LABORATORY PROCEDURES AND REPORTS

LABORATORY PROCEDURES AND REPORTS

Reports
A report will be due at the end of each lab period on the work of that period and it will contain the following:

a) Data: A legible list of final results of data taking.
b) Calculations: A list of the results of any calculations required plus an example of how each type of calculation was done.
c) Graphs: As required.
d) Summary: A brief summary of the success (or failure) of the experiment, usually no more than 2 or 3 sentences in length.

The first two of these items should be set out in neat tabular form if the lists are of any significant size (what constitutes "significant size" is ill-defined; when in doubt, use a table). Be sure to quote uncertainties properly with the right number of significant figures.
Ordinarily the labs will be short enough that the report can be prepared in the lab period. If individual or group problems arise with regard to this time limit, the instructor may extend the due date. No general rules exist for resetting the due date but early dates are more likely than late dates.

Procedures

One of the primary rules of laboratory work is that you touch nothing you have not been told to touch or use. Another is that you neither force a piece of equipment to do something if it resists nor do you repair equipment. In both cases you wait until the instructor or an assistant can help you.
Lab reports are worth 10 points each and failure to observe the above rules can result in the immediate loss of 1 point (or 2 points in extreme cases) for the lab report involved.
Failure to put lab equipment back in the order you receive it before leaving lab will result in the loss of 1 point for all lab partners involved.