Overview
FORMAL LAB REPORT, General A formal lab report is required in conjunction with some of the experiments in each chemistry course. It is your chance to demonstrate to your professor or TA how well you understand the experiment and the chemical principles involved. A formal report is different than a term paper. It should be written in a scientific style, which is not the same style used for English or philosophy papers. The keys to effective technical writing are organization, brevity, clarity, and an appreciation of the needs of the reader. You must write clearly and be thorough, but concise. Do not ramble. The best way to avoid rambling is to first prepare an outline of the report and stick to it. Always use complete sentences. Bulleted lists are okay in a lab notebook but are unacceptable in a formal report. Formal reports must be typed. Use 1.5 line spacing, 1-inch margins, 12 pt font and 8.5x11 inch paper. Only use third person, past tense. Also, proofread well. While report sheets may be a joint effort, formal reports must be individually written. FORMAL LAB REPORT PRACTICE – Conclusion The purpose of the Conclusion section is to summarize the pertinent concepts discussed in the Result & Discussion section. Always begin your Conclusion by clearly stating your results and the “goodness” or significance of your results, and relating them to ideas presented in the introduction. In other words, if the objective of the study was to determine the percent calcium carbonate in an unknown sample, you should restate the percentage, with its uncertainty, in this Conclusion section. Important observations may go in this section as well. Discuss the significance of the results. When possible, compare your results with literature values. Discuss significant errors and suggest improvements to the procedure or possible ideas for additional experiments that could further support your conclusion. Then make a concluding statement(s) and relate your conclusion to the ideas presented in the introduction. Note: Stating that “overall the experiment went well” or that “I learned how to use a piece of equipment” are not strong conclusions. The conclusion is not to be a lengthy discourse. One paragraph (about four to seven sentences) is the amount to be presented in conclusion. Assignment: Practice writing a “Conclusion” section on the lab specified in the syllabus and submit on the date indicated on the syllabus. Should be typed in word document and submit electronically!