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Laboratory Report Format for Physics

All formal lab reports should be clearly written in either black or blue ink or they should beword-processed. They should be neat and easy to read. Lab reports are an important partof your grade. They constitute as much as one third of your grade during the secondmarking period. Formal Lab Reports are worth 20 pts.

The writing style for lab reports is report style. This means that you should be impersonaland factual. Opinions based on analysis of the data can only be expressed in the Analysisof Data section of the report. Opinions should not be expressed anywhere else in thereport. Your feelings about the lab are not part of a report. You can express them as anaddendum at the end of the report if you wish.

Start with a title that gives the reader some idea as to what principal was beinginvestigated. Titles should be approximately three to five words in length. They should notbe a complete sentence.

I Purpose: Your purpose statement should be one or two sentences and should tell thereader what the independent and dependant variables were for the lab where appropriate.

The purpose should what relationship was being investigated. For example, in the first labthat we did, you might say; To determine the relationship between position and time for acart moving on an inclined plane. Or To analyze the graph of position vs. time for a cartmoving on an inclined plane. The purpose is important and if omitted will cost you 2-3points on your grade for the lab.

II Procedure: This can also be referred to as Methods. It is a brief description of thesteps involved in collecting the data. It can include diagrams or sketches that illustrate theprocess. Hand drawn sketches with cartoons and faces are always appreciated.

III Data: This section contains tables of values collected in class and graphs constructedfrom the data collected. It should also include calculations, such as slope, percent error,etc., that need to be made in order to analyze the data.

IV Analysis: This section is divided into three sections.

A) Theoretical Analysis. This is where the student explains the underlying physicsprinciples that need to be understood in order to make sense out of thelaboratory investigation. It can include force diagrams and mathematical stepsneeded to analyze systems. Normally, this information is covered in class shortlybefore the lab investigation is conducted. Taking good notes in class becomesimportant to writing a good theoretical analysis. The textbook is also a goodresource of obtaining information needed to write a good coherent analysis.

B) Analysis of Errors: This section is usually both a qualitative and quantitativeanalysis of the various types of errors that affect the data being collected.Students need to carry their explanation of error into their calculations of data.

For example, if a timing error for a cart moving on a surface is made, then thevelocity being calculated will be affected. Students need to explain how an errorin timing in a given direction affects the velocity, etc.

C) Analysis of Data: This is where students interpret the data collected and formvalid generalizations based on the interpretation of that data. Analysis of dataalways ends with generalizations made as conclusions based on datainterpretation.

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