FORMAL LAB REPORTS

You will be working in groups. You are expected to work together in the analysis, however, you must write your own lab report. (This includes tables and graphs).

Text Format

1. Text must be typed.
2. Data tables must be typed.
3. Double Space the text in the lab report.
The lab should be written in "past-tense".

Acceptable "We calibrated the oscilloscope after we took data."

Unacceptable "We calibrate the oscilloscope after we take data."

Lab Report Outline

Lab Report Content

1. ABSTRACT
   The abstract must be on a separate page by itself. It should be a short paragraph that contains the following:
   1. clear, consise statement of purpose
   2. what the experiment did to study the issue
   3. summary of results - this includes quantitative results (numbers)

      The abstract should be self-contained. For example, it should not refer to figures or graphs in the report.

   4. DISCUSSION OF BACKGROUND
      1. Provide explanation on background physics as found in places such as:
         • lab write-up
         • text books, library books
         • instructor's lecture
         • include references as necessary
      2. Provide discussion on how your experiment explores these ideas and principles and/or tests some theory. Answer the questions; Of what relevance is this specific lab to these general ideas?, How will these ideas be studied and/or tested?

   5. PROCEDURE
      This section should be brief
      1. Like the rest of the report, this section must be a narrative (versus a "recipe" or list).
      2. describe the apparatus
         Write this as if the reader has not seen the lab. References to the lab manual are allowed, but, as with all of the report, use your own words.
      3. Discussion of sigificant deviations from the procedures in the lab manual or deviations from procedures given by the instructor, or innovations introduced by the experimenter
         This must include justifications for these changes.

   6. RESULTS & ANALYSIS
      This is the mosts important section of the report. Most of your effort should go into writing this section.
      1. discussion of data
         • Verbally present the data found in your tables and figures to the reader. That is, introduce every single table and figure by number. State what the table or figure includes.
         • Relate these data to the goals of the experiment and background ideas being studied. Address such issues as how the data compare to what you expected to see from your understanding of relevant concepts and theories. Reference tables and figure specifically by table and figure numbers.
         • Include a discussion of the sources of uncertainty in your data and results. This discussion must address the uncertainty in your measurements (which are listed in the data tables). Comments about uncertainty in your results must be supported by the data (rather than simply specualtion on such things as friction or "human error".)
      2. address any specific questions from the manual or instructor and enumerate them where appropriate
      3. include equations and calculations where appropriate
         Lengthy calculations are better suited to the data section or an appendix.
      4. Contradicting statements are not acceptable.
         One should read over the report after it is written and look for contradicting statements and resolve them in a new draft.
      5. Any conclusions about the experiment need to address the data.
         1. address the data specifically: "From our measurements of period for different amplitudes, listed in table xxx, (and/or plotted in figure xxx), we conclude..."
         2. state explicitly how you draw your conclusions from the data:
            "That the period depends on the length can be seen in table xxx, where the period varies from xxx to xxx while the length is changed from xxx to xxx..."
            or
            "From figure xxx one can see that the period depends on the length. In the figure one can see the period is smaller for smaller lengths. Furthermore the dependence is non-linear as can be seen by the trend..."
         3. It is acceptable and proper to discuss ideas not addressed by the data as long as their relevance is made clear:
            "One would expect that air friction would have an effect on the period. We suspect that different geometries and mass densities of the pendulum bob will be effected by friction according to..." "We were not able to draw any significant conclusions about friction from our data. As can be seen in table xxx, we used only two different masses, both of which have the same radius. Their masses did not differ enough to measure the predicted differences in the periods (xxx s) given the errors shown in the table."
         4. When comparing two numbers refer to the comparrison as percent difference or discrepancy. Percent error is not acceptable.

   7. SUMMARY
      Summarize the lab and the most important results as they relate to the stated purpose. Everthing in this paragraph must already have been stated in earlier sections of the report. Add no new information in this section. The summary can be done in a short paragraph.

   8. DATA, GRAPHS & TABLES
      Follow all guidlines for Data, Tables and Graphs

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      1 POINT WILL BE SUBTRACTED FOR THE FOLLOWING REASONS

      1. excessive verbiage: In technical writing it is inappropriate to be less than clear, complete and consise. It is difficult to read and obtain information from technical writing, so including flowery language or excessive words can be distracting and misleading.
      2. statements made, which are not supported by the data
      3. statements made, which use invalid arguments
      4. statements made about results, but without reference to the data. For example, statements about trends seen in a plot of the data. The author needs to explicitly explain how the data follows a trend by referencing the plot and supporting data. Do not leave it to the reader to make connections between your statements and your data.
      5. contradicting statements - whether they are explicit in the text or deducible from reading the text
      6. specific questions assigned by the instructor left unanswered
      7. idle speculation on sources of error and uncertainty (i.e., statements about error need to be backed up by data and/or error analysis)
      8. reference to tables or figures without using the table and figure numbers
      9. tables and figures which are not referred to in the text
      Please note that is is possible to have more points deducted than the lab is worth.

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      1 POINT WILL BE ADDED FOR THE FOLLOWING REASONS

      1. Significant observations not called for in the manual or by the instructor, but supported by the data and relevant to the goals of the experiment
      2. Proposals for a better experiment. These must address issues of significant improvements on the method use and/or equipment. They must include details on how and why the proposal is a significant improvement.