Formal Lab Report

[Peter Drage]

Ok Ladies and Gentlemen of Phys106,

It’s that time of the year again where you have use a word processor and produce a formal report about one of your labs which you performed this semester. We have decided to no mark you lab diaries which for most of you will probably be good news and even better news for the TA’s!

We ask that you each produce a word processed formal lab report on the topic of your third experiment of this semester which was either Moment of Inertia or Magnetism and Induction. The due date for this report is 1pm Tuesday April 2nd 2013 and should be handed in with a front cover stating the title of the lab and both you & your lab partner’s name and student I.D.’s. If you worked alone for this lab then please make this known on the front cover with a statement along the lines of “I did not have a lab partner for this lab”.

Your report should be your own work which presents the experiment, the results and the analysis of those result and should be bound somehow (a staple will suffice). Please hand in you work by no later than the deadline by depositing it into the usual box outside the room in which tutorials are held.

On Monday 25th and Tuesday 26th April the lab TA’s will be up in the lab between 2:30pm and 3:30pm to help with any problems you may be having. This means that tutorials for that week will be moved to one hour later than usual (i.e. 3:30 – 5pm).

We encourage the use of the forum, and the TA hours offered including Peters office hour on Fridays 12-1pm.

And finally a few comments from the lab TA’s:

1. Make sure you include all proper sections (Title page, Intro, Theory....Conclusion, Bibliography).
   
2. The lab should be written with full sentences (no point form) and complete paragraphs, just as you would write an essay. The flow of your text should only be interrupted to introduce an equation, table, or figure (see the sample lab). I mention this because some people will, for example, begin their data section by dropping down a data table without first introducing it (again, see sample lab for style).
   
3. New paragraphs should be indented (just like an essay!!).
   
4. Sample calculations should take 6 lines each: 3 for the value, and 3 for the corresponding uncertainty.
   
5. Sample calculations should be in the Analysis section (not in an appendix) before you analyze the data.
   
6. Sample calculations must be typed using an Equation Editor so that it is typeset properly.
   
7. Use proper units and sig figs.

All the best!