How to Write a Report for Chemistry Lab

This article was co-authored by Meredith Juncker, PhD. Meredith Juncker is a PhD candidate in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center. Her studies are focused on proteins and neurodegenerative diseases.

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Lab reports are an essential part of scientific study and knowledge. For any chemistry lab report, you will need to write down or type the entire procedure and everything observed during the lab activity. Any lab report should allow the person reading it to be able to reproduce the exact procedure (and result, hopefully) carried out in the lab. Keep in mind that each course might have slightly different requirements for the details of the report as well as whether it should be handwritten or typed -- this article gives you an overview of typical components.

Getting Ready

• Pay careful attention to the safety precautions recommended for the type of experiment you're doing. You will need to incorporate these into your lab report.

• Write in complete sentences.
• Use passive voice -- “Water was poured” rather than “I poured water.”
• Stay in the third person -- “Scientists claim X” rather than “I discovered scientists claim X.”
• Be careful of verb tenses. Most of your report should use present tense verbs, unless you are explaining what you did in the experiment, or what has been written in the past about it. For example, “One problem in conducting this experiment is X” rather than “One problem in conducting this experiment was/will be X.”

• ”At 50 degrees Celsius, when XO is combined with YO, XY and O2 will form.”

Be familiar with your instructor’s expectations. Though there are elements that will appear in all lab reports, each instructor might have different expectations. Be certain that you know, for example, how your teacher or professor wants citations and/or endnotes, whether he or she will require a list of materials, and exactly how a final lab report should be formatted. [4] X Research source

Writing Down Basics

• Experiment 7: Identification of the Results of X + Y
• Eloise Texeira (etexeira@wonderful.net)
• Partner: Jose Marques (jmarques@wonderful.net)
• CHEM 215-08
• July 14, 2015
• Professor Lewis

Leave space at the beginning for your abstract. This will be the part where you sum up your work. You will tell the reader what you did and why, and then the results. Since it’s at the beginning, however, you will need to wait to write it until the end. [5] X Research source

• What do we know beforehand (previous knowledge or research around the experiment)?
• Why did you choose to do this experiment?
• What was the purpose of the experiment?
• What do you believe you will discover?
• Why do you believe that your experiment will turn out in a particular way?

Getting to Specifics

• Your equation should be correctly balanced, with your stoichiometric coefficients reduced.
• For example, at 50 degrees Celsius, XO(l) + YO(l) -> XY(l) +O2(g).

• Keep in mind that other scientists will use this section of your paper to reproduce your results, so be as specific as possible.
• Here's an example: "Using a burner, we heated Liquid XO and YO to 50 degrees Celsius. We verified the temperature with a thermometer. We poured the liquids into a third tube, which we'd heated to 50 degrees Celsius. The combination of the 2 liquids formed an O2 gas and Liquid XY inside the tube.”

• Name and amount (in grams) of the final product
• Melting point of the final product with the known literature value
• Gas Chromatography Mass Spectroscopy (GCMS) data
• H NMR data
• Infrared Spectroscopy (IR) data

• As part of this section, write a paragraph about how your results could be used in the future, or the future direction research could go based on your findings.

Finishing Up

Write a Conclusion. In a short and concise section, sum up what you learned from the experiment and whether it went as you thought. Unlike the Results and Discussion Section, the Conclusion is more focused on the broad ideas brought up in your introduction than the specifics of your particular experiment. [9] X Research source

• This includes any relevant papers you read before conducting your experiment, even if you didn't directly cite them in your report.

Create an abstract. The abstract (no more than 200 words) should give the reader the basics about your experiment and its results. It should be self-contained, meaning that a person should be able to read the abstract and get a summary of your entire work without having to read any other section. Even though you’re writing the abstract at the end, it will end up going at the beginning of the report. [11] X Trustworthy Source Purdue Online Writing Lab Trusted resource for writing and citation guidelines Go to source

Expert Q&A

Meredith Juncker is a PhD candidate in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center. Her studies are focused on proteins and neurodegenerative diseases.

This depends on the requirements set by your lab instructor. Some lab instructors will allow you to write with pen on white paper. However, they may prefer that you type up your report or write your report in a spiral notebook. If you make a mistake when writing in pen, only draw 1 line through the mistake, then continue writing.

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Meredith Juncker is a PhD candidate in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center. Her studies are focused on proteins and neurodegenerative diseases.

Here is a good order for your lab report: 1) Abstract - You'll write this summary of the experiment last, but put it first in your report. 2) Introduction - Include the background information, and point out the gap in research you're addressing. 3) Hypothesis - What you think will happen when you test the gap in knowledge. 4) Experimental Section/Materials and Methods - Describe your reagents, protocols, and every detail of what you did. 5) Results - Explain what happened, providing your data. 6) Discussion - Provide your data interpretations, note any issues or mistakes, and suggest future directions. 7) References - Include all of your sources!

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