Overview
Abstract
• Must be on the first page. • Only one paragraph, no longer than 250-350 words. • First part: purpose of experiment in student’s own words. • Second part: theories explored. • Third part: summary of procedures. • Fourth part: results obtained. • Fifth part: Restate the hypothesis and whether it was accepted/rejected OR restate the objective (if there was no hypothesis) and whether it was achieved or not. • Must be written in third person past tense. Do not us “he”, “she”, “we”, “the student”,
Introduction • Must be on the second page. • Should be at least one page long. • First Sentence: purpose of experiment in student’s own words. • Last Sentence: hypothesis or objective. • In-Between Sentences: o Definitions of concepts explored. o Relevant chemical reactions should be included and explained. o Relevant equations. Here you can explain the equations to be used in the Calculations section, but do not explain how the calculations will be performed (e.g., the mass was divided by the molar mass).
Materials and Methods 1. Summarize the procedures of the experiment in paragraph form. Use enough detail that it could be replicated by another scientist, but do not list all the materials and procedures. 2. Must refer to the experiment handout: title, website, or book where was printed from. Remember edition and page#. Must note all the changes made to the procedures. If none, note that there were no changes made.
Results • Data values and calculated results must be typed and listed in tables. All values must include the correct number of significant figures and units. • Tables must be numbered and must have a title. • Graphs: o must be done in Excel. Do not copy and paste them from LoggerPro. o background must be white. o must have a title and each axis must be labeled appropriately. o include the equation of the line and correlation coefficient (R2) when showing linear trends. • Excel spreadsheet. Calculations • Write a detailed “step by step” for the first trial of your experiment, either using Microsoft equations or Excel tables. • You can write or tabulate the rest of the results.
Discussion • Should be at least 1.5 pages long.
•Relate the theories and the results:“how were the theories evident?”Note that results can never disproveatheory.
• What not to do: o Do not re-state procedures since they have their own section. o Do not re-state results without analyzing/explaining them.
Conclusion • Do Not restate the purpose. It is a conclusion of your results. • Hypothesis accepted or rejected, or objective achieved. • Include a minimum of one experimental source of error. Do not mention human errors. • Include at least one improvement. Do not mention “more trials” as an improvement.