Guidelines for Physics Lab Reports

A laboratory report has three main functions:

(1) To provide a record of the experiments and raw data included in the report,
(2) To provide sufficient information to reproduce or extend the data, and
(3) To analyze the data, present conclusions and make recommendations based on the experimental
work.

General Comments:
The single most important requirement for a laboratory report is clarity. Imagine that your audience is one of
your classmates who missed that experiment.
If you are using a word processor for your lab report, then use the spelling and grammar checkers. The
grammar check can be annoying because often technical sentences are wordy and complex, but it will help
you avoid using too many passive sentences. In general, passive sentences are less understandable. However,
grammar check will not assess clarity, and it will ignore simple errors. (I do not doubt there are still mistakes
in this document I have run it through spelling and grammar checks.)
Many technical writers prefer to write sentences with passive verbs. A simple example: “The spring constant
k was found from the slope to be 3.02 N/m.” If you run this sentence through the grammar check, it will tell
you that “was found” is a verb in the passive voice. To change this to an active voice you could write: “The
spring constant k is the slope, 3.02 N/m.” Not every sentence has to be in an active voice. What you want is
a report that is readable.

Lab Report Structure:

I. Cover Sheet: This page has the course number and assigned lab section, the title of the experiment, your name,
your lab partner’s names, the date that the lab was performed and your TA’s name.

II. Abstract & Introduction (Objective): The purpose of an abstract in a scientific paper is to help a reader decide
if your paper is of interest to him/her.
The abstract should be able to stand by itself, and it should be brief. Generally, it consists of three parts which
answer these questions:

• What did you do? – A statement of the purpose of the experiment, a concise description of the experiment
and physics principles investigated.
• What were your results? – Highlight the most significant results of the experiment.
• What do these results tell you? – Depending on the type of experiment, this is conclusions and implications
of the results, or it may be lessons learned form the experiment.
Write the abstract after all the other sections are completed. (You need to know everything in the report before you
can write a summary of it.)

III. Method: Explain how you did the experiment. A lab report Method section details the steps you took to gather
and analyze data. Give enough detail so that others can follow or evaluate your procedures. Write this section
in the past tense.

IV. Data: Graphs, Table, and Calculation

Show calculations in a neat and orderly outline form. Include a brief description of the calculation, the equation,
numbers from your data substituted into the equation and the result. You do not necessarily need to show a
calculation. If you show a calculation, do not include the intermediate steps. Numbers in the sample calculations
must agree with what you recorded in your data sheet. Answers should have the proper number of significant
figures and units.
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Typing the equation into the lab report is not required, you can instead show an equation by taking a picture of a hand-
written equation if you wish. If you wish to type this section, then use the equation editor in Microsoft Word. Your lab
instructor can give you information on using the equation editor.

V. Results (Data and Analysis) and the Discussion sections: This is the most important part of the lab report; it
is where you analyze the data and then discuss the results. (In the future, you may not actually collect data; a
lab technician or other people may collect the raw data. Regardless of your discipline, the most challenging and
rewarding part of your work will be analyzing the data.)
NOTE: ALL FIGURES AND TABLES SHOULD BE LABELED AND HAVE CAPTIONS. ALL FIGURES AND
TABLES SHOULD ALSO BE REFERENCED IN THE TEXT OF THE REPORT.
Begin the discussion with the experimental purpose and briefly summarize the basic idea of the experiment with
emphasis on the measurements you made and transition to discussing the results. State only the key results (with
uncertainty and units) quantitatively with numerical values; do not provide intermediate quantities. Your discussion
should address questions such as:

• What is the relationship between your measurements and your final results?
• What trends were observable?
• What can you conclude from the graphs that you made?
• How did the independent variables affect the dependent variables? (For example, did an increase in a
given measured (independent) variable result in an increase or decrease in the associated calculated
(dependent) variable?)
Then describe how your experimental results substantiate/agree with the theory. (This is not a single statement that
your results agree or disagree with theory.) When comparison values are available, discuss the agreement using
either uncertainty and/or percent differences.
Any questions in the lab manual should be answered here. For organization, it is best to paste the question and then
follow it with your answer. ANSWER ALL QUESTIONS.

VI. Uncertainty and Error: This can be a separate section, subsection, or paragraphs in your Analysis section or
Discussion section. In your discussion of sources of error, you should discuss all those things that affect your
measurement, but which you can't do anything about given the time and equipment constraints of this laboratory.
Included in this would be a description of sources of error in your measurement that bias your result (e.g. friction
in pulleys that are assumed frictionless in the formula). Your analysis should describe the qualitative effect of
each source of error (e.g. friction slowed motion, causing a smaller value of acceleration to be measured) and,
where possible, provide an estimate of the magnitude of the errors they could induce. Describe only the
prominent sources of error in the experiment. For example, the precision of the triple balance beam, a fraction
of a gram, compared to the 250.0 g lab cart is not significant. Note that a tabulation of all possible errors
without any discussion of qualitative effect of the error will receive no credit. Your discussion should address
questions such as:
• Are the deviations due to error/uncertainty in the experimental method, or are they due to idealizations
inherent in the theory (or both)?
• If the deviations are due to experimental uncertainties, can you think of ways to decrease the amount of
uncertainty?
• If the deviations are due to idealizations in the theory, what factors has the theory neglected to consider?
In either case, consider whether your results display systematic or random deviations.
VII. Conclusion: A conclusion is required. You will lose points for leaving this out. Your conclusion should be the
final section of your lab report. Here, you’ll summarize the findings of your experiment, with a brief overview
of the strengths and limitations, and implications of your study for further research.
Endnotes:
The report should not be a big production. It should not take hours to write. The objective is to write down the
significant details of the experiment, the analysis of the experimental data. A few neatly written pages, including
your data sheets will suffice for most experiments. Hopefully the sample lab report that follows will help you.
Note:
1. No student should copy data from anyone who is not his or her lab partner.
2. You may discuss the experiment with your lab partner and other classmates, but the lab report that you turn
in must be your own work. Lab reports are subject to all the rules governing academic honesty.
3. Photocopies of any parts of the lab report are not permissible.