AP Chemistry Laboratory

AP Chemistry Laboratory

Guidelines for Lab Notebook

A laboratory notebook should be used to explain laboratory procedures, record all laboratory data, show how calculations are made, discuss the results of an experiment, and to explain the theories involved.

A record of laboratory work is an important document that will show the quality of the laboratory work that you have done. You may need to show your notebook to the Chemistry Department at a college or university in order to obtain credit for the laboratory part of your AP Chemistry course. As you record information in your notebook, keep in mind that someone who is unfamiliar with your work may be using the notebook to evaluate your laboratory experience. When you explain your work, list your data, calculate values, and answer questions, be sure that the meaning will be obvious to anyone who reads your notebook.

You may be working in pairs for lab. The work involved in performing the experiment and the data obtained from the experiment will be shared between you and your partner. The majority of the lab will reflect your own personal efforts. Any kind of cheating/copying will result in a grade of zero for both individuals.

Procedure-

1. Use a composition type notebook with the pages fastened in place.

2. Write your name and class period on the front cover.

3. Always write in ink in the notebook.

4. Number the pages of the book in the lower left and lower right corners.

5. Save the first page for the Table of Contents. This should be kept current as you proceed. Each time you write up a lab, place the title and page numbers where the report begins and ends in the Table of Contents.

6. Start every experiment on a new page.

7. If you make a mistake DO NOT ERASE, DO NOT USE WHITE OUT. Just draw one line through your error and continue. It is expected that some errors will occur. You cannot produce a perfect, error free notebook.

8. Never remove pages from a lab notebook for any reason. If you need to cross out an entire page, you may go so with a single large "X." If you do this, write a brief explanation of why you crossed out the page, and sign and date the cross-out.

9. Do not crowd the information in the notebook!

AP Chemistry Laboratory

Guidelines for Lab Notebook

Notebook

·  The notebook must be bound and have sewn-in pages

·  Do not rip out any pages.

·  Include a table of contents at the front of the notebook.

·  When working with a partner, you should write your own set of data and observations in your own notebook as the lab progresses.

Writing, General

·  Write in blue or black ink.

·  Pages should be neat, well organized, and legible.

·  Do not use WhiteOut; do not erase. To correct mistakes, cross out neatly and write in the correct value above.

·  Record sufficient information so that a colleague in AP could read your notebook, figure out, and reproduce what you did.

·  Make complete and thorough observations.

Writing, Specific

·  Write your name, the date (m/d/y), and the title at the beginning of each experiment.

·  Label all numbers clearly. (Ex. Mass of beaker plus water = 7.28 g)

·  Include the correct units for all numbers.

·  Place a title on all graphs and tables, label the axes (and include units).

Conventions

·  Use the correct abbreviation: L, mL (not “ml”), g, mg, mol, M (molarity), m (meter).

·  Use of “of”: 20 mL of X, not 20 mL X

·  Use leading zeros: “0.1547 M”, not “.1547 M”

·  Use of trailing zeros: 2g = 2.0g = 2.0000 g

·  Capitalization: “acetic acid” not “Acetic Acid”

·  Hyphens: “250 mL of solution” not “250-mL flask”

·  Amounts singular: “20 mL of NaOH was added” not “were added”

·  The word data is plural: “data are/were” not “data is/was”

·  Datum or data point is singular

·  Spaces in units: “20 mL of 1.0 M” not “20ml of 1.0M”