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DepartmentofChemicalEngineering
AuburnUniversity
ApprovedbyCAPAC:073009
WhyIsThereaRequiredHomeworkFormat?
Effectivewrittencommunicationofcalculationsandproblemsolutionsisoneofthemostimportant
skillsanoviceengineermustmaster.Theformatdescribedinthisdocumentallowsengineersto
effectivelydocumentthemethodofsolutionoftypicalclosedendedproblemsaswellasallowother
engineerstodoublechecktheworkforcorrectness.Italsoallowsfacultyandgraderstobeeffectivein
locatingtechnicalerrorsandothertypesofmistakesandprovideeffectivefeedbacktothestudent
(developingengineer).Thedocumentalsoincludesinformationconcerningthestandardstobeapplied
tocalculation,tablesandgraphs.
Itisrecognizedthateachcompany,industryoragencymayhavedifferentrequiredformatsfor
recordingengineeringwork.Thefactthatthesevariationsexistdoesnotmakeoneformatcorrectand
theothersincorrectbutrathersupportstheideathatfamiliarityandadherencetoaparticularformat
facilitatesthecommunicationofengineeringwork.
HereinpresentedarethoseformatelementswhichtheDepartmentofChemicalEngineeringat
AuburnUniversityhasadopted.Thesestandardsshouldbeconsideredtobearequirementfor
homeworksubmittedinallcoursesofferedbythedepartment.
Ahomeworkproblemorassignmentthatdoesnotadheretotherequiredformatwillhavepoints
deductedfromtheproblemsorassignmentspointvalue.Attheinstructorsdiscretion,theamount
ofthedeductionmaybefrom20%to100%ofthevalue(regardlessofthecorrectnessofthework
submitted).
Itisrecognizedthatduringexaminationsandquizzes,timeconsiderationswillnotallowforall
elementsoftherequiredformattobefollowed.Professorswillindicatewhichformatelementsmust
befollowedontheirexamsandquizzes.Appropriatedeductionswillbemadeforfailuretoadhereto
thesespecifiedelements(regardlessofthecorrectnessoftheworksubmitted).
Note:Technicalreports,labreports,designreports,etc.mayhaveadditionalformatrequirements.
Thesewillbediscussedbytheinstructor.Again,appropriatedeductionswillbemadeforfailureto
adheretothesespecifiedelements(regardlessofthecorrectnessoftheworksubmitted).
GeneralAppearanceandIdentificationIssues
"Engineeringpaper"(National42182,5squareorequivalent)isrequiredunlesstheinstructor
hasapprovedtheuseoflinedpaper.
Allpapermustbeofthesamesize,rulingandcolor.
Donotwriteonthebacksideofthepaper.
Assignmentsmustbestaplediftheyconsistofmorethanonepage.LOOSEPAPERS,PAPER
CLIPS,DOGEARS,ETC.,ARENOTACCEPTABLE.Iftheassignmentisthickerthanstaplescan
secure,employappropriatebinderclips,etc.
PagesmayNOTberippedoutofnotebooks(leftedgeofpapermustbesmooth).
PapersshouldNOTbefolded.Submityourworkasflat8x11pages.
Homeworkassignmentsmustbeturnedinatthebeginningofclass.
Onthefirstpageoftheassignment,putthefollowingidentifyinginformationontheupperleft
sideofthepage(shownonEngineeringpaper):
o Name(FirstLast)
o CourseandSection
o AssignmentInformation(listeitherthespecificproblemsortheassignmentnumber)
o DateDue
Staple
MaryDoe
CHEN2100Sect002
Felder25,7,8
Due:12/31/08
Beginworkingfirst
problemofassignment
here(underneath
assignment
identification
information).
Felder25(initials)
Noteinitialsabove(onall
pages)
1/6
Thisidentification
informationonlygoes
onfirstpageofthe
assignment.
Onsubsequentpages,do
notprovidethis
identification
information.
Provideyourinitialsoneachpagetotherightontheproblemnumber(incasepapersget
separated).
Placetheproblemnumber(e.g.,Felder25)oneachpageofyoursolutionasindicatedinthe
exampleabove.
Starteachproblemonanewpageunlessseveralshortproblemscanbedisplayedonasingle
page.
Numberallsheetsconsecutivelyintheformat:2/6(e.g.,page2of6totalpages)
Inthecaseoflargetablesorfigures,orientthetableorfiguresuchthattheholesarelocatedon
topedge.
WritingIssues
Theworkpresentedtoyourprofessorisanengineeringcommunication.Yourgoalshouldbeto
clearlyshowyouranalysis,results,conclusions,andrecommendations.
Yourworkmustbelegibleandneat.Writingmustbeofsufficientdarknessandsizetobeeasily
readable.
Workmaybedoneinpencilorpen.
Strikeoutsandobviouserasuresarenotallowed.
Allstraightlinesmustbedrawnwitharuler,triangleorstraightedge.Itissuggesteda6inch
clearplasticrulerbepurchasedforthispurpose.Thisrulerisalsoanaidforreadingtablesand
figures.
Atemplateofcommondrawingshapes(squares,circles,etc.)isalsorecommended.
Circlesandothercurvedshapesshouldbedrawnwithatemplateorotherinstrument(e.g.,
Frenchcurve,shipscurve,etc).
Freehandcurvesandfreehandstraightlinesarenotacceptable.
Finalanswersmustbeclearlyidentifiedbyeitherunderliningtheresulttwiceorboxtheresult
(asshownbelow).
Finalanswersconsistofsymbol,value,andappropriateunits.
T1=102.3K
AccuracyandPrecision
Inperformingrigorousdataanalysis,formalrulesshouldbeemployedtodeterminethecorrectnumber
ofsignificantfigurestoemployinexpressingintermediatecalculationsandfinalanswers.Thoserules
arebeyondthescopeofthisdocument.ThesematterswillbefullydiscussedinCHEN3820and
CHEN4860UnitOperationsLabs.
Thefollowinggeneralguidelinesshouldbeusedinperformingstandardhomeworkcalculations.
Recognizethatthereisadifferencebetweenwhatyourcalculatorshowsonthedisplayand
whatonewritesdownonhomeworkorareport.Carryallsignificantfiguresduringcalculations
toavoidroundoffandtruncationerrors.
Storeintermediatecalculationsinyourcalculatorsmemoryratherthanreenteringa
lowerprecisionvaluethatwaswrittendown.
Supposeyouhavean8inchdiameterpipeandneedtoconvertthisvaluetofeet.The
exactvaluewouldbeD=8/12=0.666666666666666666Ifyouwritedownandthen
lateremployinsubsequentcalculationD=0.66(orD=0.67),theaccuracyofthose
calculationsisincorrectby0.006outof0.66666666666667oralmost1%.Hence,no
morethan2significantdigitsofaccuracycanbeclaimedalthoughtheoriginaldata
valuewasexact.
Whenyoureportintermediatecalculationsorvalues,avoidwritingdownexcessivesignificant
figuresfromyourcalculator.Generally45significantfiguresisappropriate.
Dataitemssuchasphysicalconstants,molecularweights,conversionfactors,etc.)shouldbe
writtendownandenteredincalculationsusing45significantfigures.
Finalanswersshouldreflectnogreaterthan0.1%accuracy(i.e.,34significantfigures).
3Significant
Figures
345.
3.45
0.0345
3.45x105
4Significant
Figures
1.070
107.0
0.0001070
1.070x1013
UnitsandConversions
Manyunnecessarymistakesoccurwhenstudentsfailtoproperlyuseunitsincalculations.Thisdoesnot
meanmerelywritingdowntheunitsbut"usingthem"(i.e.,cancelingunitstodeterminethefinalunits).
Themethodusedtoconvertand/orcancelunitsiscalledtherailroadtrackmethodorfactorlabel
method.Thisformat(includingshowingcancellationofunits)mustbeusedinallcalculations.
Startbydrawingahorizontallineandaddverticallinestoseparatethevariousunitconversions.
Placethebasenumberincludingunitsatthebeginningoftherailroadtrack.
Ineachsubsequentspace,placeanappropriateconversionfactorandcancelunits.
Invertconversionfactorsasnecessary.
1h
Example:Ifdividingby60min/hitisenteredas:
60min
Putcomplexconversionfactors(thosewithmultiplelevelsinthenumeratorand/or
denominator)intosinglenumeratordenominatorform.
Example:Supposeyoulookupthefollowingconversionfactor:
First,writethenumeratoranddenominatorseparately(invertingthedenominator):
1lb m3
ft3 16.018kg
Thencombinetheseasasinglefactorinyourunitconversion:
1lbm3
16.018ft3kg
Example1:
Convert9.8mileskilometers
9.8mi
5280ft
12in
2.54cm
1m
1km
= 15.77km*
1mi
1ft
1in
100cm
1000m
*Note:Theparticularconversionfactorsemployedmadethismuchharderthannecessary.
Example2:
Convert8.3scfperminuteofagascontaining107.2ppm(partspermillionbyvolume)NOxgrams
NOxperhour.
Note:MWNOx=46.01andscf=standardcubicfoot
107.2scf 8.3scf
60min
46.01lb
453.6g
1lbmole
= 2.936gNOx/h
6
10 scf
1min
1h
lbmole
1lb
379.48scf
ProblemSolvingMethodology
Usingarationalstandardizedapproachtosolvingproblemsallowsonetoobtainthesolutionwitha
minimumofeffort.ItalsoallowsfacultyandGTAs(andreviewersinindustry)toeasilyfollowyour
methodofsolutionandtoassessthecorrectnessofyouranswers.
TheparticularmethodologyrequiredbythedepartmentiscalledtheGivenFindSolutionAnswer
(GFSA)format.Itiswidelyfollowedbymanyengineeringdepartmentsaswellaspracticingengineers.
Note:Variationsonthismethodareemployedindifferentcourses(forexample,seeGeneralProcedure
forSingleUnitProcessMaterialBalanceCalculations,FelderforCHEN2100)butthegeneralprinciples
presentedhereshouldbeappliedtoallcourses.
Given:
Find:
Solution:
Answer:
Restatesignificantinformationfromproblemstatement.
Donotrepeattheentireproblemstatementverbatim.
Includethegivenproblemsketch(ifprovided)onlyifneededtoclarifytheproblem
statement
Stateunknownsthataretobedeterminedandassignasymbolicrepresentationfor
each.Forexample:Findtheoutlettemperature,Tout
Drawanappropriatesketchshowingthemajorfeaturesoftheproblem.
Drawadditionalsketchestoshowdetailsorotherfeaturesoftheproblemas
necessary.
Useanomenclaturethatisconvenientandwellaccepted.
Stateassumptions.
Listrequiredphysicalpropertiesandotherrelateddata(statingsources).
Referenceanytablesandfiguresusedtodetermineproperties.
Writegoverningequation(s).
Simplifyequationsalgebraically.Donotsubstitutevaluesintoequationsuntilthe
equationissolvedforthevariableofinterest.
Substituteknownvaluesforsymbolicvariablesintofinalequations.
Solveforunknownquantities(completecalculations).
Workproblemintheunitsystemgiven.Donotneedlesslyconvertfromonesystem
toanotherandthenbacktotheoriginalsystem.EngSIEng
Underlinemajorintermediateanswers.
Aftercompletecalculations,highlightanswerinboxordoubleunderline.
Includesymbol,answer,andunitsinyouranswer.
THINKandREFLECT!!
Whatdoyoursolutionsindicate?
Areyourresultsreasonable?
Graphs,PlotsandOtherFigures
Themajorformatelementsofagraph(figure)areshownintheexampleonthenextpage:
Usetheappropriategraphaxes(e.g.arithmetic,semilog,loglog,etc.)toaidthereaderin
obtainingaccuratedatafromthegraph.Usuallythiswillbeobtainedbyselectingaxeswhich
"straightenout"curvesasmuchaspossible.
Whendrawinggraphsforhomework.youmayusegraphingsoftware(suchasthebuiltin
graphingcapabilityofMSExcelotherapprovedgraphingprograms)orprovidehanddrawn
graphs.Handdrawngraphsshouldbedrawnneatlyusingstraightedgeandcurveguide
instruments.Freehandcurvesarenotallowed.
Eachgraphorfiguremustbeappropriatelylabeled.Providethefigurenumberandadescriptive
titlecenteredunderneaththefigure.
Appropriate:Figure1EnthalpyconcentrationdiagramforH2SO4H2O
Inappropriate:Figure1Enthalpydiagram.(Notsufficientlydescriptive)
Sourcesforfiguresorgraphicalinformationexternaltotheassignmentmustbeidentifiedbyan
appropriatecitation(seeReferences)
0.35
Dryingrate,(g/min)
0.30
0.25
0.20
0.15
0.10
0.05
0.00
0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
Time,(min)
Figure3Dryingratevtime(experimentaldatafromGroup3Run4)
Measureddatapointsareindicatedbysymbols(e.g.,circles,triangles,squares).
Donotconnectthemeasureddatapointsdottodotwithstraightlines.
Theoreticallinesandregressionlinesareplottedassmoothcurvesorstraightlines.Donot
showthecalculatedpointsusedtodrawthecurve.
Completelylabeleachgraphaxis,includingtheplottingvariablenameanditsunits.
Ifacalculationisgraphicalinnature,themethodofusageofgraphsshouldbeclearlyindicated
byanexamplewiththeappropriatelinessketchedinandlabeledforillustration.
Tables
Themajorformatelementsofatableareshowninthefollowingexample:
Table1Datacollectedfrommanometerexperiment.
MercuryLevel
o
T( C)
Rightarm(mm)
Leftarm(mm)
42.7
138
862
58.9
160
840
68.3
77.9
88.6
98.3
182
213
262
323
818
787
738
677
Eachtablemusthaveanumberandadescriptivetitle.Centerthetablenumberandtitleabove
thebodyofthetable.
o Appropriate:Table1Integralheatsofsolutionandmixingat25oC.
o Inappropriate:Table1Results(Notsufficientlydescriptive)
Thebodyofthetableisusuallydelimitedbyhorizontallinesaboveandbelowit.Sometimes
theselinesareboldordouble.
Tablesneverhaveverticallinestodelimittheleftandrightedgesofthetable.
Thebodyisdividedintorowsandcolumns.Thecolumnsalwayshaveheadings,andthe
headingsmustincludeaverbaldescriptionofthequantitytabulatedanditsunits.Insome
tables,therowsalsohaveheadings.
Columnandrowheadingsareseparatedfromthetabulatedquantitiesbysolidhorizontaland
verticallines,respectively.Theverticallinesareoftendeletediftheymakethetabletoobusy
andinterferewiththereaderscomprehension.
Generally,columnheadingsandcolumndataarecenteredinthecolumn.Whenthedatahasa
decimalpoint,valuesshouldbealignedonthedecimalpoint.
References
Thesourceofalldataandinformationusedinyoursolutionshouldbereferenced,exceptfor
datacontainedintheproblemstatement.
Referencesmustcontainenoughinformationsothattheprofessororyoursupervisorcould
easilylookupyourreferenceddata.Forexample,(Felder,TableB.1)or(Perry'sHandbook,7th
Ed,p.154)aresufficientifunambiguous.
WebreferencesshouldcontainacompleteURLandprovidethedateaccessed,forexample:
http://www.ultrasmartstudents.com/cornflakes.html(January13,2008)