Name: _____________________

Date: _____________

Formal Lab Report Guidelines

In general, the goal of a lab report is to document your findings and communicate their significance. A good lab report does more than present data; it demonstrates the writer's comprehension of the concepts behind the data. erely recording the e!pected and obser"ed results is not sufficient; you should also identify how and why differences occurred, e!plain how they affected your e!periment, and show your understanding of the principles the e!periment was designed to e!amine. #ear in mind that a format, howe"er helpful, cannot replace clear thin$ing and organi%ed writing. &ou still need to organi%e your ideas carefully and e!press them coherently. 'emember that a lab report should not ha"e any personal pronouns or informal language. (!. Instead of saying )*e found that+) say )It was determined that+) Also, a lab report should be in past tense, since you are describing what already happened in the past, when you performed your e!periment. ,ere is the o"erall format, in order of how it should appear in your report:

Title Page needs to contain the name of the e!periment, the name of the author, the names of lab
partners -in brac$ets., and the date -both of the e!periment itself, and when the report was submitted.. /itles should be informative -i.e. Not )0ab 12) or )DNA 0ab), but )(!tracting and Analy%ing DNA 3rom ,uman #ody /issues)..

Abstract is a short summary of your report, composed after the lab report is written. It gi"es an
o"er"iew of what happened in the lab and tries to persuade the reader to read the full "ersion of the lab report. It should only be a paragraph long -ma!imum half a page. and state briefly what was done in the lab, the hypothesis, general results and conclusion.

Introduction states the ob4ecti"e of the e!periment, and pro"ides the reader with
bac$ground information for the e!periment. 5tate the topic of your report clearly and concisely, and e!plain important things that are needed to understand the rest of the report. Example: /he purpose of this e!periment was to understand how combinations of resistors act as an e6ui"alent resistance, by testing whether e6uations for e6ui"alent resistance in series and in parallel are accurate. After stating your purpose in one or two sentences, continue your introduction -ma!imum 7 pages. and include in your introduction bac$ground information and theory, rele"ant previous research, or formulas the reader needs to $now. Do not repeat the lab manual, but show your own comprehension of the problem.

Materials and Methods are written in paragraph, full sentence form, in past tense. 5tate e!actly
what you did and which e6uipment and materials you used. #e specific8 Don't say )*ater was mi!ed with acid) but rather )9 m0 of water was mi!ed with 7: m0 of 9.: hydrochloric acid.) About half a page should suffice.

Results sections shows all your figures and data in one place. /here should be tables and graphs
here. a$e sure e"erything is labelled clearly and informati"ely. &ou can also ha"e a sample calculation here, if applicable. /he rest of your calculations should be in an Appendi! section, if necessary. Note that table headings should go on top, while graph headings should be on the bottom. /he headings should be informati"e, and tell the reader e!actly what the figure is describing. All your obser"ations should be recorded here, without analysis. Ie. Don't e!plain why you saw what you did, only what it is that you saw.

Discussion ; this is where you e!plain why. Is the most important part of your report. ,ere, you
show that you understand the e!periment beyond the simple le"el of completing it. (!plain. Analy%e. Interpret. All 6uestions posed in the lab manual should be answered here in paragraph form. &ou may also include your own analysis of the lab using the following guide: <. Analysis: *hat do the results indicate clearly= *hat ha"e you found= (!plain what you $now with certainty based on your results and draw conclusions. 7. Interpretation: *hat is the significance of the results= *hat ambiguities e!ist= *hat 6uestions might we raise= 3ind logical e!planations for problems in the data. a. >ompare e!pected results with those obtained. If there were differences, how can you account for them= 5aying )human error) implies you're incompetent. #e specific; for e!ample, the instruments could not measure precisely, the sample was not pure or was contaminated, or calculated "alues did not ta$e account of friction. b. Analy%e e!perimental error. *as it a"oidable= *as it a result of e6uipment= If an e!periment was within the tolerances, you can still account for the difference from the ideal. If the flaws result from the e!perimental design e!plain how the design might be impro"ed. c. 'elate results to your e!perimental ob4ecti"e-s.. If you set out to identify an un$nown metal by finding its lattice parameter and its atomic structure, you'd better $now the metal and its attributes. d. >ompare your results to similar in"estigations. In some cases, it is legitimate to compare outcomes with classmates, not to change your answer, but to loo$ for any anomalies between the groups and discuss those. e. Analy%e the strengths and limitations of your e!perimental design. /his is particularly useful if you designed the thing you're testing -e.g. a circuit.. ?. >onclusion can be "ery short. 5imply restate your results along with brief errors. 3or e!ample, @It has been pro"en that resistors in series combine their resistance according to e6uation < with an accuracy of <A.B /he conclusion should also discuss wea$nesses of e!perimental design, what future wor$ needs to be done to e!tend your conclusions, or what the implications of your conclusion are.

Appendices typically include such elements as raw data, calculations, graphs, pictures or tables that
ha"e not been included in the report itself. (ach $ind of item should be contained in a separate appendi!. a$e sure you refer to each appendi! at least once in your report. 3or e!ample, the results section might begin by noting: ) icrographs printed from the 5canning (lectron icroscope are contained in Appendi! A.) &ou may not ha"e any appendices as all your data might be included in the lab report itself.

Works ited is re6uired to show sources used in your Introduction and Discussion sections. Any
proper format is acceptable. Cse www.easybib.com ; it will do it for you8 Also note that you should ha"e embedded references throughout your lab. /he best way to do this is to include the source author and date in a brac$et at the end of the statement. 3or e!ample: 'esearch shows that sitting all day increases the chance of a heart attac$ by 79A -Dames, 7::2.. /hen, in your *or$s >ited section at the end, you will write out the full reference, with the names of researchers, institution, research paper title, date published and date accessed, etc. 'emember, if there are ? or more authors, state the first author listed and write )et al.), meaning )and others). If there are 7 authors, connect their last names with an ampersand, for e!. 5mith E Dones. /here should not be anything in your *or$s >ited that wasn't pre"iously referenced in the te!t of the report. Nor should there be something referenced in your report that does not ha"e a full listing in the *or$s >ited section.

It is preferred that you type up your formal lab report. If you choose to write it out by hand, ma$e sure it is neat, written with clear, large writing, and organi%ed properly. a$e your report presentable, so that all the pages are the same si%e and type, stapled together, along with your mar$ing rubric.