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CONDENSED FORM OF M ECHANICS OF REPORT WRITING A certain format for the presentation of material in a technical is recommended by report the Aerospace Engineering Program. A brief discussion of this format follows. The headings suggested are sufficiently inclusive to apply to the most lengthy or complex type of report. In some cases, not all of the suggested sections be required. would 1. Title Page Include the title, names of the authors (all team members and note the leader), organization and date 2. Table of Contents - Only for long reports 3. Summary - (Condensation of the entire paper) a. Object, Scope and Requirements b. Information obtained give numbers c. Include Conclusions

d. No symbols e. f. Do not refer to tables, figures, and references in the text. No more than two or three paragraphs in length. g. Should not include information that is not in the report 4. Introduction Do not say that this is a project for the student to learn design a. b. c. d. e. Background (discuss any previous investigations on the subject). Purpose Scope Include your team requirements (specifications) Must arose interest in the subject.

5. Symbols a. Give the symbol, a description of the symbol and itsSee one of the AIAA . units Journals for the format. b. They must be in alphabetical order. c. English letter symbols first, followed by Greek symbols. d. All symbols used in the report and figures must be included.

6. Analysis - A step-by-step discussion of the method used. Experimental reports would describe the experimental set up. 7. Results and Discussion a. No lengthy calculations should be performed in this section. Use an Appendix instead, b. Discuss the results obtained. Reference tables and figures . However, some reference to every table and must be made. figure
8.

Conclusions or Concluding Remarks a. Any definite conclusions found during the study,

b.

List in brief numbered paragraphs if more than one conclusion. If no definite conclusions can be made, then make this section Concluding Remarks. c. Should stand by itself, i.e. do not refer to the text, tables, or references. figures, 9. Appendixes a. Each Appendix represents one supporting item.

b.

Calculations and derivations can be presented in this section, c. Appendices are labeled through the use of capital letters, (i.e. Appendix A) followed by a title. 10. References a. References are included in order to give credit to any previous studies or to give the reader any necessary background information. In the text, refer to them as ref. 1 or by a superscript, etc., in the order that they are mentioned in the text. b. Only refer to materials which are readily availablereader. to the c. The format used for references is found in AIAA Journals. d. References to URL should also include the date you accessed it. e. Do not list any reference that is not referred to in the text. 11. Tables a. Should be titled and numbered. b. Provide appropriate headers,no other information should be written on a page with a table.

12. Figures a. All graphs, drawings and pictures should be placed in this section, b. All curves should be computer generated and have a corresponding table. Figures should have a figure number and title and referred to in the text as Fig. 1, etc. c. Indent the axes sufficiently so as to allow for labeling of scales, d. Choose convenient scale-factors for each of the scales, always using multiples of 2 or 5. e. The plotted data points should be clearly marked by plotting a small, neat circle to represent each point. If more than one curve is needed on a sheet, triangles or other symbols can be used in addition to the circles, f. Plot curves to as large a scale as possible, still having the curves centered on the sheet, g. Every figure must have a figure number and title. The report should be written in the third person past tense, passive voice, follow and should the format, given above. Each report must be word- processed double-spaced 8.5" x 11" on paper.Curves and drawings should not be "free hand"; they should be computer done generated. All pages in the report should be numbered in the upper right corner or centered at the bottom, starting with the page following the summary (however, the summary is counted as page 1).