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LabReportFormat

GENERALGUIDELINESFORWRITINGLABREPORTS
Alwayswriteinthethirdpersonpassivevoice.Say"Ifthelabweretoberepeated,"ratherthan"IfI
weretodothelabagain."
Writeinaprofessionalmanner.Becompleteanddetailed,butalsoconcise.
Yourworkmustbeyourown.Donotcopyorevenrewordsomeoneelse'swork.
Thelabreporthasfivemainsections:
1.Abstract
2.Observations
3.DataTableandGraphs
4.SampleCalculations
5.ErrorAnalysis
Detailsabouteachsectionareprovidedbelow.
FORMAT
Name:
TitleofLab
Partner
Date

1.Abstract
Theabstractisatwothreeparagraphsummaryofyourentirereport.Thepurposeofanabstractistoallow
thereadertoquicklyunderstandyourwork.Manyreadersonlyreadtheabstracts,soitisimportanttoinclude
alloftherelevantinformation,butinaconciseform.
Thefirstparagraphoftheabstractshouldinclude:
Thepurposeoftheexperiment(Goodpurpose:..tomeasuretheheatcapacityofcopperandaluminum
andcomparethemtotheacceptedvalues.BadPurpose:"..tolearnaboutheat.").Donotstartyour
abstractwith"Thepurposeoftheexperimentwas..."Insteadjustgetrightintowhatwasmeasured.
Abriefsummaryoftheprocedure
Yourresults,includingcommentsonaccuracyandprecision.
Afinalsentencecommentingonthequalityofthiswork
Thesecondparagraphshouldinclude
Listatleastthreethingsthatcouldbechangedtomaketheproceduremoreaccurateorprecise.Explain
whyeachchangeshouldbemade.
Exampleofagoodsuggestion:Ifthelabweretobearepeated,thesamplecouldbereheateda
thirdtime.Thiswoulddriveanyremainingwaterfromthesample.
Examplesofpoorsuggestions:
"Theinstructionsshouldhaveprovidedmoredetail."
"IshouldtimethingsmorecloselybecauseIletonetrialheattoolong."
"Ishoulddomoretrials."
ThethirdparagraphshouldansweranyAdditionalQuestionsthatareprovidedwithsomelabs.Youmayalso
usethisfinalparagraphtoaddanyadditionalexplanationspertinenttothelab.
Asampleabstractforasimpledensityexperimentmightread:
"Thedensityofasampleofaluminumwasdeterminedandcomparedtotheliteraturevalueof
2.70g/mL.Thevolumewasmeasuredusingwaterdisplacementinagraduatedcylinder,andthe
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masswasmeasuredonanelectronicbalance.Thedensitywascalculatedusingtheformula:
density=mass/volume.Theaverageexperimentaldensityof2.65g/mLagreedwiththeliterature
valuewithapercenterrorof1.9%.Thefourtrialshadaprecisionof0.13g/mL.Theseresults
indicatethatthisisaneffectivemethodfordeterminingthedensityofasolidsampleofmetal.
Ifthelabweretoberepeated,studentsshouldcarefullyslidethemetalpiecesdownthesideof
thegraduatedcylinder.Thiswouldpreventanysplashingthatwouldlowertherecordedvolumeof
thesample.Asecondwaytoimprovetheaccuracywouldbetofirstmeltthezincpiecesintoa
smoothsample.Thezincpieceshadanumberofholesandpitswhichcouldhavetrappedair
bubbles.Thiswouldincreasetherecordedvolumeofthesample.Athirdwaytoimprovethe
experimentwouldbetodrythemetalpiecesbetweentrialswithahairdryertodriveoffany
excesswater."

2.Observations(Ashortparagraph)
Example"Whencopperandsulfurwereheated,ablueflamewasseenatthetopofthecrucible.
Towardstheendoftheheating,theflamedisappeared."
Writethechemicalreactionthatoccurredaspartofthisparagraph.
3.DataTablesandGraphs
SampleDataTable

trial

T(oC)

0.2
50

0.5
50

0.7
100

1.0
100

yield(%)
averageyield(%)

25
63

60

80

85

P(atm)

SampleGraph

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4.SampleCalculations(onlyshowonetrial)
Thissectionshouldallowthereadertofolloweverystepofyourcalculationsclearly.Youshouldlabeleachstep
withashortsentenceorphrase.Onepossibleformatis:
Calculatingdensity

Calculatingthetotalvolume(FinalvolumeInitialvolume):
Calculatingthemass(TotalmassMassofDish):
CalculatingtheDensity(D=M/V):

37.2mL26.4mL=10.8mL
54.9625.80g=29.16g
29.16g/10.8mL=2.70g/mL

5.ErrorAnalysis(Showthecalculation)
Accuracy
%Error=|(ExperimentalAccepted)/Accepted|X100
NotethatthePercentErrorisalwaysapositivenumber.

Precision
Theprecisionshouldalwaysrefertoone(andonlyone)measurementinthelab.Itshouldbetheitemyou
saidyouweregoingtomeasureinthefirstsentenceofyourabstract.Forexample,inthesampleabstract
given,yourrangewouldbetherangeofthedensitiesofaluminummeasuredinthetrials.
Range=HighestValueLowestValue

Remembertoalwayscomparethesizeofyourrangetothesizeofthenumbersbeingmeasured.Forexample,
1.5isasmallrangeifyouaremeasuringtheboilingpointofwater,100oC.However,1.5isalargevalueifyou
aremeasuringanaccelerationof3.3m/s2.

APPENDIX:KEEPINGAPROPERLABNOTEBOOK
OntheCover
Yourname
A.P.Chemistry
Room214,Mr.Fredericks
CenteredontheFirstPage
Yourname
A.P.Chemistry
Room214,Mr.Fredericks
August2011toJune2012
OntheSecondPage
TableofContents
Listthenameofallofthelabsandthepagenumbersinyournotebook(numberyourpageswhenyou
gettime.)
GeneralRules
Youmustsignanddatethetopofthepagewheneveryoustartanewlab.Usethefirstlineandthe
upperrighthandcorner.Ifyouarecontinuingfromapreviousday,signanddatethefirstlinewhere
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yourightnewinformation.
AllwritingmustbeinPEN.Pencilsarenotallowedinformallabnotebooks.
Norecopying.Allinformationistakeninthelabbook.Donottakeinformationonscrappaperand
transferitlater.
Bothpartnersareresponsibleforcopyingallinformation.Noexcuses.
Useasinglelinecrossout.Donotscribbleorcolorinbadinformation.Youmustbeabletoreadeven
crossedoutinformation.

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