experiments

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Title, Objectives, and Apparatus

State down the title and objectives of your experiment. You may refer to the manual for this section. You would also need to state down all of the apparatus that was used in your experiment. If any item is replaced, state the actual instrument/component that was used.

Theory [10%]

Write down any theory or information related with your experiment. Be creative and explore possible theories. Do not limit your source of information from the manual only. Explore books and the internet. Remember to quote the information and include details in your bibliography.

Procedure [10% - shared with theory]

Refer to the procedures in the manual. Writing style should be scientific, similar to the writing style in thesis or journals. Avoid describing any schematic/setup with words. The use of diagrams instead are strongly recommended. Lastly, the procedure should be written using passive sentences. For example:

Active Sentence:

Place the C3 capacitor back into the circuit.

Passive Sentence:

The C3 capacitor is placed back into the circuit.

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Data [25%]

In some cases, if your original data is messy, it is strongly recommended to rewrite and organize your data properly. Do not forget your error values and remember that numbers do not stand alone. All numbers are accompanied with units (except for some numbers e.g. ratio values).

Data Analysis [25%]

In this section, you should provide examples of calculations that were done. If applicable, you would also need to show the calculations for the least square method. Other examples of calculations may include error (propagation) calculations.

Discussion (includes Q & A) [20%]

This section focuses on qualitative part of the experiment. You may compare your data with standard values and discuss the outcome here. Some would prefer to state the differences in per cent (%). In this section, you should also answer any questions or tasks provided in the manual. You may also state any difficulties/errors/mistakes that you faced during the experiment and what you may suggest to prevent it or improve the experiment. Good and realistic ideas are warmly welcomed.

Conclusion [10%]

In this section, please refer back to your objectives. You are recommended to state the accompanying values with your objectives. State the outcome of experiment, i.e. a failure or a success.

Bibliography/References

Any documents or sources of references that was used should be declared here.

Tardy Students/ Late Reports / Absenteeism

I normally give students are given 15 minutes leeway. Any later, you may go back to your hostel. Late reports and absenteeism without proper reason would be severely penalized.

For me, each late day carries 0.2 points. The marks that you are supposed to received will be divided by (1 + 0.2x), where x is the number of late (working) days. If you submit your report 1 week late (that is 5 working days), your score would be divided by half. Please do not mistake my kindness as a weakness. Note that some lecturers would not accept late reports at all.

Absenteeism with proper reasons is allowed. Students would need to repeat the experiment during the "repetition week", normally right before your final exams.

Back to Basics

(Units and Scientific Notations)

Forgetting to write your units is blasphemy in science. Numbers do not stand alone. Units give meaning to the a number. The lack of units would signify a lack of understanding and respect for science.

For the love of God, please state your data in scientific notations for any number that appears in your report. We do not accept 2,540,000 as a form of data. It should be stated as 2.54 x 10^7 or 2.54E7. For more information, please refer to Scientific Notations on Wikipedia.

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Error Calculations

Example:

A student obtained several readings from different points using a digital multimeter. Based on the smallest scale, the student obtained:

VAC = 0.05 ± 0.01V (error about 20%)

VBC = 0.035 ± 0.001V (error about 2%)

The difference in error between two readings from the same instrument, is ridiculous. In actual, the student should have referred to the error provided by the manufacturer. I'm guessing it would be about 2% (or less). Hence:

VAC = 0.050 ± 0.001V (error about 2%)

In regards to errors, the rule of thumb is both data and error should have equal number of decimal places.

Incorrect Example: 2.974 ± 0.04 mm

Correct Example: 2.97 ± 0.04 mm

Please take note of error propagation between data: subtraction, summation, division, multiplications, etc. All of these operations would require error calculations. Here is a simple example:

Data 1: x ± Δ x

Data 2: y ± Δ y.

Calculation: z = x - y

Error Calculation: Δ z = Δ x + Δ y

For more examle

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Significant Figures

In some cases, your data and errors should not be written with too many significant figures. Data obtained from instruments generally have an acceptable number of significant figures while calculated data (from calculators and computers) may have as many 10 significant figures. Here is an example:

Experiment Data: 2.974 mm

Calculated Data: 2.653814 mm (obtained from an equation)

Accepted Calculated Data: 2.654 mm (rounded)

In respect to the experiment, the calculated data should be realistic and rounded to match the experiment data.

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Graphs

A complete graph would have:

Graph Title

Your graph should have a title. In general, the title is in reference to the x-axis and y-axis. Examples:

Graph of Rising Voltage vs. Time

Current against Voltage for Silicon Diode

Axes Formatting

Your axis should be labled display the quantity, symbol and unit. Examples:

Label for Y-Axis: Votlage, V, mV

Label for X-Axis: Time, t, ms

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