Laboratory Reports
For each laboratory experiment, you will turn in a Pre-Lab and a Lab Report.
Pre-Labs: Most of the laboratory experiments include pre-lab problems. You should answer these problems in your lab notebook. The pre-lab is intended to help you think about how the electronics might work, and what type of analysis you might need to do to understand your data. The answers to these questions are due before the beginning of lab on the day you start an experiment. Scanning the pages of your lab notebook and turning them in to the D2L dropbox before your lab begins. It is very important to finish the Pre-Labs before you start the experiment.
Lab Reports: The purpose of reporting an experiment is to explain clearly and concisely what you were trying to do, what you actually did, what you actually observed, and what you concluded from your observations. It is essential that you write in clear, uncluttered, unambiguous English. Reports should be between 3 and 6 pages including fgures. Reports must be typed (except perhaps for some equations). If there are substantial data tables you should provide photocopies from your lab book, rather than spend time copying lots of numbers. In general, though, numerical data sets are better shown in graphical form.
We ask you to structure your report as follows:
I. Experiment Title
II. Objective: A one or two sentence description of the basic intent of the experiment.
III. Idea/Apparatus: Describe qualitatively in a few sentences the idea (or ideas if there are several distinct parts) of the experiment. What are the essential elements of the experiment that (in principle) will enable an effect to be observed or a quantity to be measured? Include the circuit diagram and circuit elements and apparatus used in this measurement.
IV. Procedure, Data Analysis, and Results: This should consist of a summary of the process you followed while carrying out the experiment mixed with the data and results for each part. Note unexpected occurrences. Discuss any special problems of measurement and the approach you took to solve them. You lose points by simply making unsubstantiated comments or guesses. In addition, the complete data set appears here. The data are analyzed and the sought-after experimental results are derived and reported with their associated experimental uncertainties.
You should incorporate for reach part: i) the procedure for this part including unexpected occurances and how you solved them. ii) Plots of data or results (title, axis labels, units and scales). The use of tables is strongly recommended. iii) Calculation of results. A complete, detailed numerical sample calculation of each type, including units and conversion factors must be included. If computer calculations are used, the printed computer output with complete identi?cation of quantities written on it should be taped into place within this section and explicitly referred to at an appropriate point in your report. iv) If there was any di?culty in getting the desired the result, explain in detail how to trouble-shoot the problem.
V. Conclusions: A discussion which summarizes your results and compares them to accepted or calculated values. If you observed anything puzzling, or if you care to digress about possible hidden sources of error that you suspect might explain an unexpectedly large discrepancy, then do it here. Don't simply muse about possibilities; if you have suspicions, you should back them up with reasonable quantitative estimates. You will lose points by simply making unsubstantiated or incorrect guesses.
VI. References: A numbered list of references that you have used. At a minimum, you would likely have a reference to the original lab writeup (that's where many of the procedures are listed) and to your lab notebook (that's where original tables of data are listed). You might also reference sections of Fischer-Cripps text or the Horowitz and Hill text, where you might have found useful information. References to online material are also standard. Be sure that you refer to the particular reference number in the text of your report anytime you are using that source directly. Include page numbers when necessary to be distinct about particular tables of data or equations, etc.
Again, your instructor will be concerned with the quality of the writing. If it is poor, the report may be returned to you un-graded with suggestions as to how you can improve the writing. You will then have to rewrite the report.
You are encouraged to work with your partner in carrying out and analyzing the experiment, but the reports should be done independently, and each partner is expected to work through and understand all aspects of the experiment. You should trade off roles. For example, in one part of the experiment partner A will adjust the knobs and read off the data while B records and analyzes it. Then for the second part, A and B will trade places.