CHEMISTRY 311L

NOTES ON RECORDING YOUR EXPERIMENT IN A LABORATORY NOTEBOOK

 Your laboratory notebook is the ONLY record of (i) your primary objectives in a given experiment; (ii) how you actually carried out the experiment (not necessarily how you expected to carry out the experiment); (iii) ALL of the observations you observed at each step during the experiment and (iv)  ALL of the quantitative information you need to analyze your results.  The information included in your notebook must serve as a stand-alone resource for another student or researcher to understand what you actually did and repeat your experimental measurements.  With this in mind, the following guidelines must be implemented for keeping a laboratory notebook: 

NOTEBOOK ENTRIES MUST BE MADE IN INK AND BE WELL-ORGANIZED.  EVERYTHING MUST BE WRITTEN IN THE NOTEBOOK … MISTAKES ARE CROSSED OUT BY A SINGLE LINE.

(1)    You must come into the lab with a pre-lab abstract that consists of (i) a brief (in paragraph form) description of your objectives for the experiment and (ii) answering any questions that you are told to answer in pre-lab discussion or in your handouts.

(2)    You must come into the lab with a RECOMMENDED procedure on how to carry out the experiment.  This must include any calculations to evaluate masses, volumes, dilutions, etc. that need to be done. 

(3)    SINCE IT IS NOT NECESSARILY THE CASE THAT WHAT YOU ACTUALLY DO MATCHES THE RECOMMENDED PROCEDURE, YOU MUST RECORD, STEP-BY-STEP, WHAT YOU ACTUALLY DO IN THE LAB (THIS IS WHERE MOST STUDENTS GO ASTRAY!).  THIS INCLUDES:

(a)     A sketch of the experimental apparatus that you used.  This sketch must include a description (ideally with make and model numbers) of each component and how the equipment was put together.  It should be sufficient for another student to reproduce the experimental set-up from this description.

(b)     A step-by-step description of what you do.  After each step, you must record ANY observations that you see or any numbers that are relevant.

(c)     An accurate record (with units and error) of any measurements you make during the experiment.

(d)     A description and sample calculation of “typical” data that you take during the experiment.  A complete and accurate record of any data that is saved to disk, including file name, the kind of data, and ALL experimental parameters that will be needed to understand how this data was taken.

(4) Sample calculations and "in-lab" plots should be included in your notebook.

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