Custom Essay Help on Formal Lab Reports: Guidelines for Writing a Formal Lab Report Provided from the last to the First in That Order
4. Conclusions – Sum up the work and explain what was learned and/or verified.
References – Put your bibliography here (not need for our labs).
Appendix – (OPTIONAL) This is a section where hand calculations, large data tables, MATLAB code and
any other supplemental information used to complete the lab (that cannot easily be embedded into the
report) can be attached. If you need to reference information from the appendix within the body of the
report, be sure to note that the information
3. Experimental Results – In this section, all experimental results are presented. Theoretical predictions
may be presented here to provide a comparison with the experimental data. Be sure that all figures and
tables are properly introduced and labeled. Be sure to provide sufficient discussion of all data presented, as
well as a comparison of analytical, theoretical, and experimental results. Make every effort to account for
any disparities between the theory and experimental results as best you can. Note that all figures and tables
must be mentioned and described in the body of the text. Don’t include a figure and say nothing of it in the
body of the text. Refer to each by number (e.g., Figure 1). Also make sure to adequately answer all
questions posed in the lab handout. Use subsections as needed.
2. Theoretical Calculations – This section presents any relevant theory and theoretical calculations. You
will likely include equations and figures here. Make sure that any figures, tables and equations are properly
introduced, explained and labeled (see Formatting section below). Feel free to create subsections to
organize your ideas. Do not include experimental results of any kind in this section.
1. Introduction – This section lays out the objective of the lab and the basic procedure used. In research
oriented work it would also cite any relevant previous work (by other researchers or by the author) and
would explain the novel contribution of the current work. A good introduction often includes a paragraph
at the end describing the contents of the remaining sections (one or two sentences per section). This lets
the reader know what the organization of the paper is and helps to orient them. Don’t be afraid to use some
of the same words and sentences as you did in the abstract. Remember, that is a separate document. This
section generally does not include equations or figures.
Abstract – This is a brief overview of the work (approximately 50-200 words). This would include a
description of (1) the purpose of the lab, (2) the basic procedure, and (3) the main conclusions. This
should be considered a document within itself and should be “self-contained.” That is, don’t refer to
equations, references, appendices, etc. that are part of the main body of the report. Abstracts are often
published separately. They provide a potential reader with enough information to know if they should read
the full document. Short and to the point!
