Format for Lab Reports

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Because you are telling a story, do not interrupt the flow of the narrative with lengthy Tables orGraphs. Shorter tables and graphs can be inserted into the text of the report. Those that are moreinvolved should be included in appropriate Appendices. Even though they are presented in anAppendix, the report’s narration should refer to these graphs and tables as well as their purpose.Tables should include a descriptive and informative title, with each column also titled, and eachshould be provided with a number. Each column title should include appropriate units ofmeasurement. Any variables used in titles should be fully defined within the body of the labreport. Tabulated numerical data should also include error estimates.Graphs should also be titled descriptively and be numbered. A title such as Density vs.Concentration is not descriptive. Something more appropriate might be Density of AqueousEthanol Solutions at 25 o C. Each of the graph’s axes should be labeled along with units ofmeasurement. Each data point should be distinctively marked and should include an error bar. Ifmultiple data sets are included on a single graph, each set should have a different marking and alegend of the markings should be provided. Graphs should be scaled so the bulk of the area isused for presenting data. Appropriate trendlines should be included along with a least squaresanalysis of the trendline equation parameters.What follows are some details concerning each of the above mentioned report sections. I presentan example drawn from the literature for most of these sections. Pay attention to not only whatis said in each example, but how it is said. Different Journals require different styles ofpresentation. All of the examples presented below are drawn from the Journal of PhysicalChemistry.TitleAppropriately title the lab report. The title should be fully descriptive of the presentation youwill be making. Don’t simply title a report Surface Tension Measurements. This begs thequestion; surface tension measurements of what? Something more appropriate might be TheSurface Tension of Aqueous n-Butanol.AbstractThis is a very, very short description of the experiment completed. It should not exceed threesentences in length. It should answer the following three questions:i) What was measured or determined?ii) How was the measurement performed?iii) What were the results?Only one or two key numeric results should be presented at this point. Any numeric resultspresented, however, should also include an error estimate.
The following example is fairly well written.What was determined: second hyperpolarizabilities. How were they determined: they were “calculated”.(A modeling program was used.) Some verbiage is also presented concerning the general results.IntroductionBegin with a short description of the purpose of the experiment and the relevant theory involved.Key equations to be used in the analysis should be presented in this section. Define all symbolsused in these equations; unless they are defined in the lab handout. This section should providean overview of the experiment and the key results to be determined.Notice how, in the following example, the author proceeds from generally applicable theory tospecifics concerning what will be presented in subsequent sections of the report......
Page 1: CHEM 331LPhysical Chemistry Laborat
Page 5 and 6: Results and DiscussionHere is the p
Page 7: ConclusionSum up your experiment an

Format for Lab Reports

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