Appendix A: Lab Reports

• Parts of a formal lab report

  cover page, intro/purpose, exp procedure, exp observations, results/calculations. discussion, questions (if instructed), conclusion, references
• introduction and / or purpose

  • theory and background
  • briefly what was done
  • equations used
  • purpose
• exp. procedure

  • the exp. was followed w/o deviation OR explain deviations
  • marks are not assigned, but are deducted if incomplete
• exp. observations

  • present all exp and original observations
  • include units!
  • tabulate data
• results & calculations

  • show a sample calculation
  • tabulate calculations
• discussion

  • compare exp results with literature
  • how did you achieve objectives?
  • OBSERVED errors
• conclusions

  • restate purpose/objectives - were they achieved?
  • exp findings regarding unknowns
  • effective? reliable?
• references

  • peer-reviewed, published sources
  • textbooks, reference books, journal articles NOT web sites
  • ACS format
  • marks are not assigned, but can be deducted