Ph 2305/2306 Foundations of Physics Laboratory Fall 1998

Coordinator: Professor Mark Pitt Robeson 309 231-3015 pitt@vt.edu

Preparing lab reports

Click here for graph paper

Click here for report cover form

Lab notebook
An important part of the laboratory work is training in keeping a laboratory notebook, which should be considered a permanent record of observations made in the laboratory. Careful attention should be given to the following:

• All observations should be recorded, even preliminary or unsatisfactory results. The code numbers of balances and other special apparatus used should be recorded.
• The following items should appear in your notebook for each experiment:
  1. Number and title of experiment, the date and name of your partner (if any).
  2. A brief statement of the objective of the experiment.
  3. Experimental observations and data. These should be neatly tabulated. Units of numerical data must always be shown.
• The above items should appear only on the right hand pages of your notebook. The left hand pages should be reserved for rough numerical calculations, balance readings, etc.
• Before coming to the laboratory, you should read the description of the experiment in the lab manual and enter the above items 1 and 2 in your laboratory notebook.

Laboratory Report
Your laboratory instructor may give you special instructions for the content and style of your report. Otherwise, instruction are given in the manual for each session. Pay attention to the following general guidelines:

• Required: a front sheet containing the title and number of the session, your name and that of your partner, date data were taken, the course number and section number, and your instructor's name. Print a report cover sheet accessed from the link at the top of this page.
• An introduction sheet giving a brief description of the experiment(s) and the procedure used for the measurement.
• Data sheets should contain your data in neat tables with the proper quantities and units.
• Calculations required to arrive at quantities derived from raw data should be shown explicitly, for a sample of your data. Any formulas used should be given, all symbols defined in words, numerical data substituted and the final answer written down. Be sure to indicate the proper units.
• If graphs are required, use the graph paper printed from these web pages or use a computer graphics package. Select a descriptive title for each graph and label each axis with the proper quantities and units. If the graph should be a straight line, draw a straight line as near as possible to the points. If the slope of the line is required, choose two distant points on the line (not plotted points).
• A short conclusion should be given summarizing the results of the experiment(s).