Outlines for Others: An Illustrative Example
This framed web-page provides an illustrative
example of a functional outline which is informative, detailed, and brief.
The bottom frame contains a "scrolling" commentary on the following outline.
Click on the links within the outline to find information on that specific element
of the report, which will appear in the bottom frame. To view only this
document, click here; or go
to how to use your outline to write
your final draft.
The outline addresses this
problem statement:
As a summer student with
Ford Canada, your first assignment as a member of the electrical system
design team is to look into the 12V battery standard. This standard is
being questioned because every year consumers demand more from the power
supply in their cars: powerful air conditioners, power windows, power locks,
sophisticated audio systems, power antennas, plugs for cellular phones,
plugs for notebook computers.
The 
, 
and 
indicate
things that the author has done right, wrong, and questions that need to be
addressed arising from that part of the report, most of which deal with the
issues of audience, purpose, organization, and content. Click on these
symbols to read the appropriate commentary on each section of the report.
| Outline
for Formal Report:
1. Introduction
1.1
Address the audience (supervisor with limited technical background).
1.2 State Purpose: To
determine if the 12 volt battery standard is a sufficient power supply
to support the increasing demand for power in todayís automobiles.
1.3 Describe the organization
of this report. 
2. Principles 
2.1Electrostatic
potential: A measurement of work done if a charge were moved from a to
b in a circuit (an extended definition will be given)
Electrostatic Potential = a constant (k) x (amount of charge on body 1)
(amount of charge on body 2) / (distance between bodies)2
2.2 Kirchoff's
Voltage Law: The charges travelling around a circuit transfer energy from
one circuit element to another, but do not receive energy themselves. This
means energy is conserved, which shows that the energy released by the
battery is equal to the energy used by the elements the battery powers.
2.3 The relationship
between Electrostatic Potential and Kirchoffís Voltage Law is that the
first offers the explanation of stored energy within the circuit, as the
other uses that stored energy and shows how the energy is used by the
circuit elements. The battery releases energy at a potential difference
of 12 V and each element of the automobile is made to use the 12 volts
of energy supplied by the battery. The battery also has an alternator
(a charger) which keeps a constant supply of energy entering the battery
(through the positive terminal), thus, the energy of the battery cannot
be fully used up.
3. Relationship of in-class
experiments
(based on only one completed class experiment)
3.1 Experiment
1: Shows that changes in voltage are proportional to changes in current.
This would reflect the same changes as in a 12 V battery. The current
through the battery remains constant with the constant voltage supplied.
4. Advantages and Disadvantages
(of
creating a higher voltage standard for car batteries)
4.1 Advantages
4.1.1
More power could be available for equipment requiring higher voltage.
4.1.2 More equipment
could be used simultaneously without power drain.
4.2 Disadvantages
4.2.1 The 12
V standard is widely used; it would take too much time and effort to
change it. Costs, including re-tooling appliances to take advantages
of the new standard, would be too high for the reasons for changing
the voltage standard.
4.2.2 Higher
energy use is not environmentally friendly, leading to the question:
are all these portable appliances really necessary?
4.2.3 More equipment
used at the same time would lead to more car accidents. For example,
cellular phone use has been reported to lead to dangerous driving.
5. Recommendations
5.1 The raising
of the standard voltage will be deemed unnecessary, largely because of
the costs involved in implementing the new standard.
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