Laboratory Notebook

Notebook Prep - A laboratory notebook is required of all Chemistry 121 students.  Before coming to lab, students should prepare a notebook write-up of the current experiment.  Students are given up to 10 points each week for their notebook prep.  The notebook prep should include:

• Purpose – What is the purpose of doing this experiment?  What are we trying to learn / accomplish / analyze?  This section should answer these questions in a very brief statement (two to three sentences is sufficient).
  
• Procedure – Exactly how is this experiment carried out?  This section should precisely outline the steps needed to correctly perform this experiment.  A rule of thumb is that you should be able to do the experiment by only looking at your notebook write-up.
• Data Table – This section can take several formats:
  
• The laboratory manual includes a report sheet for each experiment.  This is a useful guideline for your data section, and could be written directly into your notebook. 
  
• You could also include blanks for your data throughout the procedure write-up.  For example, "Weigh the crucible and cover on the analytical balance.   Mass = 26.5022 g".  Either method is acceptable; use whichever feels better to you. 
  
• Enough Space – Most importantly, GIVE YOURSELF ENOUGH SPACE!  You do not have to fit everything on a single page.  You have lots of pages in your notebook – use them!
  

Recording Data - Once in the lab, you will conduct the experiment and record your data.  Accurate data collection is essential for completing your experiment and writing a thorough report.  The following elements are important to keep in mind when recording data:

• Organization – Make sure the data you are recording goes in the correct blank space!
• Neatness – There's nothing worse than not being able to read your data.  Actually, what's worse is if your TA can't read your data!  If numbers run into each other, print is illegible, or data runs off the page, you'll have poor results and may even need to start again.
  
• Mistakes – Everyone makes mistakes.  If you make one, simply put a single line through the error (i.e. 1.015 g it should still be legible) and write the correction beside it.  DO NOT scribble out the entire number; this is not good lab practice.
  
• Significant Figures – If a beaker weighs 52.0000 g on the analytical balance, it is incorrect to write “52 g”; the significant figures would be incorrect and could alter later calculations.
• Units – Simply recording 150.35 for a mass is incorrect.  Is it in grams? milligrams? pounds? tons?  You'll need to know the correct units to complete an accurate calculation later.
• Visual Observations – It's not enough to just write “White” for a color of a precipitate.  What if you have 10 white precipitates?  How will you tell them apart later?  Be sure to record the color, consistency (gelatinous, flocculent, powdery, crystalline), relative amount, odor, if bubbles are formed, etc.
• Put it in the Notebook! – Most important, do not record data in anyplace other than your lab notebook.  This data must be collected by your TA and should be complete and accurate.
  

Notebook Exercise:  There are several “mock” notebooks online that you will analyze and grade or answer questions about, keeping the above guidelines in mind.  Turn in a “grading sheet” that you create on a piece of paper to your TA in one week.  It should include scores for each notebook and brief comments for each (both positive feedback and constructive criticism). The parameters for accessing the notebooks and grading them are listed below.

Grading Scale:	10 points	Perfect	(all components included)
	8 points	Good	(all there, but not neat or spaced well)
	6 points	Average	(need to expand on certain sections)
	4 points	Poor	(missing one section)
	2 points	Awful	(missing more than one section)

Lab Notebook Prep:*

Sample 1

Sample 2

Sample 3

Sample 4

Sample 5

^* there may be more than one page

Recorded Data: Data collected during an experiment by five different students.    

1. What is the volume of NaOH required for Trial 2?
2.  What happens when Kool-Aid reacts with NaHCO₃?

Lab Notebook Data:

Sample 1

Sample 2

Sample 3

Sample 4

Sample 5