Lab Information

Laboratory attendance is mandatory and experiments must be performed at the assigned time.  If you must be absent, including for an illness, notify the professor in advance if possible.  Many experiments involve numerous reagents and other equipment requiring lengthy explanation and demonstration.  It is inconvenient to make up a lab for just one or two students.  Make-up labs may be arranged during other scheduled lab periods during the same week and on a space availability basis by consulting with the professor.  A missed lab can also be done during make-up lab week, which will take place on Dec. 7th.  Laboratory experiments not made up will receive a ZERO.  Laboratory reports or worksheets will be due at the beginning of your assigned lab period the following week.  A portion of the total points will be deducted for each day a report is late. Your lowest 10 point laboratory score will be dropped.  Students missing three or more labs will not pass the course.

Laboratory Notebook: You must keep a laboratory notebook in this course.  The lab notebook should be used prior to the experiment to organize the experiment and to summarize the useful information (prelab, described in more detail below). It should be used during an experiment to record quantities, describe observations and summarize operations carried out.  All data should be recorded in the notebook at the time they are obtained.  There is no reason for recording anything (unless specified) on odd pieces of paper to be transcribed into the notebook later.  Record your notes in ink, not pencil.  If corrections are necessary add the new data and don’t erase the mistake.   (Cross out the mistake and initial it).  Neatness is desirable, but it is less important than having a notebook that is accurate and complete.

Prelab:  Before coming to lab you should read the lab and enter the following in your notebook: the title and purpose of the experiment and a brief outline of the experimental procedure.  I will be coming around in the beginning of the lab to check that you have done your prelab and to make sure you have read the lab and are prepared for the day’s experiment.  Prelabs and housekeeping for the semester will be worth 5 pts.

Laboratory Quizzes:  Short laboratory quizzes (5 pts each) will be given throughout the semester during lab covering laboratory operations and procedures that you are responsible to read and understand before you come to lab.  These quizzes will usually take place in the beginning of a lab period either just before or after a short prelab lecture given by your instructor.  A note of advice: come prepared for lab!  Read the entire lab, including the background information, as well as all laboratory operations that you are unfamiliar with.  You will have an easier and more enjoyable time in lab and will use your lab time more effectively.

Reports and Products:  Short reports (2-4 pages) will be required for approximately seven experiments.    For the other six you will be required to submit a worksheet that will be passed out the day of the lab.  Since your lab grade is determined mainly by your reports and worksheets, you should be sure to prepare them carefully.  As mentioned previously, these reports and worksheets are due at the beginning of the next lab session.  When written reports are required they must be typed.  However, you are allowed to hand write structures and calculations IN PEN.    Additionally, you will need to turn in your product (if applicable) in a small tared vial at the time you turn in your lab report or worksheet labeled with the following: i) your name, ii) the name of the compound, iii) the melting or boiling point and, iv) the yield (grams) and tare of the vial.

The reports should be written in the following format:

1. Your name, lab partner’s name and the date the experiment is due.
2.  Title and number of the experiment.
3. The purpose of the experiment.  This should be more than one sentence and it should be a sentence (with a subject, verb, etc.).  Your purpose should correlate with the scenario discussed in the background section of the experiment.
4. The balanced equation(s) for the reaction(s) (if applicable).
5. A description of the procedure using 3rd person, past tense.  The amounts of all reagents used in your experiment should be included here.  This section should also include any observations that you made during the experiment (in 3rd person, past tense).
6. Data, calculations and results: (includes, if applicable) a)      The actual yield in grams. b)      The theoretical yield in grams. (you should show your calculations of how you arrived at this number). c)      The percent yield. d)     The melting or boiling point of the product. e)      Results of any spectroscopic data obtained on the product.
7. Discussion and conclusion. In this section, for example, discuss issues such as whether you were successful in obtaining the correct product, whether it was pure, how you know it was pure, and why you obtained so little or so much of it, etc. Also, you should include in this section a discussion of any spectroscopic or instrumental data you obtained of your product and how it supports your belief that you have the correct product.
8. Answers to the assigned questions for the lab.

Additional Links: 
                            Chemical Safety and Disposal                        Aldrich Chemical Catalog                        Chemfinder Chemical Catalog

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The views included on this page are those of the publisher and do not necessarily reflect the views of the college.
Last Updated - January 12, 2021

Comments or problems contact: Patty Pieper