program. The laboratory manual contains 15 weekly lab experiments that include brief introduction of the experimental topics, step by step procedures, tables and graphs to record measurements, and questions to reinforce the understanding of the theory with the experimental results.
Each lab experiment is designed to be completed using a two to three hour practicum period. The topics range from basic laboratory procedures and resistor identification through series-parallel circuits, mesh analysis, superposition theorem, Thévenin’s theorem, maximum power transfer theorem, and concludes with an introduction to capacitors and inductors. For equipment, each lab station should include a dual adjustable DC power supply and a quality DMM capable of reading DC voltage, current and resistance.
Laboratories reap a wide array of safety hazards, which is why it is so vital to understand the important of lab safety. If something goes awry, more than just your research project schedule can be affected. Equipment can be damaged, fines can occur, and individuals on your team can be injured.
When working in a lab, it is important you to be familiar with the equipment in your working space, even if you don’t use it yourself. It’s also crucial to be cautious of what other researchers, coworkers and peers are doing/using around you. By becoming familiar with the laboratory you’re working in and always following proper safety procedures, you can help to prevent or eliminate hazards. You will also know the proper steps to take in the unfortunate event that something does go wrong. Labs are designed to with safety in mind, however, accidents can happen, which is why it’s best to be prepared for the worst.
Electricity
In any lab, there are lots of electrical cords running throughout the room, keeping all of the electronics running efficiently. Although electricity is needed to run throughout the entirety of your laboratory, cords can become a safety hazard if not handled with care. Fire can breakout, individuals can trip and fall over cords, or electrical equipment can get destroyed as a result of a faulty electrical connection.
To prevent any of the aforementioned from happening, invest in power cords, outlets and power strips. Also, don’t leave cords near heat sources, avoid running cords on the ground near doorways, refrain from using extension cords and don’t connect power strips together.
Therefore, it is important that you watch the following Lab Safety and Lab Behavior video so you can complete the lab experiments safely and efficiently.
Description
Lab Experiment 1 covers the technical mathematics that an engineering technology student needs to know in order to solve and complete the analysis of a circuit under dc.It covers power of tens, properties of powers of tens, scientific and engineering notation, prefixes, conversion between prefixes, order of operations, equation with unknown variables, equation in engineering technology with unknown variables.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of lab experiment 1, students should be able to:
have the knowledge to write a very small or very large number into engineering notation.
apply prefixes to represent each powers of ten and perform conversion between prefixes.
perform arithmetic operation and the rules of order of operation to find an unknown variables.
In this laboratory teaches students to build resistivity circuits in a breadboard, and how to measure the total resistance and the voltage across each resistor using a Digital MultiMeter, DMM.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of lab experiment 3, students should be able to:
build a resistivity circuit with 1, 3, and 5 resistors.
set DMM and circuit to measure equivalent resistance
set DMM and circuit to measure the voltage across a resistor.
Lab experiment 5 aims to teach students to build series resistivity circuit, and apply basic laws, such as Ohm's lab, Kirchhoff's law, and voltage divider rule, to understand the voltage and current behavior in a series circuit.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of lab experiment 5, students should be able to:
build series resistivity and non-resistivity circuits.
understand the linear characteristics of Ohm's law through
know how to measure the voltage across each element in a resistivity and non-resistivity circuit.
calculate the voltage across each element in a resistivity and non-resistivity circuit using Kirchhoff's Voltage Law, KVL, and voltage divider rule.
Lab experiment 6 teaches students to measure the current to each element in a parallel circuit. It also enforces students knowledge in parallel resistivity and non-resistivity circuits' characteristics by applying Kirchhoff's Law and current divider rule. It also analysis the equivalent resistance of a resistivity parallel circuit.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of lab experiment 6, students should be able to:
build parallel resistivity and non resistivity circuits.
know how to measure current through an element.
calculate the current through each element in a resistivity and non-resistivity circuit using Kirchhoff's Current Law, KCL, and current divider rule.
calculate the equivalent or total resistance of a parallel resistivity circuit.
Lab experiment 7 prepares students to build a series-parallel circuit and to measure the current through and the voltage across each element in the circuit.
Learning Outcomes
After completing lab 7, student should be able to:
Build a series-parallel circuit.
Measure and calculate the equivalent or total resistance of a series-parallel circuit.
Measure and calculate the current through each element in a series-parallel circuit.
Measure and calculate the voltage across each element in a series-parallel circuit.
Lab experiment 8 introduces students to identify and test an open and short circuit using an Ohmmeter and continuity tester of a DMM. It also introduces students to the use of different type of switches to control the current flow in an electronic circuit.
Learning Outcomes
After completing lab experiment 8, students should be able to:
Test and identify an open and short circuit using an Ohmmeter and continuity tester of a DMM.
Understand the operation of the different type of switches.
Build an electric circuit using different type of switches.
Measure the voltage and current distribution of an electric circuit control by the different type of switches.
Observe the current flow, control by the different type of switches, of an electric circuit through light bulbs and LEDs.
Lab experiment 9 coaches students to understad the power distribution in a resistive circuit. It introduces students to take the voltage and current measurement of each resistor of a resistive circuit, and calculate the power dissipate in each resistor using three version of the power's formula.
Learning Outcomes
After completing lab experiment 9, students should be able to:
Understand the power dissipation of a resistive circuit.
Calculate the power dissipated by a resistor using three version of the power's formula.
Lab experiment 10 introduces students to analyze a series-parallel circuit with two voltage sources. Students build a resistive series-parallel circuit with two voltage sources and measure the voltage across each resistor. After it, students learn to apply superposition theorem to the original circuit by activating one voltage source at the time, and measure the voltage across each resistor acting by the active voltage source. At the end, students compare their measured voltage from the original circuit and the superposition circuit.
Learning Outcomes
After completing lab experiment 10, students should be able to:
Build a series-parallel circuit with two voltage sources.
Analyze a circuit with more than one voltage source using the superposition theorem.
Know how to set a circuit with more than one voltage source, and make one voltage source active at the time.
Lab experiment 11 aims to train students to find a Thevenin's equivalent circuit of a given electric circuit. It also teaches students to find the maximum power dissipates by the load element of a Thevenin's equivalent circuit.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of lab experiment 11, students should be able to:
Adjust an electric circuit to measure the Thevenin's resistance, RTH, and the Thevenin's voltage, VTH.
Build a Thevenin's equivalent circuit and adjust the load resistance to find the maximum power dissipates by the load.
Sketch a power behavior, power dissipating at the load resistance versus the load resistance, of a Thevenin's equivalent circuit.
Laboratory reports are important tool to communicate and present experimental results. In an educational point of view, those reports help lab instructor to analyze the understanding, performance, and organization and analysis of results from students. On the other, in industry, company decisions are often made according to experimental work and result presented in a laboratory report to management.
For engineering technology students, lab report can be written according to the course lab requirement. The most commonly used organization for laboratory reports are:
Cover page
Abstract
Introduction
Brief description of procedure
Experimental Results
Results and Discussion
Conclusion
Appendices and Reference
Abstract
The abstract presents a brief introduction of the experiment. The abstract should be written concisely in normal rather than highly abbreviated English. The author should assume that the reader has some knowledge of the subject but has not read the paper. Thus, the abstract should be intelligible and complete in itself; particularly it should not cite figures, tables, or sections of the paper. The opening sentence or two should, in general, indicate the subjects dealt with in the paper and should state the objectives of the investigation. It is also desirable to describe the treatment by one or more such terms as brief, exhaustive, theoretical, experimental, and so forth.
Introduction
The "Introduction" of a laboratory report identifies the experiment to be undertaken, the objectives of the experiment, the importance of the experiment, and overall background for understanding the experiment. The objectives of the experiment are important to state because these objectives are usually analyzed in the conclusion to determine whether the experiment succeeded.
Procedures And Experimental
The "Procedures," often called the "Methods," discusses how the experiment occurred. Documenting the procedures of your laboratory experiment is important not only so that others can repeat your results but also so that you can replicate the work later, if the need arises. Historically, laboratory procedures have been written as first-person narratives as opposed to second-person sets of instructions. Because your audience expects you to write the procedures as a narrative, you should do so.
The Experimental part includes the recollection of data using tables, graphic analysis, calculations, and question analysis. These are important to represent because they are supporting materials for the analysis and discussion of experimental results.
Results and Discussion
The heart of a laboratory report is the presentation of the results and the discussion of those results. In some formats, "Results" and "Discussion" appear as separate sections. However, P.B. Medawar [1979] makes a strong case that the two should appear together, particularly when you have many results to present (otherwise, the audience is faced with a "dump" of information that is impossible to synthesize). Much here depends upon your experiment and the purpose of your laboratory report. Therefore, pay attention to what your laboratory instructor requests. Also, use your judgment. For instance, combine these sections when the discussion of your first result is needed to understand your second result, but separate these sections when it is useful to discuss the results as a whole after all results are reported.
For experiment where data is recorded in tables and/or presented in graphs, those information should be organized and link to the discussion to support the experiment findings. In discussing the results, you should not only analyze the results, but also discuss the implications of those results. Moreover, pay attention to the errors that existed in the experiment, both where they originated and what their significance is for interpreting the reliability of conclusions.
Conclusion
In longer laboratory reports, a "Conclusion" section often appears. Whereas the "Results and Discussion" section has discussed the results individually, the "Conclusion" section discusses the results in the context of the entire experiment. Usually, the objectives mentioned in the "Introduction" are examined to determine whether the experiment succeeded. If the objectives were not met, you should analyze why the results were not as predicted. Note that in shorter reports or in reports where "Discussion" is a separate section from "Results," you often do not have a "Conclusion" section.
Appendices
In a laboratory report, appendices often are included. One type of appendix that appears in laboratory reports presents information that is too detailed to be placed into the report's text. For example, if you had a long table giving voltage-current measurements for an RLC circuit, you might place this tabular information in an appendix and include a graph of the data in the report's text. Another type of appendix that often appears in laboratory reports presents tangential information that does not directly concern the experiment's objectives.
One sample of an Appendices for Design of a Temperature Measurement and Display System Using the 68HC11 Microcontroller is:
Appendix A: Hardware Schematic
Figure A-1 presents the hardware schematic for the temperature circuit. The circuit was designed according to the specifications obtained from the Computer Engineering Laboratories web site for ECPE 4535 [Lineberry, 2001].
References
A reference gives the readers details about the source so that they have a good understanding of what kind of source it is and could find the source themselves if necessary. The references are typically listed at the end of the lab report.
References from a book and article are written as: Authors’ name (Listed in an alphabetical order if there is more than one author), book title, title, department or book publisher, page number, publication year.
H.S. Crawford, R.G. Hooper, and R.F Harlow, Woody Plants Selected by Beavers in the Appalachian and Valley Province. Upper Darby, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1976
Spasov, Peter, Microcontroller Technology: The 68HC11, 2nd ed. (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1996), pp. 107, 355-359, 460.
References from the website are written as: Authors’ name (Listed in an alphabetical order if there is more than one author), date of retrieved, name of website, name of webpage, hyperlink.
Alley, M. (2017, January 5). Writing Guidelines for Engineering and Science Students. Retrieved from Laboratory Report: writing.engr.psu.edu/workbooks/laboratory.html
Alley, M. (2017, January 5). Writing Guidelines for Engineering and Science Students. Retrieved from Laboratory Report: writing.engr.psu.edu/workbooks/laboratory.html
Wallece, R. (2005, May 16). Lab Writing ResourcesNorth Caroline State University. Retrieved from Lab Write Resources: Citations and References: https://www.ncsu.edu/labwrite/res/res-citsandrefs.html
This Circuit Analysis OER material, by Huixin Wu, is copyrighted under the terms of a Creative Commons license:
This work is freely redistributable for non-commercial use, share-alike with attribution
Important note: The materials used in this manual have the author's rights and are for educational use only. Some informative documents and education medias are compiled from other OER materials.
About the Authors
Professor Wu is the course coordinator of the Digital Computer Theory course with the department of Engineering Technology at QCC. As the course coordinator, professor Wu updates the course outline and also creates homework and exercises to complement the learning materials for the course. She also has participated in grants and has experiences in creating new teaching terminologies for engineering technology students. She was the CO-PI of the National Science Foundation (NSF) STEM grant titled “A video Lecture Library and an Interactive Systems for Computer Programming Concepts”. In addition from her teaching schedule, she is the lead of the curriculum development of TechWorks grant, and a faculty mentor of the students Undergraduate Research Project program at QCC. Professor Wu has more than ten years of experience teaching both the Digital Computer Theory course and laboratory in QCC and NYCCT.
Professor Kwon is an assistant professor in the department of the Computer Engineering Technology. He is the EMT program coordinator and the course coordinator of the ac circuit analysis in NYCCT. He has been teaching dc and ac circuit analysis courses for several years and updated curriculums for the lecture and lab of circuit courses. He participated in a series of Open Educational Resources workshops in Spring 2016 and developed the supplementary OER website for EMT Laboratories which provides students more information about lab components, equipment, and breadboarding in the lab.
Circuit Analysis OER website is specially designed and developed to provide users about electric circuits theory and practices. If you browse or come across this website, it means that you are agreeing to terms of use policy states by this OER website. Given below are some of the terms and conditions subjected to follow by the users before using the website.
ALL THE INFORMATION AND ADVICE PROVIDED AT THE CIRCUIT ANALYSIS OER WEBSITE IS PROVIDED FOR EDUCATIONAL USE ONLY. IT IS COPYRIGHTED UNDER THE TERMS OF A CREATIVE COMMONS LICENSE: FREELY REDISTRIBUTABLE FOR NON-COMMERCIAL USE, SHARE-ALIKE WITH ATTRIBUTION.
Circuit Analysis OER website is not responsible for the content of any other website or material linked to it. Use of the content from these websites is entirely at the users own risk.
Electricity, applications using electricity and electrical equipment and materials are dangerous and have the potential to kill or severely harm an individual or individuals, and to cause damage to property and possessions. By using the Circuit Analysis website, you acknowledge that you understand the potential consequences to yourself and others around you when using electricity and electrical equipment. It is highly recommended to carry out the experimental activity under the supervision of a professional or lab instructors.
The exercises and examples presented in Circuit Analysis OER website are aimed at practicing and understanding circuit theories and circuits behavior. Consequently, some exercises do not present real applications other than theory practices.
