How to write a lab report?

Foreword: This is a simple guide to the students on how to write a lab report. The experiment is
very simple but the students should pay attention to the way how a report should be prepared.
The following guide presented with the basic requirements of a lab report.

1. Title page consists of a title of the experiment names of the leader and group members.
Title: The magnetic force of three different magnets
Note: Make sure the title is not too length or more than 10 words. The title must reflect
the contents of the report.

2. Aim and objective of the experiment.

The aim of the experiment is to: suggest which magnet with the strongest magnetic force suitable to be made into a
screw driver magnetic property.
The objective of the experiment is to: investigate the magnetic force of the three types of magnets made of three different
unknown materials. These materials are named as Material A, B and C.
Note: Try to differentiate the ultimate aim and the objective so the current experiment.
The aim is on the applicability of the experimental results with societal and community
benefits.

3. Methodology: Experiments setup and design

a. Use the same size of magnet of the same length, width and height.
b. Use three magnets of different materials.
c. Repeat experiment 3 times and the results were calculated in mean and the standard
deviation (SD).

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Material A

Material B

Material C

Variables of the experiment:(i) Constant variable is the size of the magnet, same types pins used and same test area.
(ii) Control variable is the magnet of different types of material.
(iii) Reaction variable is the number of pins attracted.
Nota: Generally, the author should use past tense to describe the experimental procedures
preformed and stating important parameters examined.
Secondary data such as the detail description of the dimension of the magnet or pins
physical property can be put into the Appendix.

4. Results
Example of results presentation
Table 1: Measurement of number of pins attracted by magnet A, B and C.

Number of pins
Magnet

Exp 1
2

Exp 2

Exp 3

Mean

SD

1.67

0.47

8.00

0.82

3.67

0.47

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Nota: It is fine to document the results in a table for a lab report. However, in a thesis, the raw
data should not be shown but instead the results should be presented in graphs.

Number of pins

10.00
8.00
6.00
4.00
2.00
0.00

B
Magnet

Figure 1: The numberof pins attracted by magnet A, B and C

Magnet A, B and C attracted 2, 8 and 4 pins, respectively. The magnetic force of magnet
B is four and two times higher than magnet A and C.
Note: The students are encouraged to acquire software and descriptive statistical skills to
plot and present their data. The wave form data should be re-plotted and clearly labeled in
the report (e.g: clear X-Y axis labels).

5. Discussion
The more pins attracted by a magnet showed that the magnet has higher magnetic force.
Magnet B has higher magnetic force than magnet A and C. In addition, magnet C has
higher magnetic force than B.
Magnet B with the strongest magnetic force may be made of Ferrite type of magnet.
Magnet A has the weakest magnetic force of all which may be made of xx. However,
these results require further investigation.

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Note: In this section, the students should explain the phenomenon observed and
interpret the results obtained in relation to the parameters examined. If the there is a
hypothesis, it should be deduced and questioned.

6. Conclusion and recommendation

Magnet B has the strongest magnetic force while the magnetic force of magnet A is the
weakest among the three magnets. The magnetic force of magnet C is the in between
magnet A and B. Magnet B is the most suitable magnet to be made into a screw driver.

Note: In conclusion, the student should check if the objectives were met and answered if the
aim was achieved. Additional idea that was not examined in the experiment should not be
mentioned in the conclusion.

Final remarks:
Hope that this simple guide can help the students to prepare a good quality technical report.

Acknowledgement:
Thanks to the head of panelist of JEL for providing helpful comments and constructive criticism.

The End

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