Technical Report Writing MENG 242 Section 02

Engineering Department

University of Bahrain

Tensile Test

Abdulrahman Hanouna

202103670

Date submitted: May 24, 2015

This report introduced the basic electrical laboratory which is used by beginning engineers,

explain its uses, safety measures taken inside the laboratory, and showing some of the most

important apparatus used in the laboratory.

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 Table of Contents

Abstract............................................................................................................................................2

List of Figures and Tables...............................................................................................................4

1.0 Introduction................................................................................................................................5

2.0 The Electrical Laboratory..........................................................................................................6

2.1 Laboratory..............................................................................................................................6

2.2 Basic Electrical Laboratory...................................................................................................6

2.3 Basic Apparatus.....................................................................................................................6

2.4 Safety...................................................................................................................................10

3.0 Conclusion...............................................................................................................................12

References......................................................................................................................................13

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 List of Figures and Tables

Figure 1 - A cable............................................................................................................................7

Figure 2 – Voltmeter........................................................................................................................8

Figure 3- Multimeter........................................................................................................................8

Figure 4 - Oscilloscope....................................................................................................................9

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1.0 Introduction

Wires of many types and colors, screens and larger screens, some type of reading. This is how an

electrical laboratory looks like, every electrical device you have ever used; the lighting in your

house, the TV, your mobile phone and every electrical thing you have has started here. Here is

where the magic happens, testing, observing, reading and writing down notes.

No invention have ever seen the light without passing here, before starting to produce a product,

presenting a theory, you have to proof or confirm your product working capability and to

validate your theory by testing it in the electrical laboratory.

According to The Free Dictionary website, a laboratory is “A room or building equipped for

scientific experimentation or research.”, “A place for practice, observation, or testing.” [1].

The electrical laboratory has many possibilities, from the Multimeter to the Oscilloscope, the

laboratory has a variety of devices that will allow you to fully test your circuit. A circuit is a

combination of electrical components, it is usually a sketch which is used later to build the

electrical device. In the laboratory, you will be able to read voltages, currents in both of its types

(AC/DC); design, build and connect circuits.

As in every laboratory, there has to be a couple of safety measures while you’re running the

laboratory. The electrical laboratory has several safety guidance’s of its own that you must

follow to avoid any unpleasant event.

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Electrical laboratories can be huge in size, and there are many devices that you can use.

However, in this report, I am going to talk about the basic electrical laboratory, its uses, the basic

devices and tools it provides and the safety rules of the laboratory.

2.0 The Electrical Laboratory

2.1 Laboratory

According to The Free Dictionary website, a laboratory is “A room or building equipped

for scientific experimentation or research.”, “A place for practice, observation, or

testing.” [1].

The main purpose of laboratory is for experimenting, laboratories can be found in schools

and universities, research centers, government and non-government institutions.

2.2 Basic Electrical Laboratory

Industries, governments and such, have very advanced laboratories which are made for

experts and advanced engineers. On the other hand, schools and universities have basic

laboratories that is targeted for students. They have limited amount of apparatus and

devices, because students won’t require an advanced laboratory for their level.

2.3 Basic Apparatus

The electrical laboratory has a variety set of devices and tools or apparatus that will help

you to test your circuit. In order to be familiar with what kind of tools you’re dealing

with, here are some of the basic tools available in the laboratory.

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 “A wire is nothing more than a conductor wrapped up in a jacket of insulation.” [2].

Wires come in the first priority, you cannot move electricity in the mid-air of course, and

therefore you will need wires or cables.

Figure 1 - A cable

Source: “Bioengineering undergraduate laboratories,” www.seas.upenn.edu/research/labs-

facilities.php Accessed April 18, 2015.

This is a cable as shown in Figure 1, this type of wire is used to connect different devices

to each other in order to move electricity.

There are two types of cables; solid cables and stranded cables, solid cables are strong,

rigid wires, which are usually used for permanent connections. On the other hand,

stranded cables are a flexible light weighted cables, because of their lightness, in the

laboratory we mainly use stranded cables because we will usually be dealing with low

voltages only which don’t require strong wires.

very important device we will use in the lab. Same as the Ammeter which measures the

current.

Figure 2 – Voltmeter

Source: “Nasco online shop,” enasco.com Accessed April 20, 2015.

Figure 2 is an image of a simple voltmeter that is used in the electrical laboratory, the gage

indicates the voltage. The red and black plugs is where you plug in your wires.

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 Figure 3- Multimeter

Source: “How to use a multimeter,” learn.sparkfun.com Accessed April 20, 2015.

This is a Multimeter as shown in Figure 3, “A Multimeter measures electrical

properties such as AC or DC voltage, current, and resistance. “ [3]. so basically a

Multimeter is a universal electricity measuring tool, you can use it to measure almost

anything in the electrical field.

“An oscilloscope is a laboratory instrument commonly used to display and analyze the

waveform of electronic signals. In effect, the device draws a graph of the instantaneous

signal voltage as a function of time.” [4].

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 Figure 4 - Oscilloscope

Source: “Rigol technologies,” rigolna.com Accessed April 20, 2015.

Figure 4 represents an oscilloscope, and you can see the display on the left and the inputs on

the right.

These are more devices for the laboratory, but these are the most important ones you’re

going to use in the basic laboratory.

2.4 Safety

Being around electrical equipment and devices could be dangerous if you do not play it

safe, an electronic shock of high voltage can be deadly and will burn you in seconds.

Following the rules will help you avoid such situations, and will protect you from the

dangers of electricity.

Know where the emergency switches are before working in the laboratory, you need to

know where the emergency switches that cuts the power from the laboratory are, “Learn

the location of your electrical panels and shut-off switches so you can quickly disconnect

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power in the event of an emergency. Be sure to always leave at least a 3-foot clearance

around electrical panels for ready access.” [6].

As in every laboratory you must know where the fire extinguishers are and how to use

them in case of a fire. Also, you must know where the emergency exits of a laboratory

are, every laboratory will have a map showing the exit doors and all doors will have

green lights above them making them easier to find in the middle of the smoke.

Make sure you have proper wires, working around broken or cut off wires is deadly

dangerous, as the wires may have electricity in them, “Inspect power cords to be sure

they are not frayed or have exposed wiring” [5]. Having broken wires will make you

exposed to having an electrical shock.

Wearing safety shoes is an important measure of safety in the electrical laboratory, as the

shoes will absorb the electricity when you’re having an electrical shock, which helps

reducing or preventing getting injured.

Following the above regulations will keep you in the safe side. However, even after

applying the rules unpleasant accidents might happen, so you must be prepared to act

when your life and others are in danger. By not following the rules you put yourself and

others in danger, so make sure that you fully understand them.

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3.0 Conclusion

To conclude, a laboratory is a place made for experiments. In the electrical field we use it to

test the circuits we’ve designed. The electrical laboratory has many tools, as discussed

above, the tools are used to analyze the electrical circuit, and there are many of them.

However, being in the laboratory comes with a responsibility of keeping the place safe for

yourself and the others, by following the laboratory rules you will avoid getting into

unwanted incidents that may result in an injury or a possible death.

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References

[1] “Laboratory – definition of laboratory by the free dictionary,” www.thefreedictionary.com

[2] “What is a wire,” www.instructables.com Accessed April 20, 2015.

[3] “What is a multimeter,” http://www.wisegeek.org/what-is-a-multimeter.htm Accessed April

[4] “What is oscilloscope,” http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/oscilloscope Accessed April

[5] “Electrical safety in the laboratory,” www.ehs.research.uiowa.edu Accessed April 20, 2015.

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