Mindanao State University

College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics

Department of Chemistry
PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY 1 (LABORATORY)
Summer, A.Y. 2014-15

by
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Name
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Course/Year
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Partner

Date Started:

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Date Finished: ____________________

Deadline Date: ____________________

I certify that this report is truly my own work: ________________________________
Signature
Rating Box:
Rating:
Introduction (20%):

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Materials and Methods (15%):

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Data and Calculations (15%):

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Results (Figures, Tables ) and Discussion (35%):

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Summary and Conclusion (10%):

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References (5%):

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TOTAL:

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Remarks:

Net Rating:

Mindanao State University

College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics
Department of Chemistry

PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY 1 (LABORATORY)

Summer, A.Y. 2014-15

_______________________________________________________________
Name
_______________________________________________________________
Course/Year
_______________________________________________________________
Partner
________________________________________________________________
Instructors

THE FORMAT OF A LABORATORY REPORT

At the end of every laboratory experiment, the student is required to submit a laboratory report. Deadlines
are specified on the lab notebook by your instructor. A penalty shall be imposed for late submission. Ten percent
(10%) will be deducted per day (maximum of 3 days late). If the report is submitted on the 4th day after it is due,
the student will receive a default score of 35%. Submitted reports must be received personally by your instructor.
No report shall be accepted outside the Chem office. Failure to submit all required formal reports will result in an
INC grade. The laboratory report should be handwritten and should at least contain the following:
IDENTIFICATION
All labs reports should have a front sheet (to be provided by the instructor) that gives: Title of the experiment,
your name, the course number and section, name of partner, and date of experiment.
Provide a concise descriptive title.
INTRODUCTION
In this section, the nature of the problem and why it is of interest is conveyed in the opening paragraphs. This
section should clearly describe the background information on the subject/topic and the objectives of the study.
State principles used in the experiment and use this as opportunity to write down any equations you will use in
results and calculations. Do not describe details of the procedure.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
This section should state the necessary materials, chemicals and instruments used in the experiment. It also
describes what was actually done , all written in the past tense. Procedures should not be simply copied from
the lab manual. Techniques and special precautions must also be included in this section.
DATA AND CALCULATIONS
Tabulating usually saves a lot of time and space and keeps the instructor happy. Include tables of all raw data
(except spectra). Printed graphs do not need to be full page but should be at least 1/3 page and label the axes
with appropriate units. Use a font size for graphs that is legible, but not so big that the plot area is compromised.
Tables and figures must be numbered and captioned. Figure captions are to be placed under the figure while
table captions are to be placed above the table. For repeated calculations, give one example and one only, in
full. The student will be asked to repeat the lab report for erroneous calculations. Note: you must attach a copy
of the data sheets from your lab notebook.
RESULTS and DISCUSSION
There is very little point in doing most of the experiments unless you appreciate the physiochemical significance
of the results. This section is the place where you tell the reader what the experiment was all about and what it
has shown (i.e. convince the marker you have understood the purpose and nature of the experiment).
ERROR DISCUSSION/ANALYSIS
This part can be included in the results and discussion section. For any quantity for which you have found a
numerical value, give an estimate of error limits. Do not propagate the errors in your calculations unless an error
analysis is required. Estimate random errors from observed scatter of data either visually, or by statistical
computation. List possible sources of systematic error, and estimate their limits (guesswork!). In general, don't
make the discussion too detailed, unless you are told that an error analysis is required for that experiment, but it
is good if you can identify the primary error contributor and estimate its magnitude.
CONCLUSIONS
This should include your major findings in a few lines. This section may not be necessary if you have them
clearly set out at the beginning or end of the "discussion" section. Be sure that you have answered all
questions in the text. Also, make any comments about the results, such as biological or chemical implications.

REFERENCES
(See the A.C.S. Authors Guide for further details on style and format of technical documents.)

Note on PLAGIARISM
DONT COPY OTHER PEOPLES WORK! Cheating or any form of dishonesty (such as falsifying
laboratory data, data fixing or fabrication, copying someone elses data or performing an experiment
without approval of the instructor) will NOT be tolerated and will result in a FAILURE grade at the end
of the semester.
Plagiarism is a serious offense which involves the use of another persons words or ideas without giving credit
to that person (Merriam-Webster Dictionary). Do not allow other people to read or copy your labs reports.
There are cases where it is acceptable to copy other peoples work, in which case you should note the
following:
a) If you wish to copy blocks of text from some source, put it in quotes and reference the source. You should
not do this a lot or you will be penalized for poor style. The source of material must not be another students lab
report or from a tutoring service.
b) If you use any source to assist in writing your lab reports make sure you reference those sources in your
write up. If you paraphrase the text from these sources, try to do it as loosely as possible (i.e. keep it close to
your personal style). If the paraphrasing is too similar to the original you may be open yourself to a plagiarism
charge. It is best to read two or more sources, close those sources and then write out what you understand of
what Youve just read. Again, the sources must not be other students lab reports, professors. notes etc.
c) You may discuss labs with other students and you may compare original data and graphs. At a pinch, you
can compare calculations to track down errors. Under no circumstances should you read or copy other
students lab reports (final or draft), that is considered plagiarism.
d) Do not copy other students graphs or tables either electronically or by Xeroxing. Producing your own graphs
and tables is an important part of this course.