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CSUMB Important Laboratory Information |
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LAB
NOTEBOOKS |
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Use of whiteout or ink eradicator is impermissible.
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| You are not permitted to work from the lab text; hence you must have your notebook ready before undertaking an experiment. I will inspect it at the beginning of the lab session to verify that an acceptable protocol for the experiment has been entered, and may suggest changes. |
| ALL data and observations are to be recorded IN INK directly in the notebook. |
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A suggested NOTEBOOK format is indicated below. |
| see additional information on lab notebooks
by Dr. James Chickos at U Missouri St. Louis at http://www.umsl.edu/~orglab/documents/notebook.htm |
| flow chart sample
by Daniel A. Strauss at San Jose State http://www.chemistry.sjsu.edu/straus/EXPTF%20htms/EXPTF%20FlowDiagram.htm |
| http://www.chemistry.sjsu.edu/straus/Bloopers%20htms/BloopersMain.htm funny -- and not so funny! |
| Keeping a
notebook by Dan Strauss at San Jose State http://www.chemistry.sjsu.edu/straus/Course%20Materials/Handouts/Notebook.pdf |
| Recording
observations by Dan Strauss at San Jose State http://www.chemistry.sjsu.edu/straus/Course%20Materials/Handouts/RecordingObsv.htm |
| Proper
grammar by Dan Strauss at San Jose State http://www.chemistry.sjsu.edu/straus/Course%20Materials/Handouts/Grammar.htm |
| The
Laboratory Notebook by Roberta W. Kleinman at Lock Haven University of
Pennsylvania http://www.lhup.edu/~rkleinma/Chem205/205Notebook.htm |
| Dr. Cal's
Guide to Good Laboratory Practice by Cal Chany at Rush Presbyterian St. Luke's Medical Center, Chicago [site is at the University of Illinois at Chicago] has great information on organic lab notebooks, reports,and general principles http://tigger.uic.edu/~magyar/Lab_Help/lghome.html |
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Page # |
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Title Including Chapter # & Expt. # |
| PURPOSE: A brief description of what you are trying to accomplish and why |
| Overall EQUATION / REACTION: To enable stoichiometry to be calculated as well as for better understanding of what’s happening. |
| PROCEDURE: Written, not photocopied, in a way that you can actually work from it; not necessarily a verbatim transcript of what’s in the text. Need not be grammatically complete. Include cleanup directions. I recommend including a flow chart. |
| DATA & OBSERVATIONS: times, quantities: mass, volume, temperatures, [ ], etc., hopefully recorded in some organized fashion. Color & other obvious changes, deviations from established procedure, etc. should be noted. |
Lab reports should be word-processed or written
neatly in ink and are due by the dates indicated in the syllabus/ green sheet.
Proper spelling, grammar, and punctuation are essential. The following
format should be used:
Title including Chapter # and Experiment
#
Abstract A brief statement of what was actually done. NOT the same as the purpose of the experiment. Concisely inform the reader of the nature of the experiment and your salient findings in about 30 to 80 words [two to four sentences]. Strive for the middle ground between vague generalities and excessive specificity. Avoid the use of "I" [use of the passive voice is strongly recommended]. Although this section comes at the beginning of the report, it should be the last portion actually written.
“The
proper ways to prepare for, conduct, record, and write up laboratory experiments
were explained to students. It was observed during the subsequent lab session
after this explanation that only 11% of the students complied with these
instructions. Those who did not experienced substantial reductions in grades.”
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another great example of a report including abstract,
introduction, procedures, results, and discussion is |
Procedure
(Cite a reference, e.g.
“Refer to Pavia et al., pp 55-57”.)
It is NOT necessary to rewrite the entire procedure, but any deviations from
that procedure as published should be noted.
Results: A paragraph or so summarizing the essentials of your data, with reference to the next sections.
Data (preferably
in tabular form if possible) Cite
literature reference values where appropriate. Not every item as shown below
will necessarily be applicable.
REAGENT/COMPOUND
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formula/structure |
f.w. |
mp, oC |
bp, oC |
sp.gr. |
mL used |
g used |
moles
used |
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benzoic acid |
C6H5CO2H |
122.12 |
122 |
--- |
--- |
--- |
1.22 |
0.010 |
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methanol |
CH3OH |
32.04 |
--- |
65 |
0.787 |
10.0 |
7.87 |
0.246 |
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conc. sulfuric acid |
H2SO4 |
98.08 |
--- |
290 |
1.84 |
0.05 |
0.092 |
0.009 |
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PRODUCT
OBTAINED |
FORMULA |
f.w. |
appearance |
odor |
yield, g |
% |
obs |
lit |
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methyl benzoate |
C6H5CO2CH3
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136.15 |
colorless
liquid |
not
bad |
0.98 |
72.1 |
199-201 |
198-200 |
Calculations
e.g., how
% yield was computed.
Discussion Show the reader
the relationship of the results obtained to those expected in light of the
theory, including whether the basic premise of the experiment was satisfied.
List reasonable sources of error and their contribution to any deviations from
the expected outcome. A final paragraph summing the overall results and
discussion is
desirable.
“The yield was kind of sucky because
the idiot at the
next bench
lent me a flask that was wet.”
<NOT
recommended!>
"The infrared spectrum confirmed the presence of the C=O stretch at 1695 cm-1
and the C-O stretch at 1050 cm-1, and a monosubstituted benzene ring
was indicated by the strong peaks at 680 and 750 cm-1. Both aliphatic
and aromatic C-H peaks were evident. These observations are all consistent with
what would be expected from the proposed structure."
<much better>
References [where appropriate] A list of texts,
articles, web URLs, etc. used as sources of information in performing the
experiment and/or writing the report.
© Ronald W. Rinehart, 2003