Course # Experiment # and Name Date Namei (Contribution to the report) Abstract: Read below to find out more

Experiment and Data: Elaborate on your abstract's part of what you did supporting with data tables and Graphs that you obtained. All the calculations to reach the result should be shown here. Conclusion and Error Analysis: Will contain the conclusion that you came to after the experiment and discuss the errors that might be involved in your experiment. Clearly show the calculations for error analysis.

he abstract! although it comes first logistically! always should be written last. "t needs to be written last because it is the essence of your report! drawing information from all of the other sections of the report. "t explains why the experiment was performed and what conclusions were drawn from the results obtained. A general guideline for an abstract has five sections or areas of focus# why the experiment was conducted$ the problem being addressed$ what methods were used to solve the problem$ the ma%or results obtained$ and the overall conclusions from the experiment as a whole. &o not be misled! however! from this list into thin'ing that the abstract is a long section. "n fact! it should be significantly shorter than all of the others. All of this information should be summari(ed in a clear but succinct manner if the abstract is going to be successful. An estimated average length for all of this information is only a single paragraph. Although this may seem as though it is a short length to contain all of the re)uired information! it is necessary because it forces you to be accurate and yet compact! two essential )ualities. he best way to attempt to go about writing an abstract is to divide it into the sections mentioned above. he first two sections are very similar and can be grouped together! but do not have to be. "f you decide to address them separately! ma'e sure that you do not repeat anything. *ften a section can be mentioned in only one sentence. Remember! brevity is the 'ey to a successful abstract. Each section is addressed below to help clarify what needs to be included and what can be omitted. he most important thing to remember when writing the abstract is to be brief and state only what is pertinent. +o extraneous information should be included. A successful abstract is compact! accurate and self,contained. "t also must be clear enough so someone who is unfamiliar with your experiment could understand why you did what you did! and what the experiment indicated in the end. An additional note is that abstracts typically are written in the passive voice! but it is acceptable to use personal pronouns such as " or we.

General questions to be addressed in the abstract section

-. Why it was done and what is the problem being addressed? hese two sections can be grouped together into one brief statement summari(ing why the experiment was performed in the first place. What was the )uestion trying to be answered. /cience is an exploration for truth. "t is all about curiosity and answering )uestions to find out why and how things

wor'. he scientific method is a clear example of this$ first state a problem or )uestion and then try to determine the answer. his section is the statement of the original problem. "t is the reason behind why an experiment is being done. his should not include many details! rather it should be a simple statement. "t can even be stated in one or two sentences at the most. 0. What did you do? his part of the abstract states what was done to try to answer the )uestion proposed. "t should in no way be very detailed. "t contains a brief outline of what was done! highlighting only crucial steps. "t is the materials and methods section of your abstract! but it is only one or two sentences in length. "t is a description of how you decided to approach the problem. 1. What did you find out? "n other words! what did all of your hard wor' and preparation tell you about the )uestion you set out to answer. his contains only the crucial results obtained. he crucial results are those that are necessary to answer your original )uestion posed. Without these results! the experiment would have been useless. he results should be stated briefly and should not be explained$ they should only be mentioned. "t is very similar to the results section of your paper! but it highlights only pertinent results used to draw conclusions. An average length for this section is two or three sentences at the most. his number can vary however! depending on the complexity of the experiment! and so these length guides are %ust that! guides! not rules. 2. Conclusions: his is the end of your abstract! directly hinging on the results obtained. his is the 3so what3 part of your experiment. 3/o what3 refers to what the results mean in the long run. 4ou need not include how you drew your conclusions! only the final conclusion. his should directly follow the results so the reader 'nows what results led to what conclusions. his is the e)uivalent to the discussion part of the paper! but again! li'e the rest of the abstract! it needs to be stated briefly and succinctly. 4ou do not need to explain how you deduced the conclusion from the results obtained! only the end conclusions. After you have stated this! the abstract is complete.