Physics - Lab Format

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This document focuses how to write a lab report in a physics course. The report has following items which
should be followed by each student.

A lab report is the overview of the actual experiment. It is the evidence for the lab performed. The criteria for
the physics lab reports is produced under the guidance of general scientific requirements. This is an important
part of your physics course, here in The Koç School.
Some of the steps of the criteria are already completed as a part of your education. You are expected to follow
similar steps for the following lab reports.

The language of the report needs to be written in the present tense, passive voice. The words “we”, “I”, “you”
are not preferred in this type of scientific writing.

The italic wordings are the explanations of the steps of the lab report. Read these explanations to cover the
necessary steps.

Follow the steps which are presented below to complete your first lab report. Each student has to complete its
lab report individually even the lab is performed as a group. The deadline for any lab report in each physics
course is one week. Please complete this lab report and print out to give it to your teacher on time.

Physics department.
 Title of Experiment.
Density of liquids
Name:

Date:

Partners’ names:

RESEARCH QUESTION – must be focused and specify one major aspect which will be investigated.
How does the change in volume affect the mass of a substance?

Hypothesis – written as a statement – the conclusion eventually reached should address the hypothesis
given here.
Mass and volume of a liquid are directly proportional, if the pressure and temperature is constant.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION.

Here you have to write everything using your own words that you’ve learned about DENSITY,
throughout the books and online sources like:
- Density definition
- Equation of the density
- The meaning of the symbols
- Interpretation of Mass vs. Volume graph for a material.
Apparatus and Materials – lists the apparatus and materials required.
Be specific and state definite sizes, numbers, and states of matter.

1. 100 cm3 graduated cylinder

2. Triple-beam balance

3. Unknown liquid.

4. Beaker.

Procedure – write in paragraph or point form, imperative voice, and present tense

1. Zero your triple beam balance.

2. Put at least 100 ml of liquid in a beaker.
3. Measure and record the mass of the empty graduated cylinder.
4. Put a small amount (between 10 and 20 ml) of liquid in the cylinder and record its volume.
5. Measure the new mass of the graduated cylinder with liquid inside.
6. Calculate the mass of the liquid only.
7. Gradually increase the volume of the liquid and repeat your measurements for at least eight different values.
DATA COLLECTION AND PROCESSING

Photograph or Diagram of Lab Setup- take a picture of the experimental set up and label the
components of it!

Raw Data Table – make sure this is raw data only. Data table & clarity is important. A title should be
given (Raw Data Table is not a data table title, it is a lab report section title) Make sure that all
columns, etc. are properly headed & units are given. Uncertainties are mandatory and can be given
within column headings for equipment precision and as footnotes beneath data tables for other types of
uncertainties.

Raw data table

Total mass of the cylinder and liquid Volume of the liquid

/g ± 0.1 g / cm3 ± 1 cm3
1

Mass of the empty graduated cylinder with its uncertainty

= ± 0.1 g

Justification of the uncertainties for mass and volume:

Uncertainty for the total mass is ±0.1 g which is the smallest scale of the triple beam balance.

Uncertainty for volume is ± 1 ml or ± 1 cm3 which is guaranteed by the manufacturer.

 Data Processing
Overview – this is a short paragraph section that gives an overview of how and why it was
decided to process and present the data in the form that shows up later in this section.

Processed data table

Use the following equation to process your data.
mass of the liquid=total mass−mass of the graduated cylinder

Mass of the liquid Volume of the liquid

/g ± 0.2 g cm3 ± 1 cm3
1

Justification of the uncertainties for mass and volume:

Uncertainty for mass of the liquid is ±0.2 g which is the addition of the uncertainties of total mass and the
mass of the graduated cylinder.

Uncertainty for volume is ± 1 ml or ± 1 cm3 which is guaranteed by the manufacturer.

Presentation – this is typically one or more data tables (of the processed data) and one or more graphs
of this processed data.

Use your results to draw the Mass versus Volume Graph on a millimetric graph paper.

Draw the best fit line for your data.

ON THE BEST FIT LINE, CHOOSE TWO DISTANT POINTS AND WRITE THEIR COORDINATES ON
YOUR GRAPH PAPER. THESE POINTS ARE NOT YOUR DATA POINTS.

Use the points that you have chosen to calculate the slope of the best fit line. Use the following equation:
rise y 2− y 1
slope= =
run x 2−x 1

State the unit of the slope.

Convert the unit of the experimental density result from g / cm3 into the SI unit of the density which is kg / m3.
THE ERROR CALCULATION:

Each experimental result has some errors due its nature. These errors are produced by equipment or the
methodology of the experiment.

The actual value for the density of this liquid as measured by more sophisticated equipment is ______800
kg / m3 __________.

Calculate the percentage error in your experiment using the equation below.

% error=¿ actual value−experimental result∨ ¿ ×100 ¿

actual value

CONCLUSION & EVALUATION

Conclusion and Justification - this is a paragraph section in which the results of the experiment are
discussed. Start by addressing whether the data seems to support or does not support the hypothesis.
This should be discussed and not just stated.

Please answer the following questions in this section:

What does this graph tell you about the relationship between mass and the volume of the liquid?
How does density change when mass increases?