Lab Notebooks and Lab Reports

One of the objectives in this course is to give you experience in conducting scientific experiments and recording your observations in a lab notebook. Copies of your lab notebook pages will be collected as part of your lab reports.

The first three (3) pages of your lab notebook should be left blank for a table of contents. All pages in the notebook must be numbered.

Each lab report will consist of: (1) a Pre-Lab Report, (2) an In-Lab Report, and (3) a Final Report.

I. Pre-Lab Report

The first part of each lab report is called a "Pre-Lab Report". This report is to be completed in your lab notebook. A carbon copy of the report is to be submitted to your Graduate Instructor during the first 10 minutes of the lab session. The Pre-Lab Report consists of the following:

	Title of the Experiment. This can be found at the beginning of each experiment.
	Purpose of the Experiment. A one-or-two sentence statement of the objective(s), goal(s) or purpose(s) of the experiment.
	Reaction Equations. Include balanced equations for all reactions that occur in the experiment.
	Limiting Reactant and Theoretical Yield Calculations. Only include these when you are performing a synthesis.
	Drawings of Apparatus. Only draw apparatus that is new to the procedure. For example, only draw a titration apparatus the first time you are performing this operation.
	Answers to Pre-Lab Questions. Complete any Pre-Lab Questions that are included in the experiment.

II. In-Lab Report

This report is also to be completed in your lab notebook. A carbon copy of the report is to be submitted to your Graduate Instructor before you leave the lab. The In-Lab Report consists of the following:

Data and Observations. Be neat while you collect data and make observations during the experiment. Make sure that each piece of information is labeled, and that your Graduate Instructor can easily see what data you have collected.

Sometimes, seemingly trivial observations can lead to great discoveries. Learn how to observe! If there is data to collect, you should put it in a table or a graph. Label all numerical values so that it will be clear to you later what they represent. Some examples of observations you should make during an experiment are listed below.

colored/colorless	shapes of crystals	odor
masses (volumes) of substances	opaque/translucent/transparent	evolution of gas
evolution of heat	formation (and identification) of a precipitate	unknown number (if applicable)

III. Final Report

The last part of each lab report is the "Final Report". In this course, there will be two different kinds of Final Reports. Most Final Reports will be short (two-page) project summaries that are submitted at the end of the lab period. For a few experiments, "formal" Final Reports will be required. The requirements for the two types of Final Reports are given below.

A. Lab Project Summary. This type of report can be either handwritten or typed, and is to be submitted to your Graduate Instructor at the end of the lab session. The lab project summary consists of the following:

	Purpose of the Experiment. A one-or-two sentence statement of the objective(s), goal(s) or purpose(s) of the experiment.
	Calculations. Sample calculations should be shown for each type of calculation required for the experiment. Calculations can sometimes be organized into a table.
	Results. Relevant data, observations, and findings are summarized in this section. Tabulation of data, equations, charts, and figures can be used effectively to present results clearly and concisely. Schemes to show reaction sequences may be used here or elsewhere in the report. Do not reiterate the experimental procedure in this section.
	Conclusions & Summary. A separate section outlining the main conclusions of the project is appropriate if conclusions have not already been stated in a "Discussion" section. A lengthy report, or one in which the findings are complex, usually benefits from a paragraph summarizing the main features of the report - the objectives, the findings and the conclusions.

B. Formal Report.¹ This type of report must be typed, and is to be submitted to your Graduate Instructor during the first 10 minutes of the lab session in the week immediately following the one in which you performed the experiment (unless otherwise stated). The formal report consists of the following:

	Title Page. Include: (1) the title of the experiment, (2) your name, (3) the due date, and (4) the date submitted.
	Purpose of the Experiment. A one-or-two sentence statement of the objective(s), goal(s) or purpose(s) of the experiment.
	Experimental Details. This section should describe what was actually done. It is a succinct exposition of the lab notebook, describing procedures, techniques, instrumentation, special precautions, and so on. It should be sufficiently detailed that other experienced researchers would be able to repeat the work and obtain comparable results. If the experiment is performed without modification using a published procedure, it is necessary only to provide an explicit reference to the source(s) of the procedure. For example, Colligative Properties of Solutions, Chemistry 12500 Laboratory Manual, Fall 2005, p. 3.
	Calculations. Sample calculations should be shown for each type of calculation required for the experiment. Calculations can sometimes be organized into a table.
	Results. Relevant data, observations, and findings are summarized in this section. Tabulation of data, equations, charts, and figures can be used effectively to present results clearly and concisely. Schemes to show reaction sequences may be used here or elsewhere in the report. Do not reiterate the experimental procedure in this section.
	Discussion. The crux of the report is the analysis and interpretation of the results. What do the results mean? How do they relate to the theory, as well as the objectives of the project? To what extent have they resolved the problem? This is the place to prove, in your own words, that you understand the concepts included in the experiment. This section should be written assuming the reader is not familiar with the experiment; however, note that you should not reiterate the experimental procedure in this section. In addition to analyzing and interpreting the results of the experiment, and relating the results to the objectives of the experiment, in your Discussion you must address all of the bulleted items listed at the end of the lab experiment.
	Conclusions & Summary. A separate section outlining the main conclusions of the project is appropriate if conclusions have not already been stated in the "Discussion" section. A lengthy report, or one in which the findings are complex, usually benefits from a paragraph summarizing the main features of the report - the objectives, the findings, and the conclusions.

¹Abstracted in part from: Guidelines for Preparing a Research Report, http://www.chemistry.org/portal/a/c/s/1/acsdisplay.html?DOC=education%5Ccpt%5Cts_rrguide.html (accessed June 2005).