Presenting A Successful Lab Report

According to nursinghomeworks.com tutors, Lab reports contribute to an essential part of your laboratory courses and your overall grade as well. Thus, it is important to give the deserved attention when writing lab reports. When writing a laboratory report, you need to have a clear objective.

The general objective of any lab report is to communicate the results of or experiment in a manner that the reader can understand. It should clearly show the procedures used to arrive at the said results.  The lab report should follow a particular format as described by the instructor. However, if the instructor does not provide an outline, the following guide on how to write a lab report.

• A title page

A successful lab report should have a title page. Although not all lab reports require a title page, if you are instructed to include one, then you should write your title on a single page and include the following:

• The title should draw the attention of the reader
• The title represents the work presented
• Do not use “The” as the first word of your title
• The title should not contain more than ten words
• On the title page, also include your name and any lab partners, the instructor’s name, and the date of the lab experiment.
• Abstract

An abstract appears as the first thing on your lab report paper. It is also referred to as an executive summary. The abstract contains a concise summary of the research. It contains up to 150 words and includes:

• The aim of the experiment
• Some background information or context
• The procedures of the experiment
• The outcomes of the experiment
• The effects of the outcomes on the purpose of the experiment.

Putting all this information in one brief paragraph makes it challenging to write a lab report abstract, however with practice, it is very possible. You may also ask for help from our Nursing Term Paper experts.

When writing your abstract, ensure that:

• the structure of the abstract follows the structure of the report
• The abstract should not contain citations, pictures, diagrams, tables, equations, or graphs
• it should not contain jargon, abbreviations, and acronyms

Although it appears as the first thing after the title, the abstract is usually written last after the entire report has been written.

• Introduction

The introduction is a paragraph that provides the reader with the background of the entire report. It tells the reader what to expect in the document, clearly explaining the objective of the experiment or the hypothesis. It should also state the reasons for carrying out the experiment ad the benefits of the results. Ideally, your introduction should start broad and then narrow down to the hypothesis in a more specific manner.

• Procedure

This section explains the steps that were followed in the experiment. The procedure is written in chronological order of the steps followed as well as the materials used. Remember to write these steps in prose form and not s a list. Also, use the past tense and the third person.  This section also includes the observations that were recorded. The procedure should be written in a manner that someone else can follow the steps and repeat the experiment at a later date. Besides, you may need to include:

• Important conditions of the experiment, for example, the operating temperature, humidity, etc.
• Calibrations of the equipment

Materials included, for example, Sulphuric acid, etc.

• Results and analysis

This section describes the outcomes of the experiment you conducted. The numerical data collected during your experiment is usually presented in form of tables, graphs, as well as figures. You need to label these presentations properly, indicating what data they are sowing.  The tables are usually labeled as table 1, Table 2, while all other figures are labeled as When presenting calculations, you need to indicate the general equation and at least one worked solution. If the calculation s repeated, usually, the additional details appear in the appendix. If you are not sure, you can check your lab manual r unit guide, or consult your instructor on where to indicate the calculations.

• Discussion

In this section, you provide comments on the outcomes of the experiment interpret the meaning of the outcomes and explain if there were any unexpected results. In this section, you need to demonstrate how well you understand what is happening in the experiment.

You do this by identifying and commenting on any trends you come across in the experiment. Also, provide a comparison between the experimental results and the predictions. Identify the sources of possible errors and how the error may impact the results of the results. If you experience unexpected outcomes, you may suggest explanations for such results. And where applicable, provide a suggestion of how the experiment could be improved.

• Conclusion

In conclusion, lab reports are common assignments for your science units. To write a successful lab report, you need to follow the above guidelines. Also, remember to demonstrate the purpose of the report. Report what you did, what you observed, and what you learned from the experiment. Also, indicate why the experiment matters.  However, if you need help in writing a lab report, ask for help from nursing homeworks experts today and get a custom lab report paper.