Prelaboratory Assignment and Lab Notebooks

Prior to coming to lab, it is your responsibility to read the entire laboratory experiment and procedure so that you know what you will be doing and how you will be doing it.  To aid you in this, you will need to prepare your laboratory notebook before each experiment.  The preparation of your lab notebook will constitute your prelab assignment.

Getting your lab notebook ready should not be mere busy-work that you complete in the few minutes before lab.  The more prepared you are for the lab ahead of time, the more smoothly the lab will run and the more you will get out of it.  In addition, it will make writing the laboratory report much easier.

The prelaboratory assignment will be checked at the beginning of each lab period.  If yours is not complete, you will not be allowed to begin the experiment until it is.  The following information should be in your notebook for each experiment (as appropriate).

1. Number each page. Allow space at the front of the notebook for a table of contents. Use a hardbound (not spiral-bound), lined notebook, and keep all notes in ink. You may continue using this notebook if you take Chem 1062.
2. Date each entry, starting on a fresh right-hand page.  Often it is common to use only the right-hand page when entering information.
3. Give a short title to the experiment, and enter it in the table of contents. 
4. Technical details should be recorded (or space for them provided).  These details include information like lab partner’s name, instructor name, and the file name given to the data.
5. With the technical details taken care of, it is time to write down some of the what’s and why’s associated with the experiment.  To begin with, state the purpose or problem of the experiment as you understand it. What are we trying to accomplish? What are we going to learn?
6. When appropriate, include a working hypothesis regarding the outcome of the experiment.  This is also a point where you may jot down questions that you have about the lab.  These questions may be about how something is done, why something is done, or what type of information one could expect to get.  They could also be about how things will look or what will be observed.
7. Briefly summarize the course of action or procedure that will be used to satisfy number 5 above or reference the URL for the lab if the procedure is included in the lab. In your procedure, note any hazards and safety precautions. If severe, make them bold or circled. State how all waste will be disposed of. Usually we will have appropriate waste containers but often the procedure will require special waste disposal procedures (neutralizations, etc).
8. Prepare a table of quantities (mmols, concentration, g, mL, as needed) of each chemical required in the lab experiment. Leave room in this table to write the amount you actually use.

During the Lab

1.   Don’t forget to record all your observations as they happen.  If you make a mistake, DO NOT erase it or scribble it out.  Instead, place a single line through it, initial beside it, and continue on. 

2.   Record all data (masses, appearances of product, and anything that happens in the reaction itself) in your lab book. Do not write data on scratch paper and then transfer into your book – use the blank left-hand pages for scratch notes and calculations.  If data is recorded on the computer, print out the tables or graphs and tape them into your lab notebook on either the left or right page.  This part may need to be done after lab for some of the experiments.

3.   When you are finished gathering and analyzing data, you need to have your lab notebook witnessed.  This can be done by your lab partner, lab instructor, or the laboratory manager.  As a witness, the person will sign and date your notebook after the last thing recorded for that lab.