The function of the reports is to summarize in a systematic way the results of your experiments. It is a demonstration of your understanding (sometimes ignorance) of the topic under consideration. Everything you have learned about the topic should appear somewhere in the report, whether you learned about it in the general lecture, lab lecture, text book or anywhere else. Think of it as a future reference on this topic. To the instructor it is proof you understand what the lab is about. The material should be presented in a logical way and, all the needed information should be easy to locate. Something like the following format is preferred.

It is encouraged that you discuss the results with your classmates but the report you submit must be your own work. If you are working closely with other people it is expected that your results might look the same. It is important that you inform me of whom you are working with, otherwise I tend to wonder about cheating, get angry and don't know who to blame, so, everyone suffers. In any case, the report's conclusions should be your own, expressed in your own words. If you quote references, provide a citation. Copying of other people's work is unacceptable.

Title Page
Just tear the title page out of the Lab manual or copy it from someone else. There is no need to waste time here. Make sure your name is on it as well as the name of the other people you worked with. Consider well the purpose or purposes listed on those title pages, a complete response to the purpose is expected.

Results
Report only the result asked for by the purpose. Often it is just one or two clearly identified numeric values or, a sentence or two explaining what you've found out. For the first few labs the results will be in the form of tables. Graphs are not results, spreadsheet calculations are not results, they are means to an end and belong in the appendix.

Discussion
A paragraph or two giving background to what this lab is about. You can also include any problems you might have encountered or noticed in the conduct of the lab that may have affected the results. It should not be, except perhaps in a very general way, an outline of the procedure. Procedural discussions should be placed into the appendix.

Conclusions
This is the most important part of the report, don't short-change it. How much confidence do you have in the results? All results can be compared to something, either reference values or some theoretically calculated value. How closely do the lab results match the theoritical or reference values? What have you learned in this experiment? What have you been able to determine about the material you tested? Is it related in any way to other topics that have been considered in the classes?

Sample Calculations
Many of the results require a long series of calculations to reach the end. You need to show, step-by-step, how you get from the raw data to the final result. When using spreadsheets it is still necessary to show this step-by-step process, whether it takes the form of handwritten calculations or a line of the sheet formatted to show the formulas in the cells. This section is meant to help the instructor find out where you may have erred to make it easier for you to correct your mistakes. Without this section, if you have calculation problems, it will not be possible to help you. Do not, unless it is easier for you, type this section. Nothing more than neat, organized handwritten calculations are expected.

Appendix
Include in this section all other items related to the conduct of this lab. The procedures, raw data and graphs should all be in this section. It is not necessary for you to copy over the procedure (though it is not a bad idea to outline the procedure before doing the lab), just include the procedure from the lab manual.

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