Laboratory work is an essential element of this class that contributes significantly to your final grade for each grading period. For the most part your lab grade will be determined on the basis of the reports that you hand in following the completion of the lab exercise. To report on the lab that you completed you may be asked to complete a form (handout) generated by the instructor or you will, more likely, be asked to submit a written lab report.

The format for the lab report includes all sections that you may be asked to include in your lab reports. However, it may not be necessary to include all sections for every lab report. You will be instructed as to what to include in a given lab report when the lab is assigned. There should never be a time when more than one formal lab report is assigned in the same week.

Please pay close attention to the guidelines that follow, as a significant part of your lab report grade will depend on how well you adhere to the lab report format.

1. A lab report should be written so that any physics student at any school could read your report and understand what you did well enough to replicate your work.
2. Lab reports may be typed or handwritten. The text of a lab report is to be in black ink ONLY. The cover page, graphs, sketches, images, etc. may include color to increase its visual appeal. Type or write on one side of the paper ONLY.
3. Neatness, not only in handwriting but also, in the overall appearance of your lab report, is expected. If your handwriting is poor, I suggest that you type your reports.
4. Excluding the cover page, each section of the lab report should be prefaced with the section names.

The following sections should be included in a formal lab report.

includes the Title of the lab (An appropriate and descriptive title for the report.), the date that the lab was performed, your name, class name, period, and partner(s) name(s).

states the intended purpose of the lab in a few complete sentences. In other words it is a brief statement of what you are trying to find, verify, examine, measure, check, etc. It provides the overall direction for laboratory investigation and must be addressed in the conclusion.

states the physical concepts involved in the laboratory exercise.

Equipment:

1. list measuring devices, including the quantity that is being measured and the smallest scale division of the measuring device
2. a simple listing of all other materials used to complete the lab

Data:

A table that lists all the observations, quantities measured, and quantities calculated during the lab. Careless lab procedures and techniques will result in large amounts of error. Please use care and patience when collecting data to insure the best results possible (However, please note that some labs will have large amounts of error despite the best efforts of the experimenter.).

It is important for the data to be well organized. Units must be labeled. Take care with significant figures, which is determined by the smallest scaled division of the measuring device being used.

This section will include all graphs and analysis of graphs required to interpret the data collected in the lab.

Using proper problem solving procedures, show ONLY one example of each different type of mathematical calculation performed in the lab. To review proper problem solving procedures for physics click here.

1. Show calculation for percent error or percent difference and state your results (to learn how to calculate the amount of error in your lab; as well as, when to use which error analysis click here.).
2. State the acceptability of your results.
3. Discuss any possible sources of error that may have occurred when you were collecting data that would cause your measurements to be less than 100% accurate.

This section will consist of one or more paragraphs that relate the results obtained in the lab to the purpose of the lab. Here some comment should be made as to the "success" or "failure" of the lab; referencing the data collected during the lab to support your conclusions. Any questionable data or surprising results should also be discussed in the conclusions. This is also the appropriate place for any additional comments concerning the lab that you wish to add.

Answer any questions assigned by the instructor as part of the lab report.

To view a sample lab report click here