Lab Notebook Expectations

Split into 4 main components:

Intro
Procedure
Data
Analysis & Conclusion
Lab Notebook Expectations: Intro
Intro
- 1-2 Sentences
- State the purpose of the experiment in your own words.

Why do we ask for this?

- Because when a student does the lab completely wrong, it is helpful to
know if they understood the purpose of the lab.
Lab Notebook Expectations: Procedure
Procedure
- 5-7 Sentences
- Discuss the important steps you took
- Discuss any noteworthy observations
- Quick sketch of setup with items labelled
Why do we ask for this stuff?
- Because it tells me if you remember what you did in lab / internalized
the steps.
Lab Notebook Expectations: Data
Data
- 0-2 Sentences
- Put in your raw data (when reasonable for it to fit).
- Nicely Formatted excel table (with units)
- Nicely formatted plots (see next slide)
- Include uncertainties for all numerical values
- Comment on any oddities in data if needed

Why do we ask for this?

- Because data is the easiest way for me to figure out where something
went wrong. ~90% of the time, mistakes are in the analysis steps rather
than procedure.
Lab Notebook Expectations: Plots
Good Bad

Show data points (along with theory line when applicable) and any best fit lines. Must
include error bars! Include legends when needed.
Lab Notebook Expectations: Analysis
Analysis & Conclusion
- 5-10 Sentences
- Should show any necessary equation derivations (including error
propagation)
- Keep this organized

- Should discuss what you see in your data/plots and why it supports /
contradicts theoretical expectations
- Yes: “Plot showed that theory line fell within error bars for every data point.”
- No: “Plot looks linear and had an R^2 value of 0.9”

- Discuss factors that were not accounted for, which may have affected
your experiment significantly enough to distort the validity of your
results.