Lesson 3: How to Write a Result Section of a Chemistry Lab Report



The result section of a chemistry lab report is where you present your results. You can present your results in the form of tables, graphs, and diagrams. Tables, graphs or diagrams must be labeled correctly. You can write a brief description on either top or below of the tables, graphs, and diagrams. However, labeling of your tables and figures depend on the instructions provided by your institution.
In addition, you have to briefly describe your results. Though, you should not explain your results in this section. The explanation of your results should be in your discussion part. 

 Let us check a few examples: 

Example 1
An experiment was conducted to determine the concentrations and the acid-base equilibrium constants for acetic acid and aqueous ammonia using titration curves. During the lab session, the following raw data for titration of an acetic acid with sodium hydroxide, and titration of aqueous ammonia with hydrochloric acid, CLICK HERE TO FIND THE DATA .

You have to express these results in a neat and pretty form. The results are already in MS Excel. Now, you have to use Scatter plot on the MS Excel Tool's Bar to draw titration curves using your raw data. For titration of an acetic acid with sodium hydroxide, plot pH values against the volume of sodium hydroxide used. For the titration of aqueous ammonia with hydrochloric acid, plot pH values versus the volume of hydrochloric acid used. 

If you do that, you will get these curves: acetic acid-sodium hydroxide titration curve and aqueous ammonia-hydrochloric acid titration curves, CLICK HERE TO FIND THE CURVES . 

Now, present them in your lab report as in Figure 1 and Figure 2.




Briefly describe your data for example 1 as follows:
The volume of NaOH used to reach equivalence was 9.3ml and the pKa was 4.3. On the other hand, the volume of HCl used to reach equilibrium was 16.4ml and pKb was 9.57. 

Example 2
An experiment was performed to identify two unknown compounds by interpreting their IR spectra. In this example, IR spectrometer was used, which gave two spectra of the two unknown compounds (Figure 1 and Figure). Figure 1 is the IR spectrum of unknown compound #1 while Figure 2 is the IR spectrum of unknown compound #2. Additionally, Table A consists of structure, functional group, peak and the identification of unknown organic compounds. 
Figure 1: IR Spectrum of Unknown Compound #1





Figure 2: IR Spectrum of Unknown Compound #2
 
Table A

Briefly describe your data for example 2 as follows:
The unknown organic solution #1 had C=O vibrational stretch peak at 1714cm-1(Figure 1 and Table 1). On the other hand, unknown organic solution #2 had both C=O and C-O vibrational stretches at 1714cm-1 and 1269cm-1(Figure 2 and Table 1). These results indicate that among the lists of organic compounds available only aliphatic ketone and aromatic ester were present. 

Final remarks:
In a chemistry lab result section, you should present your data in a proper manner. Label them as required and with captions either on top or below. Furthermore, briefly describe your results and use the correct measurements when it is required. In examples 1 and 2 above, I presented my data in graphs, tables, and diagrams. Therefore, it is easier for the reader to understand my data even without reading a brief description of the results.  

If you have any question about this lesson, kindly comment below and I will answer it.Moreover, if you have not checked previous posts then you can read them here,Free Course , Lesson 1, and Lesson 2.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How to write a Forensic Case Study: Murder of Junko Furuta

Image
Photo of Junko Furuta  For one to score high marks in a Forensic Case Study, one must  adhere to the following: Background of the case: This section contains details about the crime. It includes; the reasons for committing the offense, the conditions which the crime was committed, the circumstances of the crime scene and clear identification of the suspect(s) and the victim(s). One should ensure that the information in this part gives a precise idea of what the case is all about.   Pick and Write an article on Iwriter Website Evidence: This encompasses the piece of evidence found at the crime scene. The evidence should be described in details, that is, ways in which the evidence was collected, processed and preserved.   Forensic Tests: The tests should be two or more that were used to analyze the evidence. The science or theory of instrumentation used must be described fully.   Results: This consists of a detailed explanation of the forensic ...
Read more

Roles of Sodium Carbonate when Extracting Caffeine from Tea Leaves

Image
A student failed to add sodium carbonate (Na 2 CO 3 ) when extracting caffeine from tea leaves with hot water. Though, high yield of caffeine was produced. The crystals melted at temperatures between 202  and 214 degree  Celsius. Explain. This happened because sodium carbonate did not interfere with the caffeine content of the tea leaves. Sodium carbonate (which is a base) deprotonates the phenolic hydroxyl group (-OH) (acidic) of tannins rendering them anionic. Hence, making them highly soluble in water, but parsimoniously soluble in methylene chloride. So, if sodium carbonate is not added when extracting caffeine with hot water, the extracted caffeine would also contain tannins. Additionally, sodium carbonate is added during the extraction to keep caffeine (an alkaloid which is an organic base)  in a free base form. It prevents caffeine from reacting with available acid available, which may lead to the formation cation. It reacts with a phenolic h...
Read more

Arrhenius equation: Increasing temperature increases the rate reaction

Image
The rate of reaction of a particular reaction often increases as one increase the temperature. However, how can this belief be proved using Arrhenius equation? According to the Arrhenius equation, the rate constant (k) is obtained by the ratio of Ea to RT, in which Ea denotes required energy while RT is the available thermal energy. The Arrhenius Equation is given by: k=Ae - (Ea/RT) When Ea is larger, it results in slower reactions. On the other hand, when RT is large, it leads to faster rate of reaction. Larger Ea gives smaller rate constant k, but larger RT produces larger rate constant (k). Larger rate constant increases the rate of reactions.  By using Arrhenius equation, one can easily see that when the temperature is increased, the rate constant will also increase. Let us consider these two scenarios. In the first scenario, Ea=120,000 Joules/mole, R=8.31 mol -1 K -1 , and K=373K.In the second scenario, Ea=120,000Joules/mole, R=8.31 mol -1 K -1 , and K...
Read more