March 2010 Guidelines for Lab Report

Your lab report needs to have a title and needs to be organized into the following sections:

Title

Introduction

Material and Methods

Results

Discussion

References

N.B. An Abstract is not required for this particular Lab Report.

General Comments:

  • Keep your writing impersonal; use third person past tense. Avoid using I and We
  • Pay attention to grammar and punctuation and divide paragraphs correctly.

Some Suggestions for the Introduction:

  • Discuss speed. What is it? How can it be calculated?
  • Explain the difference between average speed and the speed at each point on a ramp (instantaneous speed). How is each determined using the photogates?
  • What does a distance vs. time graph tell you? How is speed determined from a distance vs. time graph? Explain thoroughly. Why is a distance vs. time graph a better representation of motion than the average speed of a moving object?
  • State your objectives/purpose
  • State your hypothesis, with a brief explanation ( For lab 2.1: Where on the ramp does a car have the fastest speed?)

Material and Method:

  • This section is to be written in paragraph form – i.e. narrative form
  • Third person, past tense
  • Briefly describe the experimental procedure and equipment that you used.

Results:

Section 1 (Lab 2.1)

  • Data table from 2.1 (pg. 11)
  • Line graph: speed vs. position (from question #2 on pg. 11). Be sure to label all axes & use correct intervals!
  • Calculations for speed for each position on ramp. Show ALL work. The formula can be written once; however, for each calculation, you should show a list of variables, numbers plugged in, and a final answer WITH units!!

Section 2 (Lab 2.2)

  • Data table from 2.2 (pg. 13: Only include first three columns -> Position on ramp/Distance A to B/ Time A to B.)
  • Line graph: Position vs. time graph (from question #4 in 2.2)Be sure to label all axes & use correct intervals!
  • Calculations for speed from Position vs. Time graph (question #4d in 2.2: you should have 2 sets of speed calculations)

Some suggestions for the Discussion

  • For Lab 2.1: Do you notice a trend in your measurements in the data table? (Refer back to your data table and actual values when you are explaining the table!) What is the trend? What kind of trend do you see on the speed vs. position graph? Based on your data table and this graph, how does the speed of the car change as it moves down the ramp? Is your car showing positive/negative/no acceleration? What your hypothesis supported?
  • For Lab 2.2: Look at your distance vs. position graph. What kind of trend is seen? What does that trend indicate about the speed of the care? Is the line straight or curved? What does that tell you about the speed of the car at different times along its roll down the ramp? What does that tell us about the car’s acceleration (or lack thereof)? Does your curve for this lab match the data you got in Lab 2.1? In regards to your speed calculations (from the D vs. T graph), what did you calculate for speed at the bottom of the curve? At the top? Compare these 2 values. Is this consistent with your previous conclusions (i.e whether or not speed was changing)?
  • Were there any errors made that could have skewed the results?
  • How can the procedure of the experiment be improved?
  • Ideas for other experiments, based on this one?
  • Were the objectives of the experiment met?
  • Can you make a connection between this experiment and the real world?

References

List all your resources (books used, data tables, web sites consulted) that you used in writing the introduction and discussion and cite your references using the APA guidelines. Minimum = 3!