notebooks, reports, graphing, exp 14, etc.

[robert zellmer]

I've received several questions concerning the notebooks, reports, etc.,
I decided to send something to everyone.

1) There was on-line data entry for exp 14.  This should have been done 
before
     exp 14 lab.  I know there were some problems the first day or so 
and this will
     be taken into account (due date) by your TAs when grading.

2) You MUST have the notebook prepared before lab.  There are some hints and
     sometimes changes to the manual on my web page.  Go to the 
following link
     and you'll see all sorts of things there about every exp.

*Laboratory* 
<http://chemistry.osu.edu/%7Erzellmer/chem1250/lab/lab_1250.htm>

3) Take a look at Carmen and the following link for an idea of what 
should be in
     the notebook if you still aren't sure,

*Chem Lab Notebook Exercise - Guidelines for Lab Notebooks* 
<http://undergrad-ed.chemistry.ohio-state.edu/labnotebook/index.html>

     If you took 1210 you did the notebook exercise (found at the link 
above).  If you didn't
     take 1210 you want to look at the link.  It has some examples of 
good and bad notebooks.
     It should be rather obvious which is which.

     The next link shows an example I did for the first 2 steps from the 
lab manual for exp 14
     (which was sent in a previous e-mail),

***My Suggestions for Writing a Notebook Procedure* 
<http://chemistry.osu.edu/%7Erzellmer/chem1220/notebook_proc_1220.pdf>

Someone with a reasonable understanding of chemistry should be able to 
pick up your
     notebook and be able to follow what you've done and repeat the 
experiment just from the
     notebook w/o the manual.  You can see it would be much easier to 
follow what I have in
     this example during lab than trying to read the manual during lab.

4) All the reports are FULL reports except for when you get to the 
research project.  You
     won't have a report each week for that.  Instead you complete 
activities and have one big
     paper at the end.

     If you want to know what a FULL report is look at the following two 
links,

*Chem Lab Report Exercise - Guidelines for Writing a Lab Report* 
<http://undergrad-ed.chemistry.ohio-state.edu/labreports/index.html>

*Lab Report Format - My Lab Report Example* 
<http://chemistry.osu.edu/%7Erzellmer/chem1210_sample_lab_report.pdf>

         The 2nd one is my example of what it should look like with what 
should go into
         each section.  It has undergone a few slight changes 
(especially in the Discussion
         section) to clarify what you should be including in each section.

     a) The procedure section in the report is simply a bibliographic 
reference unless
         you made any changes.  Any changes you make should go in this 
section below
         the bibliographic reference.  Otherwise we do NOT want any 
details of the
         procedure in the report.

5) Each week you must have your notebook prepared when you walk into lab.
     The TA will come around the lab in the first 10 minutes or so and 
check to
     see if you have the notebook prepared.  If not you can loose up to 
6 pts
     depending on what you have completed.

     Any data you take in lab or anything you do related to the exp 
should go in
     the notebook.  Do NOT write in the manual or on another sheet of paper
     (even if you intend to copy it over to the notebook later).  We 
will deduct
     points for this.

     Record values to the correct sig. fig. and include units.  Use 
tables when possible.

     Always in PEN (report too).  If you make a mistake put a single 
line through it and
     write the correct data next to it.  Do not scribble over the 
mistake and do not use
     whiteout (same for the report).

     The TA will grade your notebook (worth 10 pts) and tell you how to 
improve it.

Pretend like I'm your boss and we've been working on the most important 
discovery
     since the creation of the universe.  Then you get hit by a bus.  If 
you haven't recorded
     everything you've done in your notebook and it's not easy to follow 
and figure out what
     you've done I won't be able to repeat your important work.  
Remember, I can't ask
     you what you did because you were hit by a bus.

6) Exp 14 help

     a)  Go to the "Helpful Tidbits" link on my class web page (not 
Carmen) and you will
         find a link for exp 14 which should help with the lab itself 
and the report.  Read it
         before doing the on-line data entry, going to lab and then 
again before writing the
         report.  There's help for other exps as well.

*Helpful Tidbits for 1220* 
<http://www.chemistry.ohio-state.edu/%7Erzellmer/chem1220/faq/faq_1220.htm>


     d) I have examples of good graphs on my web pages.  You can find 
them at the link
         below.

*Sample Graphs* <http://chemistry.osu.edu/%7Erzellmer/sample_graphs.pdf>

         The first graph doesn't take up the full page like it should 
since I had to shrink it so I
         could write on it.  The 2nd graph is a better example of what 
graphs should look like.
         It also shows a graph when you have more than one set of data 
plotted (my example
         for exp 14 also shows this).   You can bring the legend inside 
the graph area to allow
         the graph to spread out and occupy the whole page.  You don't 
need a legend when
         there's only one set of data plotted (as for graph 2 in exp 
14).  You do NOT need grid
         lines for most of the graphs this semester (you will for exp 
21graphs).

         There's also a link you can use to help get you started with 
Excel if you've never
         used it before.  It's a simple example for a density graph. Go 
to the following link
         and you will find this, along with other useful links.

*Using MS Excel for Reports* 
<http://chemistry.osu.edu/%7Erzellmer/excel/excel.htm>

         Many of my examples use an older version of Excel (Excel 
2003).  I have a link
         explaining the major differences between it and the newer 
versions.  Again, click tabs,
         right-click, etc. and explore what it can do and where to find 
things.  Look at the
         links for my exp 14 example using Excel.  It shows you how to 
do certain things
         (calculations, more than one data set on a graph, etc.)


I hope this and my on-line help file address the majority of your 
questions.  If not ask.

Dr. Zellmer
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