PHYS 2020 Lab Reports
You will turn in a written report for every lab. Reports are due at the beginning of the first class meeting following the lab. (For example, Tuesday's lab will be due Wednesday morning, Thursday's lab will be due Monday morning.) Here is the format you should follow. Write your name, the date the lab was performed and your partnerÃs name(s) at the top of the first page. Then include the items below.
I. TITLE: Write the title of the lab as given in your lab handout.
II. PURPOSE: Give a brief statement of the purpose of the lab.
III. DATA, OBSERVATIONS & RESULTS: Include your data (numerical measurements) and observations (qualitative measurements) in this section. It is usually best to put your data in a table to make your data easy to find and understand. Make sure you record your data with the proper units and significant figures. All measurements you make should be reported with your data. Observations should be stated in paragraph form, using third person or passive voice. It is best to avoid first person in technical writing. (For example, say, ìThe cart was released and accelerated,î instead of, ìThe cart accelerated after I let it go.î) You do not need to give an outline of the experimental procedure. Then include the results you obtained in the lab. (Note that often it will make sense to include numerical results in the same table as your data.)
IV. QUESTIONS: Any questions assigned for the lab should be answered in this section. Answers donÃt necessarily have to be in complete sentences, but they should include explanations and justification based on your measurements or observations in lab. ìYesî or ìNoî are rarely adequate answers for lab questions, but rather ìYes, becauseÃ,î etc. Please number your answers to the questions.
V. GRAPHS: Next come any graphs you are to do. Hand-drawn graphs must be done on graph paper, one graph to a page. Each graph should have a title, the axes should be labeled (including units), and it should fill the page. You should draw a best-fit curve (it may be a line or not) through your data. Graphs generated on a computer should also fill the page, be titled and labeled and have a best-fit curve. If you are going to read numbers off the graph, you should include adequate gridlines on both axes of computer-generated graphs. Note: With your graphs on individual pages you may put them as the last pages of your report.
VI. CONCLUSION: Here you interpret your results and explain their significance. This should be a direct response to the purpose of the lab that you gave in item number ìII.î You should include the justification ñ from your data, observations and results ñ that led you to your conclusion. In some labs you may be instructed to draw conclusions from only part, not all, of your results. In addition you should include a practical ìreal-worldî example or application of the concept or technique studied in the lab, and you should state the dominant sources of experimental error. Experimental errors are those things inherent in the design and execution of the lab that keeps one from obtaining perfect results. This is not human error or mistakes, but things that are part of the lab ñ like friction or instability of a meter. Make the effort to think through what the significant errors were. For instance, air resistance may have been present, but its effect was negligible.
NOTES:
- Remember to justify your conclusions with data, observations and results from your lab.
- You will lose points if you do not include proper units or significant figures.
- A small percentage of your grade will be based on your writing. Watch spelling and grammar.