Lab Reports: Formal lab reports for this course will consist of the following:

Format: 12-pt font, w/ 1.5 spacing (at least)

o Title Page
Title
Name
Name of Group Members
Section #
Date
o Abstract
Brief summary of experiment and lab report. It should be composed of
one or two sentences about each section of the report.
**Important: The abstract should include at minimum the objective of
the report and the key result(s) that support the objective/purpose of
experimentation.
The abstract must attract the attention of the reader without stating the
entire lab report.
o Introduction
Provide reasoning for undertaking the experiment (the big picture).
Describe background information and relevant concepts that would
help the reader understand the purpose of the experiment. This may
include equations, theories, or other related concepts. The background
information should serve as a transition point to provide reason and
logic to the experimental procedure, data, and discussions. This should
include an overall hypothesis, justification, and other reasons for
undertaking the experimental design.
Establish equations, diagrams for comparison, figures needed to help
elucidate concepts related to experiment.
What are the expected theoretical and ideal results? Do these vary or
are they relatively consistent?
o Methods
Describe to the reader the procedures performed so that experiment
can easily be replicated. This should include the materials, specimens,
equipments, procedures, calculations performed, etc
Write this section in paragraph form, not step-by-step bullet points.
There is no reason to give a stepwise account of the experiment that
includes which buttons to press or when to save a data file. You can
assume that the reader has competence in scientific experimentation.
Use judgment as to which areas of the procedure to omit based on a
relative understanding.
**Note: Be concise!
o Results
Present results of the experiment in an objective fashion.
This section should contain all graphs, figures, and tables created from
data collected during experimentation.

This section requires a written description to guide the reader through

the visual results. Describe the relevant trends and compare to
literature values.
**Note: Only put graphs, figures, and tables that will be discussed in
the Discussion section here. Also, compress multiple curves into single
plots if possible to save space and paper. Plot multiple sets of data on a
single graph if they are collected from a similar measurement or
technique.
If known value(s) were used for comparison, they should always be
provided along with a reference from which the known value(s) was
obtained. Lack of citation for reference values will be penalized.
If applicable, determine and report percent errors with known or
expected values.
***Note: Graphs, Figures, and Tables that are not discussed in the
Discussion section should not be included. The idea of this section is
to provide readers an explanation of experimental findings. Opinions,
judgments, or thoughts on the data are not to be included in the Results
section.
o Discussion
The first sentence should restate the objective of the report/experiment.
Tie the results that you presented back into your hypothesis,
justification, and background material.
What do those results mean? What sort of information/insight do they
provide on the subject matter?
Were there possible sources of error? How did errors affect the results
of the experiment and correlation to the proposed hypothesis?
What improvements can be made to limit sources of error and/or
improve the experiment? **Note: There is a difference in listing
sources of error vs. suggesting possible areas of improvement.
Are there other methods or techniques for measuring similar
parameters that are commonly used? What advantages or drawbacks
are there to the methods used?
o Conclusion
Summarizes the experiment and main discussion points. Similar
format to the abstract, but should focus more on the results and the
take home message for the reader.
o References
List all references used in appropriate scientific writing format.

Things to Keep in Mind:

- Lab reports should be organized with clear section headings (ex. Introduction,
Methods, )
- Page #s should begin on the first page of text (not title page).

Reference information that you did not obtain on your own. Internal references are
preferred over footnotes.
Do not directly quote and/or put quotes in the report. Rewrite everything in your own
words.
Use 3rd person when writing. Points will be deducted for continued 1st person writing.
Tense usage: For procedures/methods/calculations performed by you, describe those
steps in past tense since they are things you did. If you are describing/defining
information (such as background information), use present tense since these facts
already exist.
Figures/Tables
o All Figures and Tables must be labeled as Figure x or Table y in
ascending alphanumerical order if multiple figures and/or tables are present.
Figures should have label and caption BELOW the figure.
Tables should have label and caption ABOVE the table.
o Provide a caption along with each figure/table. Ex. Figure A: Stress Strain
Curve for Material X. If data from a reference is used, cite it in the caption as
well as the text. **Note: Check your textbook for other examples.
o Present information clearly and concisely. Ex. Fitting multiple curves on one
graph.
o Figures and Tables attached must be discussed in the text of the report.
o Do not group Figures and Tables into an Appendix section, all figures and
tables should be in the body section of the report.
Do not forget to include UNITS! Points will be deducted if units are not included in
Plots, Figures, Calculations, Tables, etc...
Be mindful of significant figures. If you report a value of Force in Newtons as
42.87014 this is incorrect, since our techniques do not have this type of accuracy.