General Suggestions

• Write a neat report. You should ensure that all sentences are grammatically correct and that there are no mistakes in spelling.
• Organize your data in a data table.
• Carry units in all calculations.
• Reports should be typewritten.

Format Suggestions

The cover page of your lab report should include:

• the name and number of the experiment;
• your instructor's name;
• your lab partner's name;
• the date the lab was performed;
• the lab due date.

Sections of the Lab Report

Objective - the objective is the reason you are doing the experiment. Before you write the objective you need to know why you are doing the experiment. The objective should be stated clearly and concisely in your own words.

Apparatus - this section contains a list of the equipment that you used to perform the experiment. When possible, draw a diagram to illustrate the apparatus. Give the make and model number of the equipment where possible.

Method - this section includes a description of what you did. This should not be a verbatim copy of the instructions in the lab manual. You do not report any results in this section. Explain what you did clearly enough for other people to follow your directions to repeat the experiment. A step by step format is the best approach.

Data - this section is where measurements taken during the experiment are reported. Data should be reported in a clear and organized way. You may want to use Microsoft Excel to organize and analyze your data in a table.

Results and Analysis - calculations based on the data are presented in this section. You need to report all the calculations that you did. You need to provide the formulas used to compute your results. Be sure to compute the percent error. Be sure to provide a reference to any appendix used. Be sure to identify any possible sources of error, and provide a discussion of whether or not you feel the errors are reasonable.

Conclusion - in this section, you present your results and discuss your conclusions. Be sure to go back and reread your objective before writing your conclusion. This section should be short, concise and to the point. Your conclusion should be tied to the objective. Was the objective for the experiment met? State whether or not you achieved your objective.

Data Sheets - your stamped data sheets from the physics/chemistry lab should be attached to the report as an appendix.

Note: Refer to your Physics Lab Manual for more detailed information about writing physics lab reports.