How to Write a Lab Notebook & Pre-lab Worksheet:
To Help Get you Started Early:
During this lab, you will be learning how to write a Lab Notebook & Prelab. You will be using the following experiment: Measurement of Mass and Density to learn how to do a lab notebook and write a Prelab.
I. How to Write a Prelab:
Before you start on any experiment you must have a pre-lab done handwritten in your lab notebook. Due to COVID prelabs will be typed up and submitted on Canvas on Sundays at 11:59 pm before the lab period.
The pre-lab needs to have:
• The title of the experiment
• A brief statement of the purpose of the experiment:
o Why am I doing this experiment? (In your own words)
• An outline of the procedures to be used (In your own words )
• A fun fact about some part of the experiment (i.e. techniques, equipment, solutions being used, etc.) Should not be more than a few sentences long.
• A description of any safety hazards and the appropriate precautions that should be used for EACH reagent you use and produce during the experiment.
Example:MOLAR MASS OF AN UNKNOWN ACID PURPOSE The purpose of the experiment is to determine the molar mass of an unknown acid by titration with a standardized base. PROCEDURE
FUN FACT The technique of titration is used in the process of biodiesel to help remove the fatty acids in water vegetable oil (WVO) that would normally react to make soap instead of biodiesel. A sample titration process is done to help determine the acidity of a sample of WVO so the rest of the batch can be neutralized properly. SAFETY Sodium Hydroxide, NaOH, is a strong base and may cause severe chemical burns. Avoid contact with skin and eyes. Given that the formula of the acid is unknown, the same safety precautions should be applied to the acid. As always, goggles, lab apron/ coat, pants, and closed-toe shoes will be worn at all times. |
Assignment: Complete the following Worksheet by creating a prelab for the Measurement of Mass and Density Experiment.
Fillable PDF Worksheet: How to write a Pre-lab Worksheet
II. How to Write a Lab Notebook
The laboratory notebook is essential in industrial and academic research labs. It is the primary record of experimental results and provides a means for communicating these results between co-workers. It also plays an essential role in legal issues such as establishing patent rights to an invention or resolving questions of scientific misconduct. One of the goals of the Chem 200/202 lab is for you to begin to learn how to keep a proper scientific notebook as well as to report the results of experiments in an effective and professional manner.
You should be able to do the following two things is you have a well-kept notebook:
- Five years later, you should repeat and understand the experiment solely from your notes.
- Someone else with an equivalent technical background could understand what you did, and replicate it.
General Format and Entry:
• Always use black, permanent ink when writing in your lab notebook. • No, pencil, erasable pen, or white-out.
- Date every page on the top, outside corner.
- Title each and every page with the experiment’s name.
- Write NEATLY and legibly. Remember other people have to be able to make sense of your work.
- All mistakes are crossed out with a single line, so that the original markings are still legible. Be sure to initial and explain the error.
- All pertinent data collected via computer must be printed out and taped in your lab notebook.
- ALL DATA MUST BE INITIALLY AND IMMEDIATELY WRITTEN IN THE LAB NOTEBOOK.
• Not on little strips of paper in your lab manual. This is a cornerstone of good laboratory technique — every single action in between doing something and recording it increases the chance of your record being incorrect. MANY people who practice poor laboratory techniques have lost hours to years of work simply because of improper recorded procedures/data results in the irreproducibility of their work or discovery.
Chem 200/202 Writing a Lab Notebook Before you Come to Lab:
You will have the following already written into your lab notebook, and in your own words (not copied directly from the lab manual). Failure to have this done before the day of the experiment will result in you being asked to leave without completing the experiment.
• Pre-lab — please see how to write a pre-lab
• Data Tables — you may choose to make your life easier by making data entry tables in your lab notebook prior to coming to lab. This part is optional, but it will make your life MUCH easier.
During the Experiment:
• Revisions to the Procedure — The procedure written in your lab notebook should be a reflection on what you have actually done, not what you planned to do (different than the pre-lab procedure). As such, the revised procedure should be written in past tense and passive voice. Generally, you want to write your revised procedure on the left column of the lab notebook to make room for….
- Observations — Generally placed on the right column and temporarily correlated via vertical page position with the part of the procedure performed. Observations are the most important part of the record, and the more robust and descriptive (both qualitative and quantitative) the better.
- Data Tables — Fill the data table with the data you obtained during the experiment.
- Calculated Results Table — Fill the calculated results table with the results you obtained from calculations and/or observations.
Calculations — Any calculations you did to obtain your calculated results should be in your lab notebook.
At the End of the Lab:
In industry, oftentimes another person is asked to witness the signature and date of a page in a lab notebook to corroborate a discovery and/or activity. In this course, the instructor will sign the witness page as proof that you have completed the experiment. Be sure to turn in your carbon copy sheets of your experiment before you leave. Failure to do so will result in a zero for the experiment.
Assignment: Complete the following Worksheet by learning how to create a lab notebook for the Measurement of Mass and Density Experiment.
Fillable PDF Worksheet: Laboratory Notebook Worksheet
| You will be submitting both the Pre-lab worksheet: How to write a Pre-lab Worksheet.pdf How to write a Pre-lab Exercise1.pdf and the Lab Notebook Worksheet: Laboratory Notebook Exercise.pdf. Don’t forget to have calculations for BOTH trials and these worksheets will need to be submitted as a TYPED-PDF file, NO Pictures!
Fillable PDF Versions: |
III. Preparing and submitting your work
- Open Acrobat: Click on the “Tools” tab and select “Prepare Form.”
- Select a file or scan a document: Acrobat will automatically analyze your document and add form fields.
- Add new form fields: Use the top toolbar and adjust the layout using tools in the right pane.
- Save your fillable PDF.
After you complete the worksheets in the PDF documents, submit the worksheets into a single typed combined PDF file. No photos!
Check out free PDF Converter (Links to an external site.) and free PDF Merge (Links to an external site.) tools to convert multiple PDF into one file. SmallPDF (Links to an external site.) also has other free tools for working with PDF files.
Please name your file for submission using the convention “Lastname_FirstInitial_Electrolytes” replacing “Lastname” and “FirstInitial” with your own lastname and first initial and replacing “Electrolytes” with the name of the lab experiment (for example: Carlson_T_Electrolytes.pdf).
When you are ready, click the “Submit Assignment” button at the top of this page and use the options available to upload your file(s). Remember to click “Submit”.
If you need help, or have not submitted an assignment in Canvas before, check out this assignments help video.