Expert answer:Laboratory Report Format
The laboratory report will be broken into eight sections as follows:
Cover Page. This page precedes the body of the report and details who
authored the report, the title of the experiment, the date that it was
performed and the names of the laboratory group members. Each
student will turn-in their own laboratory report.
Abstract. This summarizes, in general terms, what was accomplished in
the laboratory experiment. The abstract will be no more than a half page
long.
Objective: This portion of the report indicates, in a brief and succinct
manner, what the goal of the experiment is. The objective should be no
more than one or two sentences in length.
Theory: This section provides the mathematical formalism pertaining to
the stated problem that will be used to analyze the experimental
observations. Completing this section is not just a matter of transcribing
formulas, but in addition provides an explanation of why these particular
formulas were used. Appropriate mathematical derivations are typically
moved to the Appendix section.
Procedure: This section carefully describes in the experimenter’s own
words, the manner in which the laboratory exercise was performed from
start to finish. Include all relevant circuit diagrams. (There should be at
least one schematic accompanying each laboratory report.)
Results and Analysis: This is the heart of the report. Information on
what was measured and how the measurements were taken belong in
this section. Tables, charts and graphs must be properly labeled with
units specified. Sample calculations and mathematical derivations will be
included in this section as well.
Conclusions: This summarizes the key points of the laboratory exercise
by enumerating what statements can be made that are supported by the
“Results and Analysis” section. Sweeping generalities such as “I learned
a lot from this experiment.”, “This laboratory was helpful in helping me
understand the theory.” or “Human error was responsible for the
inaccuracies encountered in the data,” are meaningless statements.
Appendix: This section contains reference material that would interrupt
the flow of the report if contained in the main text.Equipment: Name, model and manufacturer of the equipment,
which was used in your experiment.
Derivations: Lengthy derivations of equations used in the analysis.
Pre-laboratory Exercises: If a pre-laboratory section has been
included in the laboratory experiment and/or additional
questions are given in the laboratory exercise, answers to these
questions are to be appended to the report.
