0 1 .

D e f i n i t i o n s 1

Definition is a logical technique by which the meaning of a term is revealed. It has become important
in this era of technical specialization because each technology has developed words which are not
familiar to people outside that technology. Technicians in industrial engineering, for example, cannot
expect a specialist in metallurgy or civil engineering to be aware of their terminology. And it is a rare
mechanical engineering technologist who can wander into an electronics laboratory, spend five
minutes listening to words like heterodyne detection, pyrometer, and micromho, and emerge with
more than a vague idea of what is going on. Such specialized terminology is appropriate for informal
reports within a department, but not for reports going beyond the department. This communication
technique becomes critical in large industrial firms, where specialists in various technical areas must
function together and communicate with each other in a coordinated effort toward the firm's
objectives.
Even if communication among various technologies presented no difficulty, the problem of
communication with management would still exist. Just as the number of technologies has multiplied,
diversification has occurred in management, and specialists are required to administer particular
areas. Although some management personnel have come up through the ranks, and many others
have strong technical backgrounds, they cannot realistically be expected to keep up with various
technological advances while they function as administrators.
In short, the era of technical generalists, individuals with working knowledge of several technologies,
has passed. People have enough trouble keeping up with innovations in their own fields. Report
writers today must recognize this and write accordingly. Abbreviations and symbols, which were once
used to save space, are now omitted from reports because the space saved is not worth the
communication lost. Words are carefully chosen and defined because there is no excuse for making
the reader look up a word or ask for clarification. Neither is there any reason for allowing a reader to
think he knows what a word means, only to discover later that the intended meaning was entirely
different. Reports are written to save time rather than waste it.
Definitions should be avoided whenever possible; if a simple word conveys the intended meaning,
use it. However, when technical terminology cannot be avoided, an informal, conversational defini -
tion is often sufficient. Though less thorough than a formal definition, the following types of informal
definition are quite acceptable if they furnish needed information to the reader.

OPERATIONAL
Operational definitions ascribe an activity which produces the effect being defined. For example,
"frictional electricity," an effect, can be illustrated by describing how a person becomes negatively
charged by the friction between his shoes and a rug; when he touches an object, the excess electrons
rush off, causing a spark and a small shock. A word like acceleration can be partially explained in
terms of what happens when a driver steps on the gas pedal of his automobile.

NEGATIVE STATEMENT
Negative statements explain what a term does not mean, often in order to correct a common
misconception. To be effective, a negative statement must be followed by a positive one. You might,
for instance, say that a "funnycar" is not necessarily a funny-looking car. You would then explain that
"funny" derives from "phoney," which refers to the car's fibreglass rather than metal body. A series
of negative statements can perform a process of elimination leading to the right definition. You
might explain that a construction technologist cannot properly be called either a draftsman or an
architect, and then make distinctions among the three to arrive at an accurate, positive definition.
Antonyms, or words having the opposite meaning, can be useful negative statements also, but again
the reader should not be expected to fully understand a term if merely informed of its opposite. A
positive statement must follow.

1
Source: Pauley, S. (1973). Technical Report Writing Today. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.

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SYNONYM
Synonyms are effective only when the word used is more popular than the term being defined.
People are more familiar with voltage than electromotive force, the technical term carrying the same
meaning. Other examples are spiral, for helix, and spun glass for fibreglass. When aiming at an
uninformed reader, never pass up an opportunity to clarify a technical term with a more common
word, and if possible, avoid the difficult word entirely by merely substituting the easier one.
In daily conversation, we begin informal definitions by saying, "What I mean is ... " or, "Look at it this
way.” The same conversational approach can be used to clarify words and ideas in technical reports.
Nothing is wrong with writing "In other words ..” or "In this report, environment refers to ... :" or
simply placing a synonym in parentheses. Clear and conversational writing communicates with the
reader because it presents technical information in his own language.

FORMAL DEFINITIONS
Every technology has its precision instruments. Learning how to use them requires patience, but they
ultimately make your job easier. In technical writing, the formal sentence definition functions like
one of those instruments. It "clears the board" by scientifically separating the thing being discussed
from everything else in the world. The definition's three parts are the item (species) which needs
defining, the class (genus) to which the item belongs, and the differentiation (differentia) of the item
from all other members of its class:

Item Class Differentia

acceleration the rate of change of velocity with respect to time
resistance any force that tends to oppose or retard motion
dynamics The study of the relationship between motion and the forces affecting
motion
glider a light, engineless with lift surfaces and extended wings, designed for long
aircraft periods of flight after launch from a towing vehicle
engineering the application of scientific principles to practical ends such as the design,
construction, and operation of efficient and economical
structures, equipment, and systems
ammeter an instrument that measures electric current
technique a systematic procedure by which a complex or scientific task is accomplished
electricity a physical phenomenon arising from the existence and interactions of charged
particles
carburettor a mixing chamber used in petrol engines to produce an efficient explosive
vapour of fuel and air

CLASSIFYING THE ITEM

As shown in the preceding examples, careful modification of the class goes a long way toward completing the
definition. The narrower the class, the more meaning it conveys, and the less that needs to be said in the
differentia. Classifying an item as an “intricate device” accomplishes very little; the world is full of intricate
devices, and the item still needs to be differentiated from all of them. Also, saying that an item “is what” or
“occurs when” suggests that those are words of classification, and they obviously are not. Such words can
be useful in informal definitions, but have no place in formal sentence definitions.

DIFFERENTIATING THE ITEM

If the differentia applies to more than one item, the definition lacks precision. Even simple items
like ballpoint pens require cautious differentiation, for the pens are distinguishable only by the
design of their points. You must also guard against circular definitions, which are caused by the
repetition of the very word you are defining. The reader who needs help with capacitance will get
nowhere if expected to understand the word capacitor in the differentia. Noncrucial words such as
writing in the item technical writing can, of course, be repeated. Occasionally, an extensive
differentia requires a second sentence. After reading a formal sentence definition, an uninformed
reader often needs further explanation to really understand the item. Seven methods for amplifying
definitions are discussed below.

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EXPLICATION
In this context, explication means defining difficult words contained in the formal sentence
definition. The words velocity and charged particles in the examples above would need defining for
many readers. When explicating, you can often write an informal definition rather than another
formal one.

DERIVATION
The origin of some words helps clarify their meaning. Ammeter, for example, derives from the
words ampere and meter, and scuba is made up of the first letters of the words self-contained
underwater breathing apparatus.

COMPARISON
Never pass up an opportunity to compare the item being defined to a similar item that the reader is
familiar with. In defining a howitzer, you might emphasize its likeness to a cannon.

ILLUSTRATION
Drawings and diagrams are very effective tools for reinforcing definitions. A small, well-labelled
drawing would help explain the function of a carburettor, and "resistance" could be amplified by a
diagrammatic representation of forces in opposition.

EXAMPLE
The best examples are simple ones, as shown in the following discussion of resistance: "If a boy runs
through rooms with the doors open, he experiences very little resistance. If one of the doors is
closed, resistance occurs. The boy must stop and open the door or run right through it. Either
alternative will produce resistance to his movement." Effective examples also take advantage of the
reader's knowledge: a good opportunity would be missed if an amplification of weightlessness did
not refer to our astronauts' experience in space.

ANALYSIS
Analysis refers to the division of an item into its main parts. This method aids the reader's
comprehension by allowing him to grasp the definition bit by bit. For example, dynamics becomes
easier to understand when its two main parts, kinetics and kinematics, are discussed individually.

CAUSE AND EFFECT

Some phenomena are so elusive that they must be clarified in terms of their causes and effects. An
amplified definition of electricity would probably explain the interactions that produce it, and
magnetism might be approached through a description of the force it produces.
Successful amplified definitions generally combine several methods of amplification, the most
common being analysis and example. When writing an extended definition, you will immediat ely
identify a couple of applicable methods, and using them will lead you to other methods.
On the following pages are four student papers which will serve as models. The first two papers use
analyses and examples to amplify the formal sentence definitions. The third one uses an example,
and the fourth model relies on an extended example which gradually becomes more complex to
reach the uninformed reader. Examine the models critically, and offer your class suggestions for
improving them.

STRESS AND STRAIN

In engineering, stress and strain describe the conditions of a material
under varying circumstances. Stress is the material's resistance to
external forces, measured in terms of the force exerted per unit of
area, and strain is the material's change resulting from those external
forces. Every force that acts on a material creates a type of stress,
and each stress has an accompanying type of strain. The three basic
types of stress are tensile, compressive, and shearing.
Tensile stress occurs when a pair of forces act on opposite ends of the
material and attempt to pull it apart. The resistance the material
offers to this action is known as the tensile stress in the material.
Tensile stress is most easily demonstrated by pulling on the ends of a
rubber band. The type of stretching (strain) taking place in the rubber
band occurs to some degree in all other materials which are under this

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type of force.
Compressive stress results from forces pushing in on the ends of a
material. A simple example of a compressive force is pressure exerted to
push an accordion together. An accordion has only a small compressive
stress because the accordion bag offers little resistance to being
forced together. Reduction in the length of the material (strain)
accompanies a compressive stress.
Shearing stress occurs when a force acts downward on a material, causing
a piece of it to bend or break off. This type of force, known as
shearing force, is resisted by shearing stress. Shearing force and
stress can be demonstrated by slicing a loaf of bread. Although
amplified by the knife’s cutting edge, the force can still be considered
a shearing force. Like all other materials, the bread offers resistance
(stress) but tends to bend or break (strain) under such a force.

DYNAMICS
Dynamics is the study of bodies in motion and the effect of forces
acting on bodies in motion. Dynamics can be broken into two areas,
kinematics and kinetics.
Kinematics examines the motion of bodies without consideration of their
mass (weight) or the forces causing the motion. One can observe the
distance a body moves during a given time period and, by the use of
formulas, predict where the body will be at a later time. This type of
dynamics is very useful in the study of free-falling projectiles. When
the guns on a battleship are fired, it is possible to predict with
extreme accuracy how far the projectiles will go, and how long they will
stay in flight. In civil engineering, kinematics assists in the design
of curves in our highways; the engineer uses certain frictional values
between the tires and the pavement to find a degree of embankment that
can be safely taken at 70 miles per hour. The forces which cause the
motion of the projectile and the automobile are not examined in
kinematics.
Kinetics, on the other hand, considers the forces acting on bodies in
motion. For example, an automobile going slowly around a corner
possesses less inertia (the property of a body that resists change in
speed or direction) than the same automobile rounding the same curve at
a greater speed. The forces caused by the different velocities must be
evaluated even though the automobiles weigh the same. The design of an
aircraft also involves kinetic problems. The net wing area necessary to
lift the 747 Jumbo Jet was computed through use of kinetic formulas, and
so was the amount of thrust necessary to give the wings this potential.
Action-reaction forces (Newton's third law: for every action there is an
equal and opposite reaction) must be evaluated in order to get the plane
off the ground. Thus, kinetics goes one step beyond kinematics because
it deals with all aspects of motion, including kinematics.

AUDIO – VISUAL SYNAESTHESIA

Audio-visual synaesthesia is a perceptual effect which simultaneously
stimulates the senses of vision and hearing. Each sound sensation is
perceived as harmoniously interdependent with a visual sensation.
Synaesthesia is an art form which stems directly from technological
roots.. The advances in electronics have made possible the stimulation
of more than one sense at a time, and future technological advances may
allow the creation of a total perceptual environment.
One of the simplest devices for demonstrating the effect of audio-visual
synaesthesia is the colour organ. A colour organ is an electronic
circuit which converts the varying beats and intensities of recorded
music to a corresponding light display. The lights flash with the beat
of the music, and their brightness varies with the volume. Some colour

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organs have circuitry which displays the high tones of a musical passage
as one colour, the medium tones as another colour, and the low tones as
yet another. The overall effect of watching the display while
simultaneously listening to the music is that one can sense that he is
"seeing" the music, or "hearing" the visual display.
In audio-visual synaesthesia, two usually separate sensations are fused
into one harmonious perceptual effect. Synaesthesia may be the art form
of the future.

CHEMICAL EQUILIBRIUM
"Chemical equilibrium" refers to a unique type of reaction in which the
rate of formation of a product equals the rate at which the product
decomposes. All chemical reactions are, to some extent, reversible, and
to explain the quality of reversibility, a chemical equation must be
examined.
The group of symbols in a chemical equation represents elements (O-
oxygen, H-hydrogen, S-sulphur, etc.) and the nature of the product that
can be obtained from combining the elements. Much as the algebraic
equation has two sides separated by an equal sign, the chemical equation
has a reactant side and a product side. The reactant side represents the
elements or compounds (two or more elements chemically combined) started
with, and the product side represents the elements or compounds
remaining after reaction. The two fractions of such an equation are
separated by a modified equal sign known as a yield sign (→). The
following is a simple equation depicting the formation of water from the
elements of oxygen and hydrogen, 0 and H:

2H2+O2→2H2O
The symbols "2H2+O2" constitute the reactant side, and the 2H2O
constitutes the product side. In a reversible reaction, the reactant
and product sides may be interchanged without affecting the validity of
the equation. One can therefore begin with water and end up with its
components, hydrogen and oxygen; that is, water can be decomposed, or
broken down. Symbolically, this appears as follows:

2H2O→2H2+O2
To restate the definition of chemical equilibrium in terms of the water
equations, one can say that the rate at which the hydrogen combines with
oxygen to form water equals the rate at which the water reverts back to
its separate components of hydrogen and oxygen. The reaction is in
equilibrium.

2H2+O2 2H2O

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 EXERCISES
1. Write a 250-word amplified definition of a term (not an object) from your technical area. Begin with a
formal sentence definition, and use the methods of amplification which will make the word
meaningful for an uninformed reader. Try to select a term which does not require you to look up the
formal sentence definition. If you use other sources, however, give credit to them.

In industry, you will probably never have to write a definition of this length, but mastery of the
technique will prove useful in all reports. Some terms which might be narrowed to your field are:

fail-safe elasticity hypothesis compression objectivity

feedback gravitation potential functional form

2. Write formal sentence definitions of the terms below, assuming that your reader has no familiarity
with them. As you classify each item, avoid saying "is what" because those are not words of
classification. Also, narrow the class as much as possible by using modifiers; this will reduce the
number of words necessary in the differentia. Construct your differentia carefully: the function of a
formal sentence definition is to distinguish an item from every other item in the world.

profit algebra coordinates horsepower wavelength

revolutions per minute viscosity median friction

3. Select one of the items above and write three paragraphs amplifying your formal sentence definition.
The possible methods of amplification are explication, derivation, comparison, example, illustration
(visual), analysis, and cause and effect. Make sure that each of the paragraphs has a topic sentence
stating its central idea, and that your writing is aimed at an uninformed reader.

4. Working with other members of the class who are majoring in your technical area, select three terms
which are commonly used and understood in your classrooms or laboratories. As a group, write
formal sentence definitions of the terms. Then, ask the other groups to provide oral definitions of the
terms. The purpose of this experiment is to determine whether people in other technologies are
informed about terminology used in your technical area.

5. In class discussion, compare the following amplified definition of "stress" to the definition contained
in "Stress and Strain" earlier in the lesson. Ignore the "strain" portion of the earlier paper and
concentrate on evaluating the two papers' explanations of "stress." What methods are used to
amplify the formal sentence definitions? Are the methods used effectively? Should other methods of
amplification be included? Are statements in either paper unclear, misleading, or inaccurate? What
items would you include in an amplified definition of "stress?"

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STRESS
“Stress” as defined in engineering, is any resistance to external forces
acting on a member. Stress is measured by the force per unit of area.
Forces are expressed in kilogrammes per square metre, so stress is
produced in any member upon which external forces are acting. The three
basic types of stress are (1) tensile stress, (2) compressive stress and
(3) shearing stress.
Tensile stress is created when a pair of axial forces pulls on opposite
ends of a member. The result of this action is that the member tends to
stretch or elongate. This is known as tensile stress and is illustrated
in figure 1.

Compressive stress is produced when a pair of axial forces push on

opposite ends of a member, attempting to smash or crush it. This action,
known as compressive stress, is shown in Figure 2.

The last stress is shearing stress, which occurs when a force acting
downward bends or breaks off part of the member. This can be illustrated
by a bolt being sheared by excessive tensile forces on the two plates it
holds together (Figure 3).

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