CHM111 General Chemistry 1

Criteria for Writing a Formal Lab Report

To pass this course, you must submit two formal lab reports written in your own words—
not a copy of your lab partner’s, the handout provided to you, or cut-and-pasted from the
Internet. Your lab report must be typed and submitted though Turn It In on Canvas. Formal
lab reports are due approximately two weeks from when the lab was conducted. They are
worth 200 points.

General Tips
 Be concise: In scientific writing, it is very important to say as much as is needed
while using as few words as possible. Lab reports should be thorough, but
repetition should be avoided. The entire report should be clear and
straightforward.

 Write in the third person: Avoid using the words “I” or “we.” For example,
instead of “I added 50 mL of water to a 250-mL beaker,” the report should read,
“To a 250-mL beaker, 50 mL of water was added.” This can be difficult to do, so it
is important to pay close attention to the wording.

 Use correct verb tenses: The experimental procedure is to be written as if it has

been conducted by just you, ignore the fact that you had a partner.

 Each section should have a section heading that is either bolded or underlined.
Please double-space your report. Do not use contractions or abbreviations.
Acronyms may be used, however, they must be in your report. Do not start
sentences with numbers (e.g., “50 mL of water was added.”) or abbreviations.

 Re-read what you write. Ask your lab partner to read your draft. You may discuss
the report with your lab partner or classmate, however, each student must write
their own report in their own words.

 Reports are to be typed in 12-point, double spaced, Times Roman font. They must
be submitted through Canvas’s Turn It In.

 Use APA Style for constructing your report.

1. Title Page
 Title of the experiment: Your lab report should have a descriptive title (not
just Lab 5). Avoid cute titles – just use something similar to the title of the
experiment.

 Names of lab partners: Your name should be first, and your partner’s name
underneath.

 Date on which the experiment was conducted.

 Title pages have running headers, as does the entire document. Be sure you
are following APA style!
2. Introduction
 Use this section to set the stage for what is to follow in the report by
giving a brief overview of the purpose of the experiment and the
experimental strategy or techniques used (without going into detail about
the step by step procedure). Giving brief definitions of key terms
associated with the reactions and techniques can be helpful.

 For interest, preface the report with brief background information. As an

example for the titration lab, what is acetyl salicylic acid and for what
purpose is it used? Be sure to include reference citations for your sources
of information.
 Some questions you should be answering in this section include: What was
the topic or purpose of the experiment? What types of reaction(s) and/or
technique(s) were being used? Why were these techniques selected? What was
the equation for the specific reaction that took place? What kinds of
calculations did you use as part of the experiment? What will the final
results tell you (i.e. why is the final result important to know in the context
of the experiment)? But you should not report the final results of the
experiment.
 The main focus of this section should be to help the reader understand
the purpose and methods, and to identify the reasons these particular
methods are being used.

3. Materials
 This is usually a simple listing of equipment used in the form of a bulleted
list, but it should be complete, detailed, and accurate. Graphics of more
complex setups may also be included if they would be helpful. If you use
someone else’s graphics, you MUST give proper credit to the original author.

4. Experimental Procedure
 DO NOT “COOK BOOK” THIS SECTION! It is neither a list nor is it
instructions on what to do—it is a narrative of what you did.

 This section should describe the steps of your procedure. However,

instead of just copying the steps word for word from the procedure
provided, you should write the steps in your own words. Since you are
reporting what you did in the past, you should describe the steps in past
tense.
 Write about what really happened, not what “should” have happened.
However, do not write any errors you made.
 You should report significant observations (e.g., color changes, gas
production, precipitation) in your procedure that would tell someone
repeating your experiment that they are successfully replicating your
efforts.
 Do not report any numbers in this section that would be considered final
results. For example: The final buret reading was recorded to two
decimal places. (Not “The final buret reading was 21.50 mL.”)
5. Results
 This section contains all the results of the experiment, including:
o Raw data organized into graphs or tables. Each graph, table or figure
should be labeled and titled properly.

o Do not report conclusion about your data – you should only state
the results (numbers, colors, etc.)

o You should report yields, statistical analyses, and description of the

appearance of any product you might have made.

o You must show representative formulas used for all calculations.

6. Discussion
 This section is the most important part of the report. This is the section
where the results are explained, and a student can show the instructor that
he or she has a thorough understanding of the concept of the experiment
and the results obtained. The main question to be addressed in this section
is “What is the significance of the results?”

 Explain the results in terms of the purpose. Do not recap the procedure. If
the original purpose of the experiment was achieved, explain how the
results show that the purpose was accomplished. For example, if the
purpose was to determine the percentage of hydrogen peroxide in a
commercial antiseptic, you can compare real percentage to the calculated
result from the experiment.

 Analyze experimental error: There is a degree of error in every experiment,

so every lab report should mention potential causes of error (usually 2-3
errors). Be specific about what caused the error. Was it due to the
equipment? Impurity of the sample? Do not include mistakes done by you
due to not reading the procedure or calculation error. Include the results of
your Q-test in your discussion.

 Explain how the methods could be improved. Once you have decided what
might have caused the error, you should explain how the error might have
been avoided. How could the setup be made more effective? Should you
have been more careful with measurements? How could contamination
have been prevented more effectively? Should more precise equipment be
used?
 7. Conclusion
This section should be only a few sentences. You should include the following:
a. An introductory sentence that restates the purpose of the experiment.

b. The most important conclusion of your experiment supported by

numbers from your results section (this may take 2‒3 sentences). I
should not have to look back at any sections to find data.

c. An evaluation of whether the overall experiment effectively achieved the

goal or purpose outlined in the Introduction section along with evidence
to back that evaluation.

8. References
 This section simply lists, in standard bibliographic format (APA Style), the
resource materials that you used in doing the experiment and preparing
the report. Internet sources are not acceptable, unless they are peer-
reviewed journal articles. Don’t forget about the procedure handout
provided by the instructor and any graphics or other sources that you use.
You must have at least one reference from a peer-reviewed article
demonstrating your background investigation into the experiment,
titration, aspirin, analgesics, or related topic.

The Grading Rubric will be posted on Canvas. Use it to evaluate your paper yourself prior
to submitting it.

The NVCC Woodbridge librarians have provided an online tutorial on how to write a
college-level formal lab report. The link to this tutorial will be posted on Blackboard.
You are required to watch this video and answer the quiz questions.

NO LAB REPORT WILL BE GRADED WITHOUT SCORING 100% ON THE TUTORIAL

QUIZ!