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The lab reports are to be typewritten (Font-12 and Times New Roman is preferred,
margins 1 inch). Lab reports must include the cover page, the objective of the experiment,
theory/background relates to the experiment, materials for the lab, and the procedures (in
your own words), experimental results (including calculations), discussions and
conclusions, and reference(s). The report must be completed and submitted electronically
as a single “word file” to the Western Online class dropbox by 11:30 pm on the day of
the same week when the next lab starts on the next day (see schedule below). Lab
reports should represent the individual student's work. Discussion with your lab partner
and classmates on the report is fine, but you must not copy the content of the report from
your partner or any other sources. The format and the distribution of lab points per lab
report are listed below:
1) Cover page (5%): Must include the title of the experiment, course number, your
name (bold type), your lab partner’s name, instructor’s name, TA’s name, and date.
2) Objective (5%): State two to three sentences about the objectives of the
experiment.
3) Theory/Background information (15%): Require half to a page to summarize the
basics of how the objectives will be realized. This may include important reactions,
techniques or instrumental methods. It should not include procedures.
4) Materials (5%): List chemicals, reagents and their concentration, instruments
being used.
5) Procedures (15%): The details should be sufficient so that your fellow students
can read your report without any guessing. Any last minute change in procedures
or concentration during lab session must be recorded. Use your own words to write
up a lab procedure; do not directly copy the procedure from lab manual/handout.
You must use past tense and passive voice to write up your lab report (5% will
be deducted with the wrong format).
[Sample examples]
➢ “I collect the samples from the crime scene, place them in the bag, seal it, and
have my signature and date on the bag.” The format is wrong because the
present tense is used.
➢ “I collected the samples from the crime scene, placed them in the bag, sealed it,
and had my signature and date on the bag.” The format is wrong even though
the past tense is used because it is not a passive voice.
➢ “Samples from the crime scene were collected, placed in the bag and sealed,
and signed and dated by me.” This is the right format.
[Note] Avoid placing Arabic numerals at the beginning of each sentence.
➢ For instance, “0.6 g glycine was weighed out and put into a 100 mL volumetric
flask” is not a correct format.
➢ “Point six gram of glycine was weighed out and put into a 100-mL volumetric
flask” or “Glycine (0.6 g) was weighed out and put into a 100-mL volumetric
flask,” which is the correct format.
6) Results (30%): The accuracy/quality of your data will be graded.
➢ These should include tables, graphs and calculations, if any
➢ Tables and graphs should have self-explanatory titles
➢ Numbers should have appropriate units
➢ X and Y axes should be labeled