Chemistry 135
Clark College
Chemistry 135 Lab Notebook
For this class, you are required to use a carbonless copy, bound notebook. The notebook should have
single-sided, numbered pages, and the pages should either be lined or have a grid. Some requirements
and tips for keeping a good lab notebook are found below. You can also find information in your Lab
Handbook. You will be required to show your notebook pre-lab with your regular pre-lab, and get it
initialed and dated by the lab instructor. Your pre-lab assignment will be stamped as in previous terms.
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DO NOT WORK IN THE LAB WITHOUT YOUR NOTEBOOK!
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Make sure that the cardboard ‘barrier’ is between pages so you don’t get more than one copy!
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Your notebook should begin with a Table of Contents. Keep the first two or three pages of your
notebook blank for the TOC, and keep it updated as experiments get added. You will be graded
on the level of detail and completeness of your TOC.
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Begin each experiment on a clean page. If you are beginning an experiment before finishing a
previous one, skip a few pages between experiments. You will not run out of pages!
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Your lab should begin with the notebook Pre-lab: At the beginning of each experiment, and
before you come into lab, write a brief purpose statement and summarize the procedure. This
summary can be written in paragraph, list, or flow-chart form. If any calculations need to be
done before coming into lab (theor. yield, coefficients, etc…), these should be done in your
notebook as well. You should be able to perform the lab with the information written in your
prelab.
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Be sure to include observations in your notebook, with the data. Things like color changes (or
lack of), temperature changes, odors (get these carefully, by wafting!), appearance of a solid or
gas, or a phase change are just as important as numerical data (masses, volumes, etc…). Many
people like to put data in one column, and observations in another.
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Data obtained in any scientific experiment must be recorded directly, in ink.
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Keep the data sequentially, and date each page as it is used.
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DO NOT RECORD DATA OR CALCULATIONS IN ANY OTHER NOTEBOOK OR ON ANY
LOOSE PAPER. Data is directly entered into the notebook as it is obtained (take your notebook
into the balance room with you!). This will prevent transfer errors, losing data, etc… that may
result in a lower score on your labs!
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Show all data and calculations with correct units, constants and significant digits used.
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If you make a mistake, use only a single-line cross out. Blank pages may be crossed out with a
single diagonal line.
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Label all data precisely so that another person (the laboratory instructors’ mother, for example),
who is not familiar with your organization and idiosyncrasies can tell what you have done.
Remember that you will be turning in these notebook pages with each experiment, and will be graded on
the quality (which includes legibility and neatness) of your records and observations. This is also a
learning experience – more feedback will be given earlier in the quarter (and fewer points taken off).
On the following pages you will find a more detailed, section-by-section overview of course and lab
notebook expectations. Read through it carefully!
Lab Notebooks
Spring 2008 Rev NF
Page 1 of 4
Chemistry 135
Clark College
Summary of Expectations for each lab
ORIENTATION
Each of you must attend a lab orientation. It is during this important orientation that Nadine and/or
April will cover the basics of keeping a lab notebook, introduce you to equipment that you will use for
the lab (the analytical balance room), and you can check into your lab drawers.
Failure to attend a posted orientation will result in a meeting with Nadine or April AND -20 off your
first lab assignment.
CONFERENCE
In conference, we cover material that appears on the pre-lab and material necessary for completing the
lab assignment.
Almost every pre-lab calculation has an example calculation in the lab!
Nadine and April are available for help in office hours or by email – if you need help, seek it!
Nadine and April will be holding office hours to assist with help answering pre-lab questions or with
questions that arise while performing a lab experiment. Even if we are not in lab, it is best to find one of
us to ask a question.
In conference, you will be presented with information/helpful hints for the lab. Technique tips will be
demonstrated at this time as well. Questions will be addressed by any student concerning the lab:
procedure, technique, problem solving, lab expectations, results, precision, accuracy – anything.
LAB
Each student will arrive in lab with their pre-labs completed. Each lab is to be completed independently.
There are NO lab partners for 135 experiments. You may work on the same experiment at the same time
with another person, but each person in 135 completes the entire experiment on their own.
Keep in mind that any calculations on the pre-lab were given because you will probably be doing a
similar calculation for the lab!
Information for your lab notebooks:
Notebooks: in each notebook you will leave the first 3 pages blank for your table of contents (if you
write bigger, you might want to leave 1 extra page). Each notebook entry will be made in indelible
(permanent ink) only. NO PENCILS, no erasable ink! Any mistakes made in the lab notebook will be
indicated by a single line through the error. NO SCRIBBLES, NO ERASING.
On the first page of the lab notebook write table of contents at the top of the
page. Your first experiment will appear underneath this on the left hand side of the page and the page
number that lab begins on will appear on the right hand side of the page. As each lab has “sections” you
might want to label that subsection in your table of contents and put its page number there as well! (if
you need an example, your table of contents in a textbook is a stellar example!)
Lab Notebooks
Spring 2008 Rev NF
Page 2 of 4
Chemistry 135
Clark College
Each lab will have a purpose statement: THIS MUST BE COMPLETED
BEFORE YOU BEGIN LAB
WHY are you doing the lab, what are you hoping to discover or determine? This section should have
the purpose heading and it should be brief. Two or three sentences are all that is needed. In this section,
you may want to consider the “goal(s)” of the experiment – what are you trying to learn/what is being
asked of you. Several new techniques will be introduced to you and techniques from terms past will
appear again in 135.
Each lab will have a procedure section:
BEFORE YOU BEGIN LAB
THIS MUST BE COMPLETED
You should translate the lab handout into a procedure in your OWN words. Do not copy the lab
procedure verbatim (that is plagiarism). Re-word and summarize the procedure, making sure that you
include all amounts of chemicals, times, and other specific information. Some of you may find that a
flow chart works well. For some experiments your procedure may be shorter than the one in the lab
handout (for example, you do not need to write a set by step account of how to find things in lab, how to
set up a buret, how to fill a buret, how to use the Vernier software). The procedure should be
informative enough that if the lab packet was taken away, you could perform all aspects of the lab
FROM YOUR PROCEDURE IN YOUR LAB NOTEBOOK!! Initially you may write longer procedures
until you become more comfortable with this section. You may be asked to add/clarify your procedure
section before it is initialed by the lab instructor if your procedure section is incomplete. Keep in mind
that at any time, for any lab, you may be asked to turn in your lab handout and you must perform the
entire lab with your lab notebook only.
IF YOU COME TO LAB WITH YOUR LAB NOTEBOOK INCOMPLETE, YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE
TO BEGIN LAB.
Each lab MUST contain observations:
Sometimes this may be organized in its own section, sometimes this is “fill in as you go” information.
Your observations should include the reagents used and information about their physical properties.
What do your reagents look like? Be descriptive. If anything has an interesting smell make sure to note
this as well. Tables are nice addition. You can pre-make an observation table before coming to lab, but it
is not required.
For example: for the first lab you are performing a titration using KHP and NaOH
Reagent used
KHP
NaOH
Phenolphthalein
Initial description
Very dry white powder, no
discernable smell
Came as a stock solution,
colorless and odorless
Colorless
Purpose
Dissolved easily in
water
As a stock solution
Other Observations
A colorless clear solution
Added to the acid,
colorless
A pink solution when
neutralization occurred
Note: remarks about the
actual color pink are next to
each titration date
information
The column headings may change from lab to lab. Also, observations may appear in other sections as
well, but you want to make sure that you take note of the reagents before you begin!
Lab Notebooks
Spring 2008 Rev NF
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Chemistry 135
Clark College
Each lab will have a data and calculations section:
In this section you will now record exactly what amount of reagents you used. Perhaps the lab says that
you need 0.5 grams of something. Using the analytical balances, we do not want you in the balance
room for an hour weighing out 0.5000 grams! Instead, you are shooting for a number that rounds to the
tenths place and would give you 0.5 grams. So you need anywhere from 0.4501 grams up to 0.5499
grams of reagent. It is ok if you go over by a little, as long as YOU know exactly what amount of reagent
you took, you can do the calculations based on that! This section lists exactly how much KHP you used,
how much NaOH you used, etc. This section may also be where you include observations as well. What
color your indicator turned at the end of the titration. Was it barely there pink? Was it magenta? Was it
somewhere in-between? We want to know what happens when the experiment is performed. Perhaps a
large amount of gas evolved during the second trial of your titration. Write it down. Perhaps your third
titration never changed color at all and it was not until afterwards that you realized you forgot to add
the indicator! Any and everything that you observe could be a reason your experiment had error. And
since you will be graded on your precision and accuracy, this is important!
In this section, you will show all your work for the calculations performed in the lab. If you have a
repetitive calculation, you really only need to show your set-up one time and can simply write down
your answer to each subsequent trial below. But you must be CLEAR and show ALL work for the first
calculation performed. In the grand scheme of things, a lot of these calculations will be cumbersome
(albeit repetitive) and many people like to see things written down before they plug numbers in their
calculator so you will NOT be penalized if you show all your work for all your problem solving.
All data must be written in your lab notebook, not on scrap pieces of paper, and not in/on your lab
handout. At the end of the term, you will take a notebook “quiz” - having the data organized in your lab
notebook may also prove helpful for this quiz as all results are located in one location. An organized
and up-to-date table of contents will also help with this.
Making observations and learning what is and what is not important is a process. You will learn this
process throughout the term and with each successive lab, the expectations for your observations will
increase.
Each lab will have a results section:
Most labs will come with a data sheet that has a table on it and you summarize your results and fill in
this sheet. You should be doing this in your lab notebook. Re-create the data table and re-write the
values in your lab notebook. Why, you might ask? What if you lose that data report sheet a week from
now? Your data is now scattered all throughout pages of information in your lab notebook. Your lab
notebook should be a complete representation of a formal report. Since you will be given report sheets,
simply transfer the data into your notebook while performing the experiment.
Each lab will have a conclusion section:
In a written format, you should report your important (calculated) values again and comment on any
error (SD or RSD) that occurred. State any reasons for your error. Sometimes there is a valid reason for
error, sometimes it will have to do with your technique. This is the first lab class that you are really
being graded on your technique and how it affects your results. This is also a learning process.
Everyone makes mistakes, everyone has poor technique every once in awhile! A mistake here and there
will not kill your grade! Breathe and move on! Remember no personal pronouns appear here – we
know it was you, so there is no need to tell us .
Lab Notebooks
Spring 2008 Rev NF
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