MECH/AERO/ENGG113: Design A

ASSIGNMENT 1: PRESENTATION OF DATA

Overview

This assignment assesses your ability to organise, interpret, analyse and present
experimental results. It is worth 15% of the module. It is an exercise in presenting data and
attention to detail/following instructions.

You are given a raw data table which you will use to create a results spreadsheet in Excel.

You will use this spreadsheet to create a table and two graphs as instructed in this
document.

You will embed these in a Word document, formatting and captioning them properly.

You will submit both the Excel spreadsheet and the Word document through a VITAL upload
link by Midnight on SUNDAY 23rd OCTOBER 2016.

IF YOU DO NOT SUBMIT BOTH FILES YOU WILL SCORE ZERO.

You will find all the information you need to help you complete this assignment in my lecture
slides and in the resources posted on VITAL.

IT IS DIFFICULT FOR ME TO IDENTIFY CHEATING IN THIS ASSIGNMENT.

THE TASK IS NOT DIFFICULT.

IT GIVES YOU PRACTISE IN TECHNIQUES THAT YOU WILL USE DOZENS

OF TIMES IN YOUR STUDIES.

IF YOU DONT LEARN TO DO IT NOW YOU WILL LOSE MARKS IN OTHER

ASSIGNMENTS LATER.

You should spend between

2- 4 hours on this assignment.
Step 1: Create your Excel Spreadsheet
i) Open the file included with this document called Data Assignment
Results201617.xlsx

Save it to your M: drive as:

<surname><space><initial><space><Data Assignment Results>.xlsx

ii) Study the first page of the spreadsheet called Raw Data Table

You will see that I have recorded my experimental results accurately, but in a
disorganised way.

You will need to create a spreadsheet table that organises the data and presents it
clearly.

iii) Open the next tab (at the bottom of the Excel screed) called Results Spreadsheet

Create a spreadsheet table that looks like the partial table below and enter the
experimental results you have been given. (data in this document is NOT your data).

Make sure that the data is entered exactly as shown, and that each result is recorded
to 1 decimal place.

Note that the Sample 1 values are the lowest recorded Impact Energy, and the
Sample 3 values the highest. You should sort your data in this way

You will find Excel tutorials and help on the Library website and via Microsoft.

Step 2: Create a Scatter Plot of All Data

i) Create a SCATTER PLOT from the data in your spreadsheet table

Make sure you have clicked in a empty spreadsheet cell and then click the insert
chart button on the Excel Toolbar at the top of the screen.

The chart wizard will open select scatter plot without lines and follow the on screen
instructions.

You will need to create a plot that:

has Temperature along the X-axis and Impact Energy along the Y-axis

Y-axis crosses X-axis at -120 deg C

 includes three series of data representing the lowest, mid and highest
results for Impact Energy at each temperature

uses different styles of marker for each series, and includes a legend

ii) Format the plot

Excel will automatically format the plot and you will need to change this so your plot
looks exactly like the one below.

Make sure your axis scale and labelling is correct.

Step 3: Analyse Your Data

i) Calculate the Mean, Standard Deviation and Standard Error

Study and understand the Error Bars section in the LabWrite Resources Page. This
teaches you how to do this, and uses an example similar to our experiment.

Use the Excel functions to calculate the mean, standard deviation and standard error
and include the results as new rows in your Results Spreadsheet.

ii) Reformat your Results Spreadsheet so it looks exactly like the partial table shown
below.
Step 4: Create a Scatter Plot of the Mean Impact Energy
i) In the same way as before create a new scatter plot that includes just one series of
data the Mean Impact Energy

Format the plot as before and be careful to label the axes correctly

ii) Now add a Line of Best Fit to the data

Study the Regression Lines section of the LabWrite Excel Tutorial

You will fit a 6th order polynomial curve to the data and ensure the R2 Value is
included on the plot

iii) Now add Error Bars to the plot

Go back to the Error Bars section in the LabWrite Resources Page and study it

Add the error bars to your plot in exactly the way it explains

You will plot error bars that extend by the standard error both above and below the
line

iv) Your plot should now look exactly like the one below.

Step 5: Present your results in a Word document

i) Create a Word document and save it to your M drive as
<surname>space<initial>space<data assignment>.docx

ii) Give your document an appropriate heading: title, name and date

iii) On the first page embed the two scatter plots: make sure they are large enough to be
legible, that they are properly positioned on the page, and that they are properly
captioned (figure number and descriptive title, below the graphic)

iv) On the second page embed your results spreadsheet including the calculated mean,
standard deviation and standard error rows; size, position and caption as before
(table number and descriptive title, above the graphic). You will need to format the
second page to landscape orientation to do this clearly. (Hint: you will need to make
use of section breaks in Word)

Step 6: Submission
You will be required to submit your Excel file AND your Word file through the VITAL upload
link.

If you submit only one of these you will score zero.

Full upload instructions can be found on VITAL.