SMHS PHYSICS (MCCOY)
Formal Laboratory Report Format
Lab Reports
Typewritten reports
documenting your
experimental results.
 Be sure to clearly
label each section!
 Use complete
sentences.
 Double space your
report.










Title Page
Objective
Introduction
Procedure
Data
Results and
Calculations
Discussion
Conclusion
Questions
Title Page

This will identify
the experiment,
you, the course,
your class, your
instructor, and the
date(s) the
experiment was
performed. Very
important so I can
keep track of what
you are handing in!
Exploring Gases:
The Determination of the Ideal Gas Constant,
Molar Volume and Percent Potassium
Chlorate in a Mixture
Jane Smith
Lab Partner: (if appropriate)
Chemistry 120
Section 5399
Instructor: D. Vance
September 3, 2007 completed
September 17, 2007 turned in
Objective

Why are you
doing this
experiment?
Objective:
To experimentally find
the ideal gas law
constant, R, calculate
the percent error in the
experimental ideal
gas law constant, the
molar volume, its
percent error, and the
percentage…
Introduction
This section tells a
little bit about the
theory of the
experiment and how
it will be done.
 Be sure to label your
reactions (i.e. rxn
1…) and your
formulas/equations (
i.e. eq 1…) so that it
is easier to refer to
them in the text.



Introduction:
In this experiment experimental
values for the ideal gas law
constant, R, and the molar
volume of a gas, Vm, will be
found. Oxygen gas will be
formed by the decomposition of
potassium chlorate:
MnO2
2 KClO3 (s)  3 O2 (g) + 2 KCl (s) rxn 1
heat
The oxygen gas will be…
Procedure
Reference the
procedure used
and note any
deviations from
the published
procedure.
 Safety and Waste
treatment should
be noted here too.

Procedure
 Write a detailed
description of how you
completed the experiment.
Data

Insert all data from the experiment. Do
not analyze or manipulate the data – this
section is merely to publish exactly what
you found without coming to any
conclusions.
Results and Calculations



Tabulate data (you may
copy and paste the
spreadsheet) and any
calculated values.
Be sure to show sample
calculations. (These may
be hand written.)
For non-numerical labs,
summarize the data
generated.
Results and Calculations
Table 1: Decomposition of KClO3 Data
Weight of empty test tube assembly
Weight of test tube assembly and KClO3/O2
xxx.xx g
xx.xx g
Weight of test tube assembly and residue
g
Weight of O2 liberated
g
Volume of H2O displaced
L
Etc...
Sample Calculation
xxx.xxg-xx.xxg=xx.xxg
Etc…
Discussion

This is where you
get to explain
your results and
talk about any
errors that may
have occurred.
Discussion:
 The value of the ideal gas
law constant was found be
to 61.2 L torr mol-1 K-1, that
is a percent error of 1.9%.
This value is very close to
the actual value of 62.4 L
torr mol-1 K-1. One possible
source of error could be
that the volume of water in
the florence flask and the
beaker was not equalized
before the…
Conclusion

This is where you
give the final
result. This is
essentially the
punch line--
Conclusion
 The ideal gas law
constant was found to be
61.2 L torr mol-1 K-1 with
a percent error of 1.9%,
the molar volume was
found to be 25.3 L mol-1
with a percent error of
12.8%, and the
percent…
Questions

Answer any questions posed in the lab
here.