Example of a report
This document is an example of how we want you to report in writing the work you did in the Virtual Lab. It’s a
simplified version of the kind of reports or articles you may eventually be writing in your professional life.
This report refers to the second problem of the second week of computer cluster recitation activities: Coolant 1.
The problem was stated as follows:
A standard report may contain up to 7 parts:
 Introduction
What is the problem you are investigating and why is it important?
 Background
What is already known about this and similar problems? What existing information and
theories are you going to use to solve the problem?
 Procedure
What experimental steps have you taken to solve the problem?
 Experimental data
What raw data have you obtained?
 Calculations and results
How did you transform the raw data into the data necessary to solve the problem? Show the
calculations you performed on the data you collected.
 Conclusions
What conclusions can you draw from your results? Discuss any new questions that were
generated by your experiments.
 References
Bibliographical citations of all published work from technical journals or books that you used
in your study. If a theory or method is not your own, but was borrowed from another
researcher’s work, you must acknowledge this by referring the reader to the paper or book in
which you found the information.
Since we don’t want you to write 10 pages for each experiment, we are simplifying the requirements for your
report. The introduction and background can be stated in about two lines at the beginning of the report. This
should be followed by sections explaining your Procedure and showing any Experimental data you collected.
Your Calculations, Results, and Conclusions can be combined into one section at the end of the document.
You can use the sample report that follows to guide you in your writing.
Report: Coolant 1
This work is intended to determine the specific heat of a new coolant (Compound Y), and compare it with the
specific heat of ethylene glycol (2.200 J g-1 K-1). If the specific heat of Compound Y is greater, then we can use
it as a starting point for developing better coolant fluids.
Procedure
For determining the specific heat, the dependence of the final temperature of a mixture of two liquids at
different temperatures on their specific heats is used. In this case, the transfer of heat is expressed by the
following equation:
C1  m1  T f  T1  C2  m2  T f  T2 ,




where C is the specific heat, m is the mass and T is the temperature; the subscripts 1, 2, and f represent the first
compound, the second compound and the final mixture, respectively.
The experimental procedure used was:
1. 100 ml of Compound Y were heated to 75oC in an insulated flask.
2. 100 ml of water at 25oC were transferred to an insulated flask.
3. Both Compound Y and water were mixed together in a separate insulated flask.
4. The temperature of the final solution was observed.
Experimental Data
The final temperature of the solution was 60.6oC.
Calculations, results and conclusions
The mass of Compound Y is:
m y  100 ml 
2.78 g
 278 g
ml
The mass of water is 100 g.
Hence,
C y  m y  T f  Ty   Cw  mw  T f  Tw 


C y  278 g  60.6o C  75o C  4.184
C y  3.79
J
o
g C

 100 g  60.6o C  25o C

J
g oC
The specific heat of compound Y is 3.79 J g-1 K-1, which is greater than the specific heat of ethylene glycol. So,
this compound could be an option for designing more effective coolants.