General

• The bulk of your report should be word processed. However reaction mechanisms, derivations and calculations can be "neatly" written by hand and then scanned into your report.

• Include at the top of the title page:
  • Your Name, University Username & ID Number.
  • Title of the practical.
  • Dates of practical work & report submission.

• Plots must NOT be hand drawn (unless explicitly asked to do so in the laboratory script instructions for that experiment.

• Reports must be submitted electronically as a single PDF. Report submission requirements and deadlines are detailed in the Regulations section of this web-site.

• SHORT FORM REPORTS require you to demonstrate that you have performed all the required analysis and answered all of the questions. An "Aim", "Introduction", "Experimental Details", and "Conclusion" are not required.

• FULL REPORTS require you to complete a lab report as instructed on the remainder of this page. Note that for these reports the "Aim", "Introduction" and "Experimental Details" (together) must not take up more than one page - There may be a mark reduction if this limit is exceeded.

Style

Reports must be written in the third person, past tense, e.g. "the reaction was stirred".

Format

Reports should be presented as follows:

• Title
• Aim
• Introduction
• Experimental Details
• Results & Discussion
• Conclusions & Recommendations
• Appendix - Sample Calculations

Report: Aim & Introduction

Aim

This should be a single sentence stating the primary goal of the practical.

Introduction

The Introduction should consist of a short description of the experiment. This can include a summary of the main objectives or details of the principles behind the practical. If appropriate (e.g. synthesising a specific product) include a reaction scheme.

The Introduction should be no more than a couple of paragraphs long. This should not be copied directly from the lab script. If any additional information (from other sources) is used, this should be referenced accordingly.

Report: Experimental Details

This should be a concise account of the methods and procedures used in the practical, e.g. experimental procedures, instrument settings, (if not obvious) an explanation of how associated measurement errors were estimated, etc.

Aspects of the practical that are not explicitly detailed in the laboratory script should be covered in greater depth. This should not be directly copied from the lab script but written in your own words.

Each portion of the practical procedure should be written up as a separate paragraph - Do not write them up in the form of bullet points.

The procedure describes what you did and your observations - There is no need to describe the apparatus or general instrument operating instructions, just the minimum information about what you did to allow the experiment to be repeated.

For example if the lab manual reads:

• In a 10 mL beaker dissolve ~0.25 g copper(II) sulphate pentahydrate in 5 mL water.
• Stir the mixture and warm the solution to 40-50 0C using a steam bath.
• Using a Pasteur pipette add 50% NH3 solution until the intense colour of the copper ammonium complex is evident. Note: If a precipitate of copper hydroxide forms, add further ammonia until it dissolves.

You might write:

Cu(SO₄)₂.5H₂O (0.246 ± 0.001 g) was dissolved in 5.0 ± 0.1 mL warm water (40-50 ^oC) giving a blue solution. 50% NH₃ (aq) was added drop-wise to the solution. After the first few drops a pale blue Cu(OH)₂ precipitate was formed but this re-dissolved as increased amounts of NH₃ (aq) were added. After addition of ~2 mL of NH₃ (aq) the solution had formed a dark blue copper ammonium complex.

If the procedure was performed once: Key observations (e.g. amounts and observations) should be included.

If the procedure was performed multiple times: Include a general "titled" procedure (i.e. without exact quantities used and individual observations) in the "Experimental Details" section, with the results (referencing the appropriate procedure) in the "Results & Discussion" section.

Similarly, if the experiment generates a continuous stream of results/observations (e.g. temperatures recorded every minute over ten minutes), these should be tabulated in the "Results & Discussion" section rather than appearing in the "Experiment Details".

Report: Results & Discussion

Begin this section by (neatly) presenting all your raw data. The "Experimental Details" might just mention the mass of product produced, but all the weighings (i.e. empty sample vial and sample vial with product) should appear in the "Results and Discussion".

Graphs that you have been instructed to plot and spectra you have acquired should be included in the results. The graphs and spectra should then be summarised and discussed where relevant to the report.

Relevant equations and calculation results should appear, but intermediate calculations (showing your working) should not - These will be included as an appendix.

The remainder of this section should include all the analysis and all the answers to the questions posed in the "Analysis and questions" outlined in the script.

Answers should be phrased so that the reader does not need to see the question to understand what you have written. For example, answering the question "Explain why base was added to the DMG solution" by writing "During the experiment, base was added to deprotonate the DMG" would be acceptable, whilst "To deprotonate it" would not.

Make sure that, where appropriate, answers are justified/explained by citing relevant results or equations.

Report: Conclusions & Recommendations

Begin with a sentence stating whether the aim of the experiment was achieved. If not, cite the likely reason for this.

Follow this with statements of the key results or values obtained - One to two sentences.

In general, the recommendations should make suggestions to improve either the experiment or results - One to two sentences.

Recommendations should also include the answers to the questions the Practical Script indicates should appear here.

Report: Appendix - Sample Calculations

Sample Calculations should be collected in the Appendix (and referenced appropriately from the body of the report).

These should begin with the definition equation and include any equation re-arrangements, citing the actual values used, showing intermediate calculations/results and values obtained. Remember to include units throughout the calculations and demonstrate unit conversions. Example:

PV = nRT   =>   P/(RT) = n/V = Concentration
P = 101325 Pa = 101325 Nm^-2; R = 8.314 Jmol^-1K^-1; T = 25.00 ^oC = 25.00 + 273.15 K = 298.15 K.   Note: J = N m.
Concentration = P/(RT) = (101325 Nm^-2) / {(8.314 Nmmol^-1K^-1)(298.15 K)} = 41 mol m^-3 = 0.041 M

If the calculated value includes determination of its associated error, the workings for the error treatment must also be clearly shown.

If the analysis required you to perform the same calculation multiple times, you only need to show your working once - It is assumed that if you can perform the calculation correctly once, then you can perform it correctly again (with different numbers). The exception to this is yield calculations - Working for all yield calculations performed should be included in your report.

Make sure you show a sample calculation for each type of calculation performed and that your sample calculations are correct!

Samples

The links below provide access to samples of a good and poor lab report. When viewing the poor report you will notice that there is an option to show/hide the graders annotations - Each page will load without graders annotations and you should see if you can identify all the issues and areas for improvement BEFORE viewing the page with the graders annotations.

• Experiment Script
• Poor Lab Report
• Good Lab Report