Principles of Chemistry II:  Introduction and Important Information

Background:

  1. All students are to use a bound 10" x 7" laboratory notebook that will be supplied at the first lab meeting. Display your name clearly on the front of the notebook.
  2. Number all the pages consecutively in ink.  Use the first two pages for a table of contents.
  3. Your laboratory instructor will notify you of the dates when experiments are due. Late experiments will be drastically penalized.
    One day late = -10% points
    More than one day and less than one week late= -50%
    More than one week late = -100%  (All labs must still be completed in order to receive credit for the class.)
  4. Experimental data are to be recorded in ink while you are in the laboratory.
  5. Unless your lab instructor notes otherwise, all experiments are to use Excel for generation of graphs and data tabulation.

Lab Notebook Content:

A lab notebook will be used to record four kinds of information that are needed if someone were to try and reproduce the experiments that you have done. They are:

  1. Purpose: Why are you doing the experiment? What questions (general or specific) are you trying to answer?
  2. Procedure: What methods are you using to answer these questions? It's not necessary to copy the experimental procedures into your notebook. You can simply tape your copy in the appropriate place. However, if you change any of the procedures, you should record these changes.
  3. Results and Observations: What did you observe? List the data you collected. Often it is very efficient to record your results in a table. You will be required to report your results using tables that have been generated with Excel. The first laboratory exercise will enable you to go through the Excel tutorial and thus you will become proficient in using this software.
  4. Conclusions: This section is where the chemist puts the answers to the questions that are being studied. What conclusions can be drawn from the results? What results support your conclusion. In many of the experiments there are questions sprinkled about in the write-up. These are guides to drawing these conclusions and must be answered.  

    *Note:  When writing the lab report, assume the reader (grader) is completely unfamiliar with the experiment.  Provide all your reasoning, assumptions, calculations and references in a logical format.

The data that you collect in lab must be recorded in your notebook, in ink, before you leave the lab. You must have your instructor sign your notebook before leaving, or the experiment will not be graded. Don't be concerned about how beautiful the notebook is. You will probably spill chemicals on some pages and some will undoubtedly be messy. Your instructor is concerned only that the four areas outlined above be entered accurately and are complete.

Safety:

Chemicals have the potential for doing great harm if they are not used with respect.
EYES: In order to protect your eyes, it is ABSOLUTELY REQUIRED that you wear eye protection at all times while working in the lab.  Approved goggles can be obtained from the bookstore or several local merchants. If a chemical gets in your eye, immediately flush your eye with lots of water and notify the instructor.
FIRE: If there is a fire, notify your instructor immediately! Fire blankets and extinguishers are in the laboratory.  If a chemical spills on the bench, clean it up immediately so that no one touches it accidently.
WASTE: Each experiment has instructions on how to dispose of excess reagents and wastes in a way which will be safe to the environment. Please follow these instructions carefully.  Also, keep instruments and work areas clean for safety and for longevity of the equipment, instruments and lab areas.


Forward to the Safety checklist.

Department of Chemistry
California State University, Stanislaus
Turlock, California 95382

Last edited by S. Phillips on August 23, 2004