LabNotebookPolicyandFormatforChemistryLabReports

Tohelpensurethatyourlabnotebookiscompletedproperlyandthat
all
ofyourlabreportsareofhighquality,keep
thishandouthandyandrefertoitwhilecompletingyourlabreports!!
TableofContents
Savethefirst2pagesofyourlabnotebookfora
TableofContents
whichshouldbekept
current.
Afterthetableofcontentsuseapentonumberconsecutively
all
oftherighthandpagesin
thelowerrighthandcorner(iftheyarenotalreadynumbered).
ForallLabExperiments
Writelabreportsin
ink
(blueorblack)directlyintoyourlabnotebook
.
Cometolabpreparedtoworkefficiently.Beingunpreparedforlabistheprimaryreasonfornot
completingexperimentsina
knowledgeable
and
timely
manner.Hence,
beforecomingtolab
to
performanexperimentthefollowingshouldbecompletedinyourlabnotebookforeachlab
experiment:

Titleanddateofexperiment

Introductionsection

MaterialsandMethodsection

Resultssection
:DataTable(s)shouldbepreparedandreadytobefilledin
Beasneatandorganizedaspossible.Asyoubecomemoreproficientinthelabneatnessshould
improve.
Thepagesonthelefthandsideofthenotebookarereservedfornotes,quickcalculations,scratch
work,etc.Therighthandsidemustbeneat.Thelefthandsidecanbeasmessyorneatasyouwant.
Materialtobegradedmustappearonthepagesontherighthandsideofyourlabnotebook
.
Yourinstructorwillnotgradeanyworkthatappearsonthepagestotheleft.
Donottearoutoraddpagesdonotusewhiteoutorobliteratemistakes.
Asingleline,oranX,
throughamistakeisenough.

All
dataandobservationsmustberecordedininkdirectlyintoyourlabnotebookasyou
performtheexperiment.

LabReportFormat
Unlesstoldotherwise,usethefollowingformatwhenwritingupalllabexperiments.
Eachlab
reportconsistsoffiveclearlylabeledandeasilyidentifiedsectionswrittendirectlyintoyourlab
notebook:
I.Introduction/Purpose
II.Methods(Procedure)
III.DataandObservations
Presenttheexperimentaldataand/orobservationsinruleddatatable(s).
IV.AnalysisofResults
Calculations(ifapplicable)
Graphs(ifapplicable)
Discussionofresults
Answerstoassignedquestions(ifapplicable)
V.Conclusion
Followtheguidelinesbelowforthespecificcontentsforeachofthefivesectionsofthelabreport:

Dateperformed
TitleofExperiment
I.Introduction/Purpose
Describetheoverallgoal(s)oftheexperiment.Whatisitthatyouaretryingto
accomplish/determinewiththeexperiment?Thisisoftencalledthepurposeoftheexperiment.
Brieflysummarizeanyrelevantbackgroundinformationabouttheexperimentand/or

describethetheoreticalprinciplesonwhichtheprocedureisbased,includingallrelevantchemical
equationsand/oralgebraicequations.
II.Method
The"Method"sectiontellshowtheworkwasdone.Ifrequestedbyyourinstructor,clearly,
but
briefly
,describeinastepbystepfashiontheprocedureusedfortheexperiment.
Excessive
detailisnotrequired
,howeveracompetentstudentshouldbeabletofollowthegistofwhatyou
didandunderstandthepurposeofwhatyoudid.
III.DataandObservations

Recordneatlyanddirectlyintoa
ruled
datatable(i.e.madewitharuler!!)allpertinent
measurementsthataremadeduringthelabperiod.
Ifadatatableisprovidedwiththelabhandoutoriscomputergenerated,simplycutandpaste
itwitha"gluestick"ortapeintoyourlabnotebook.Donotuseastapler,asstaplesaretoobulky
anddonotholdwell.
Ifadatatableisnotincludedwiththelabhandout,usea
ruler
toconstructadatatablein
yourlabnotebooksothatalldataisshowninaneasytoreadtable.
Payattentiontounitsand
significantfigures
.

Donotattempttodiscusstheinterpretationofyourdataherethisshouldbedoneinthe
AnalysisofResultssection.
IV.
AnalysisofResults
Includeinthissectionallcalculations,graphs,analysisanddiscussionofyourresults.
Show
all
calculationsclearly,andwithattentionto
significantfigures
and
units
forthose
experimentsthatinvolvecalculations.Explainclearlywhatyouarecalculating...Dontleaveitto
thereadertofigureoutwhatisbeingcalculated!!Examplesofeachcalculationshouldbe
providedcorrespondingtothetablethatdepictsthatresult.
Youneedonlyshowonesample
calculationifthatcalculationisusedrepeatedlyintheanalysisofthedata
.

Graphsmusthaveadescriptivetitle,andeachaxismustbelabeledwithnameofthevariableand
theunit
.Usearuler!Rememberthatthecontrolledorindependentvariableisplacedonthe
horizontalaxisandthedependentvariableontheverticalaxis.Computergeneratedgraphs
from
LoggerPro
,
GraphicalAnalysis,
or
Excel
canbepastedintothereport.
Ifthereare
questions
assignedwiththelabactivity,answerthemclearly,butconciselywith
fullsentences
inthenotebook
.Numberyouranswersasthequestionsarenumberedandmakeit
clearto
anyone
whatthequestionisthatyouareanswering.
Ifnotaddressedintheassignedquestionswiththelabexperiment,analyzeyourresultsfully.
Afullanalysisoftheresults.
Stateswhatconclusionscanbedrawnfromtheresultsand
explainshowyou
arrivedattheseconclusions
,

Usesspecificnumericaldataand/orobservationsgatheredintheexperimentto
supportallconclusionsmade
,
Willattempttoexplainwhyresultsmightbeinconsistentwiththepredictions
youmade(whatyouthoughtwouldhappenbeforeyoudidyourstudy,basedona
specifichypothesisorotherbackgroundinformation),
Addressesthemajorsourcesoferror(
Beveryspecific!
)andexplainshowthese
errorsaffecttheresults,
Addressesproblemsthataroseinyourstudyandhowtheycouldbeavoidedin
thefuture,
Explainswhatyoumayhavedone,ifanything,toimprovetheexperiment,
Comparesyourresultswiththoseofotherworkersandcitesthereferencesused
forcomparisons,
Explainsanyexceptionalaspectsofyourdataorunexpectedresults,
Examinesyourresultsforpossibleerrorsorbias,and
Recommendsfurtherworkthatcouldaugmenttheresultsofthestudyyouhave
presented.
V.Conclusion

 Briefly,using
bullets
,
stateyourmajorconclusionsasclearlyaspossible.Usespecific

supportingexamplesfromyourresults.
Yourconclusionshouldrelatedirectlytothepurposeor
goalsoftheexperiment.
Useyourdatatosupportyourconclusions!!
Itis
not
enoughtosimplystateintheconclusionthat
youcalculatedasaltsdensityorasaltsheatofsolution.
Alwaysuseyourdatasupport/substantiate
yourconclusions
!!Forexample:
o
Densityofunknownsalt
:2.030g/mL(9.82%errorandstandard
deviationof0.402g/mL)Alikelycauseforthehigherthanexpected
densityandthepoorprecisionwasinaccuratemassdeterminationsdueto
thefactthatthesaltishighlyhygroscopic(i.e.Itrapidlyabsorbswater
fromtheatmosphere.)
o
TheclassaveragefortheDH
oftheunknownsalt
:34kJ/mole
soln
salt(8.3%errorandStandardDeviationof2kJ/molesalt).Themost
likelycauseforthelowerthanexpectedDH
washeatlosstothe
soln
surroundingsduetothepoorinsulatingpropertiesofthecoffeecup
calorimeter.