1 TECHNICAL WRITING PROF DR MOHAMED REFAAT DIAB

1 TECHNICAL WRITING PROF. DR. MOHAMED REFAAT DIAB AHMED LECTURE TWO OUTLINE

LECTURE TWO 2 OUTLINES AND ABSTRACTS Abstracts are written solely for the convenience of the reader. Outlines and Abstracts are highly condensed statements of, or description of, the content of a piece of writing. Outlines, serve both reader and writer. An outline serves the Reader by providing a means of analyzing the structure of somebody else’s writing, An outline serves the writer as a guide in designing his own reports. . The outline for both writer and reader is like a road map. An outline is not needed for a very short report.

Kinds Of Outlines 3 There Are Three Kinds Of Outlines: q Topic outline, each entry is a phrase, single word q Sentence outline, every entry is a complete one, two or three sentences q Paragraph outline. every entry is a paragraph. It is of no use to the technical writer

The outline of a technical report becomes the "Table of Contents" and the system of subheads in the finished "Text" 4 All entries in an outline must appear in the text as headings and subheadings. All entries in a table of contents must appear in the text as headings and subheadings. Either All or some entries in an outline may appear in the table of contents as headings and subheadings All entries in the table of contents must appear in the text as headings and subheadings Either All or some entries in a text may appear in the table of contents as headings and subheadings

MAIN COMPONENTS FOR EFFECTIVE OUTLINES 1. PARALLELISM: each heading and subheading should preserve parallel structure. Example: a. Choose Desired Colleges b. Prepare Application 2. COORDINATION: all the information contained in heading a. should have the same significance as the information contained in heading b. The same goes for the subheadings (which should be less significant than the headings). Example: i. Faculty of Art ii. Faculty of Engineering 1. Mechanical Department 2. Civil Department 5

3. SUBORDINATION: the information in the headings should be more general, while the information in the subheadings should be more specific. Example: I. Fuel System A. Pump B. Line Tube C. Filter 4. DIVISION: each heading should be divided into 2 or more parts. Example: A. Compile resume 1. List relevant coursework 2. List work experience 3. List volunteer experience 6

THE PRIMARY REASONS FOR CREATING AN OUTLINE 1. Aids in the process of writing 2. Helps you organize your ideas 3. Presents your material in a logical form 4. Shows the relationships among ideas in your writing 5. Constructs an ordered overview of your writing 6. Defines boundaries and groups 7

IN ORDER TO CREATE AN OUTLINE A WRITER SHOULD: 1. 2. 3. Determine the purpose of his paper. Determine the audience he is writing for. Develop thesis of his paper. Then: a. Brainstorm: List all the ideas that you want to include in his paper. b. Organize: Group related ideas together. c. Order: Arrange material in subsections from general to specific or from abstract to concrete. 8

THE LOGIC OF OUTLINES 9 The fundamental principle of outlining is division. The subject to be outlined is divided into major parts. Those major parts are divided into sub-parts. These sub-parts; and so the whole is divided into smaller and sampler units to whatever degree seems desirable. Let X equals the entire subject to be divided, or outlined. Then: X = I + II. . . n. In turn, I = A + B + C +. . n, A = 1 + 2 + 3 +. . n, and 1 = a + b + c +……. n And so forth, where n is the last item in part in the outline. A "Table of Contents" is often set up in a similar way.

IV. TYPES OF OUTLINES The forms most commonly used for outlines are the followings: 10 A. Alphanumeric Outlines This is the most common type of outline and usually instantly recognizable to most people. The formatting follows these characters, in this order: 1. Roman Numerals 2. Capitalized Letters 3. Arabic Numerals 4. Lowercase Letters If the outline needs to subdivide beyond these divisions, use Arabic numerals inside parentheses and then lowercase letters inside parentheses.

11 B. The Arabic Decimal Outlines The decimal outline is similar in format to the alphanumeric outline. The added benefit is a system of decimal notation that clearly shows how every level of the outline relates to the larger whole.

When writing an outline, the writer should be cautious to: a. Be sure there are enough headings to reflect the content of the report adequately b. Be sure each outline entry is meaningful to the reader; single-word topical entries may be adequate for the writer but puzzling to the reader. - Procedure for Carrying Out Vibration Tests is preferable to - Vibration Tests c. Try to keep the outline structure to three, or at most four, levels. 13

The following remarks should be observed: 14 1. Periods (. ) are used after symbols (that are, numbers or letters) except when the symbol is in parentheses. 2. In an entry of more than one line, the second line is started directly beneath the beginning of the first. 3. The symbol of a subdivision A, 2, etc. is placed directly beneath the first letter in the entry of the preceding highest order. 4. Periods are placed at the end of sentence entries but not after topic entries. 5. Lines are usually double-spaced.

The subject: Evaluation of Room Air Distribution in the Conditioned and Ventilated Spaces. 1. Apart from a topic outline: I. INTRODUCTION A. Room Air Distribution 1. Comfort of human beings. 2. Air temperature effect. 3. Air velocity effect. (a) With turbulence effect (b) Without turbulence effect. B. Air Flow rate 16

2. A part from a sentence outline (of the previous example) : 17 I. Proper distribution of conditioned air plays an important role in both the comfort of the occupants and the air quality of ventilated or conditioned spaces. A. Room air distribution includes the velocity and temperature distributions inside the air conditioned space which largely affect the comfort occupants. 1. The occupants of a space feel comfortable in a specific range of thermal conditions. There are many factors influence these conditions such as air velocity and air temperature. 2. The variation of air temperature has direct effect on the sense of coolness or warmth. The human body feels comfortable in a certain range of room temperature between 20 and 26°C. 3. The air velocity helps in feeling of coolness in case of high velocity and in feeling of worth in case of stagnant air. However, a compromise value for air velocity and air temperature may keep a comfortable condition inside the space. (a) The turbulence of air is meant by the velocity fluctuations of air. This effect may be added as a variable. (b) The turbulence effect is neglected. B. The time rate of air required for offsetting the cooling load is estimated.

Topic outline about "HEAT TRANSFER" written in Arabic Numeral System (for only Two chapters): 1. INTRODUCTION: TECHNICAL APPLICATIONS 1. 1 The different types of heat transfer 1. 1. 1 Heat conduction 1. 1. 2 Convective heat transfer 1. 1. 2. 1 Natural Convection 1. 1. 2. 2 Forced Convection 1. 1. 3 Thermal radiation 1. 2 Heat exchangers 1. 2. 1 Types of heat exchanger and flow configurations 1. 2. 2 General design equations 1. 2. 3 Parallel and Counter flow heat exchangers 1. 2. 4 Cross flow heat exchangers 1. 3 The different types of mass transfer 1. 3. 1 Diffusion 1. 3. 2 Convective mass transfer 1. 4 Mass transfer theories CONTINUE 18

2. HEAT CONDUCTION AND MASS DIFFUSION 2. 1 The heat conduction equation 2. 1. 1 The heat conduction equation for bodies with constant material properties 2. 1. 2 Boundary conditions 2. 2 Steady-state heat conduction 2. 2. 1 Longitudinal heat conduction in a rod 2. 2. 2 The temperature distribution in fins and pins 2. 2. 3 Geometric multi-dimensional heat flow 2. 2. 3. 1 Superposition of heat sources and heat sinks 2. 2. 3. 2 Shape factors 2. 3 Transient heat conduction 2. 3. 1 Solution methods 2. 3. 2 The Laplace transformation 2. 3. 3 The semi-infinite solid 2. 3. 3. 1 Heating and cooling with different boundary conditions 2. 3. 3. 2 Two semi-infinite bodies in contact with each other 2. 4 Numerical solutions to heat conduction problems 2. 4. 1 The simple, explicit difference method for transient heat conduction 2. 4. 2 Non Cartesian coordinates. 2. 4. 3 Steady-state temperature fields 2. 5 Mass diffusion 2. 5. 1 Derivation of the differential equation for the concentration field 2. 5. 2 Boundary conditions 19

Topic outline about "HEAT TRANSFER" written in "Roman Numeral System". I. INTRODUCTION: TECHNICAL APPLICATIONS A. The different types of heat transfer 1. Heat conduction 2. Convective heat transfer a. Natural Convection b. Forced Convection 3. Thermal radiation B. Heat exchangers 1. Types of heat exchanger and flow configurations 2. General design equations 20

II. HEAT CONDUCTION AND MASS DIFFUSION A. The heat conduction equation 1. The heat conduction equation for bodies with constant material properties 2. Boundary conditions B. Steady-state heat conduction 1. Longitudinal heat conduction in a rod 2. The temperature distribution in fins and pins 3. Geometric multi-dimensional heat flow a. Superposition of heat sources and heat sinks b. Shape factors C. Transient heat conduction 1. Solution methods 2. The Laplace transformation 3. The semi-infinite solid a. Heating and cooling with different boundary conditions b. Two semi-infinite bodies in contact with each other D. Numerical solutions to heat conduction problems 1. The simple, explicit difference method for transient heat conduction 2. Non Cartesian coordinates. 3. Steady-state temperature fields 21

22 IV. ABSTRACTS An abstract is a short description, or highly condensed statements, of a piece of writing. It is written solely for the convenience of the reader. The purpose of abstracts is to prepare concise summaries from the indexing point of view. The goal is to provide a timeless reference tool for the reader. The abstract should be regarded as a completely independent unit. It is intelligible without reference to any part of the report itself. It should tell the reader the answers of the following questions respectively: 1. What is the objective of the report? 2. What you are trying to do? 3. What is the scope of the report? 4. What are the findings of the study? 5. What are the conclusions?

23 A. Types of abstracts Two types of abstracts can be identified: 1. The Descriptive Abstract It is usually short. Its advantage. . . it is easy to write. Its disadvantage. . . it contains little information. The main characteristics of descriptive abstracts are: q include purpose, methods, scope, but NOT results, conclusions, and recommendations. q are always very short— usually under 100 words introduce subject to readers, who must then read the report to learn study results

2. The Informational Abstrac 24 Informational abstract contains more information about the topic which the report contains The main characteristics of informational abstracts are: 1. Communicate contents of reports 2. Include purpose, methods, scope, results, conclusions, and recommendations 3. Highlight essential points 4. Are short—from a paragraph to a page or two, depending upon the length of the report (10% or less of the report) 5. Allow readers to decide whether they want to read the report

25 B. An Effective Abstract 1. Uses one or more well-developed paragraphs, which are unified, coherent, concise, and able to stand alone 2. Uses an introduction-body-conclusion structure in which the parts of the report are discussed in order: purpose, findings, conclusions, recommendations 3. Follows strictly the chronology of the report 4. Provides logical connections between material included 5. Adds no new information but simply summarizes the report 6. Is intelligible to a wide audience

C. Steps for Writing Effective Report Abstracts 26 To write an effective report abstract, follow these four steps: 1. The writer should reread his report with the purpose of abstracting in mind. He should look specifically for these main parts: purpose, methods, scope, results, conclusions, and recommendations. 2. After the writer has finished rereading his report, he should write a rough draft without looking back at his report. he should consider the main parts of the abstract listed in step 1. he shouldn't merely copy key sentences from his report. he will put in too much or too little information. he shouldn't summarize information in a new way. 3. The writer should revise his rough draft to : a. correct weaknesses in organization and coherence, b. drop useless or more than is needed or wanted information, c. add important information originally left out, d. eliminate wordiness, and e. correct errors in grammar and mechanics. 4. The writer should carefully proofread his final copy.

D. Form of Abstract In form, the abstract is usually set up as a single paragraph (or more if necessary) double-spaced, on a page by itself. written in good English. articles should not be omitted no abbreviations should be used avoided as possible the unfamiliar terminology to the reader. 27

A structure of descriptive Abstract is shown in Figure. 1 28