PennyDensityLab:
FormalLabReportSupportSheet
*WARNING:Thissheetisdesignedtohelpstudentsavoidcommonmistakesanderrorswhenwritingthe
formallabreportforthePennyDensityLab.Youshouldusethisinconjunctionwiththeformallabreport
packetbecausethisdoesnotincludeallpartsthatshouldbeineachsection!
• TitleandHeading:
-Yourgroupmembershavelastnames…besuretoincludethem!
• Introduction:
-DoresearchandincludetheinformationinthissectionwithIN-TEXTcitations…thismeansany
informationorfactsyougetfromaresourcearecitedattheendofthesentence(NOTtheendofthe
paragraph)thatusesthisinformationusingMLAformatasfollows:
o Example(Books/Web,withauthoranddate):Thedensityofcopperis8.90g/mL(Smith2008).
o Example(Web,noauthorordate):Thedensityofcopperis8.90g/mL("DensityBasics").
-Topicstoexplore:whatpenniesaremadeof,densityofcommonmaterials(includingthoseinthepenny),
whythingsfloatorsinkinwater,howdensityisusedintherealworld,ETC.(thesearejustsomeideasto
getyoustarted)
-Keeptrackofallsourcesused(citeIN-TEXT)andincludethemintheWorksCited
• Objective:
-Singlesentencestatingthepurpose(donotuseminefromthelab…putitinyourownwords)
• Hypothesis:
-SinglesentenceinIF/THENformat
• Materials:
-Copythesefromthelab
-UseabulletedlistthatisSINGLEspaced…thisistheonlypartofthelabthatisspacedlikethis!
• Procedure:
-Quickversionofthestepsusedinthislab(donotcopywordforwordfromthelab…useyourownwords)
-Numbereachstep…noparagraphs!
-No"I,""We,"or"You"orwordslike"First,""Next,"or"Finally"
-Someonewithnoknowledgeofthislabshouldbeabletodothelabbyreadingyourprocedure
-Nopicturesneededforthisparticularlab
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Data:
-CopyALLtables(don'tforgetunits)fromthelabwithalltheinformation
-Eachtable/figureshouldhaveaPROPERHEADINGasshownintheformatpacket…theseareNOTthe
sameheadingsthataregivenintheactuallab(example:Table1.Tableshowingdataobtainedfrom…)
-Donotincludethe"Qualitative"and"Quantitative"parts…youonlyneedtheheadingsandtables
-Ifatableisontwodifferentpages,youshouldhit"Enter"togetitallonthesamepage!
Analysis/Calculations:
-ExplainWHYthepennydensitychangedordidn'tchange,whatthe1982penniesshow,ETC.
-BasicruleoftheAnalysissection:ALLresults(datatables)yougetshouldbeANALYZEDandEXPLAINED
-Discusspossiblesourcesoferror(donotsaytherewerenonebecausetheredefinitelywere…mathor
calculationmistakesarenotavalidsource)
-Describemultiplewaystoimprovethelabandmakeitbetter
-LeavespaceafterwritingthissectionsoyoucanhandwriteinONEexampleofeachdensitycalculation
(onePreandonePost)fromthelab…besuretolabeleachandincludeallequationsandunits
Conclusion:
-Statetheresultsofthelabinonesentence…thiscomesfirstinthissection!
-Onesentencestatingthatthehypothesiswassupportedorrejected
-Describewhatwaslearnedfromtheexperiment(No"I")
-Incorporatetheanswers(BRIEFLY)tothelabquestionsintowhatwaslearned(donotlistthequestionsor
numbers)…sinceyoumayhaveincorporatedmanyoftheseanswersintootherpartsofyourlabreportitis
finetobebriefherebutallanswersshouldbeincluded!
WorksCited:
-ListallsourcesusedinALPHABETICALorder
-Doublespaced
-ProperMLAformat
-Usethisguideonthelibrary'swebsiteforhelpwithMLAcitations…besuretoclickthevariouslinksunder
the"MLAColorCodedExamples"tab:http://beth.libguides.com/c.php?g=133785&p=875239
-WhencitingaWEBSITE:Donotjustputtheword"Web"inthecitationasshowninsomeMLAformatting
sites…includetheACTUALADDRESSinitsplace!!
*GeneralErrorstoAvoid:
-EachsectionshouldhaveaboldedheadingexcepttheTitlesectionwhichgetsaboldedtitle
-IfJUSTthesectionheading(noinfofromthesectionthough)isatthebottomofapage,hitentertogetit
onthesamepage
-EntirelabreportisDOUBLESPACEDexcepttheMaterialslist
-Use12pt.TimesNewRomanfontforthewholereportwith1inchmargins
-No"I,""We,""You,"ETC.throughouttheentirelabreport!