exp 1 report, graphing, report questions, notebook exercise, etc.

[robert zellmer]

I've received several questions concerning exp 1 so I decided to send 
something
to everyone.  I know some of you have already done exp 1 but this should 
still
help.  There's a few things I've already e-mailed out but are included 
here again.

1) There was no pre-lab for exp 1.  You should have read a couple of the 
appendices
     describing the equipment (tells you how many decimal places you 
should have
     recorded for the buret and pipets) and a change to the volumes to 
use for the beaker.
     I did send some things earlier this week but you can find this by 
going to the following
     link and scrolling down to exp 1.

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

     A good source for what should go in the notebook and report with an 
example (manual
     pages, notebook example and report example) can be found at,

*OSU Chemistry Undergraduate Laboratory Server - Very useful* 
<https://uglabs.cbc.osu.edu/>

     There you will find a Chem 1250 link and once there you will find 
several useful links
     about lab skills, lab notebook and report.  I do have links to the 
Notebook and Report
     pages at this site and my "Laboratory" link and below.

2) For those of you who haven't done it yet, you should have determined 
how to prepare your
     notebook by having looked at the instruction links on my web page 
and Carmen.
     Take a look at the syllabus and the following link for an idea of 
what should be in there,

*Chem Lab Notebook - Departmental Guidelines for Lab Notebooks* 
<https://uglabs.cbc.osu.edu/gc-labnotebook/>

     The next link shows an example I did for the first couple of steps 
from the lab manual
     for exps 6 and 14 (also shown on the last page of the syllabus).  
It shows you should
     write your procedure in short concise steps with only 1 or 2 
objectives in each step.  It
     looks like a "cookbook".  This makes it much easier to follow when 
in lab and you are
     less likely to make mistakes (check things off as you do them).

*My Suggestions for Writing a Notebook Procedure* 
<http://chemistry.osu.edu/%7Erzellmer/chem1250/notebook_proc_1250.pdf>

3) All the reports are FULL reports exp the one for exp 7.

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

*Chem Lab Report - Departmental Guidelines for Writing a Lab Report* 
<https://uglabs.cbc.osu.edu/gc-labreport/>

*Lab Report Format - My Lab Report Example* 
<http://chemistry.osu.edu/%7Erzellmer/chem1250/lab/chem1250_sample_lab_report.pdf>

         The 2nd one is my summary of what it should look like with what 
should go into
         each section.  It is a little more up to date in that for most 
labs there are no report
         questions to answer in the manual.

         For exp 1 there are the 2 questions on page 10 you are supposed 
to answer and
         include with the report.  These can come on a page after your 
conclusion.

         For exp 7 you will just be handing in a cover page, a graph, 
some pages from the
         lab manual and a single sample calculation. This is explained 
at the "Laboratory" link
         and the TA will explain it in lab at that time.

     a) The procedure section in the report is simply a bibliographic 
reference unless
         you made any changes.  We do NOT want any details of the 
procedure in the
         report.  Any changes you make should go in this section below 
the bibliographic
         reference.  For example, the changes to the volumes for the 
beaker would be included
         in this section.  Also, *for exp 1*, since the way you used 
each type of glassware is
         important to the results you should have written this down in 
your notebook during lab
         and include it in this section (i.e. did you use a 5-mL pipet 4 
times for the 20 mL or
         did you use a 10-mL pipet 2 times).

4) 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 how much you have done.

     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 or
     anywhere else (even if you intend to copy it over to the notebook 
later).
     You will lose points for doing so.

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

     Always in *PEN*.  If you make a mistake put a single line through 
it and write
     the correct data next to it.  Do *NOT* use whiteout, scribble over 
the mistake
     or erase it.

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

     For exp 1, the TA will "grade" (critique) your notebook so you have 
a better
     idea of what to do for the next exp.  It's not worth any points for 
exp 1.  Instead
     those 10 pts come from the notebook exercise (as explained below).

5) Exp 1 report

     a) Write a full report.

     b) Do the *lab notebook exercise *at the following link,

*Chem Lab Notebook Exercise* 
<https://uglabs.cbc.osu.edu/1250/pre-postlabs.php>

         Click on the "Postlab 1" for exp 1 at this site.  Do this on a 
separate sheet of
         paper and include it in with the report as the last page. This 
will count as your
         10 pt notebook grade for exp 1.

     c) I felt the report page and graphing stuff was a little ambiguous 
in what should be
         done so I asked the person who wrote it to make sure.  Go to 
the "Helpful Tidbits"
         link on my class web page (not Carmen) and you will find a link 
for exp 1 which
         should help with the lab itself and the report.

*Helpful Tidbits for 1250* 
<http://www.chemistry.ohio-state.edu/%7Erzellmer/chem1250/faq/faq_1250.htm>

     d) The graphs have little to do with the table.  You will be making 
4 graphs, one for
         each piece of glassware using the data from the table. That's 
pretty much all
         you need from the table for the graphs.  Graph mass (y) vs. 
volume (x).  Make
         sure the graph occupies the whole piece of paper and spread the 
data out (good use
         of the axis) so it takes up most of the space of the graph. 
Don't make the labels and
         titles huge (14 point font for graph title, 12 point font for 
axes tittles, 10 pt font for axes
         labels).  I have examples of good graphs at the link below. The 
first graph isn't the
         best example since it doesn't take up the full page because I 
had to shrink it so I could
         write on it at the top and bottom.  This graphs shows you 
choose points from the
         best-fit line for use in your sample calculations for slope 
(not your actual data points).
         The 2nd graph is a better example of what a graph should look 
like.  It also shows an
         example of when you have more than one set of data plotted. In 
that case you need
         a legend and 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 each graph in exp 1) since your 
title should indicate what's
         being plotted.  You do NOT need grid lines for most of the 
graphs this semester (except
         for exp 6 graphs).  Also, Excel's default orientation is 
Landscape and that generally is
         the best for graphs.  For exp 6 you'll see that Portrait mode 
is the proper orientation.

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

         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. 
This is similar to what you
         are doing in exp 1 but not exactly the same.  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.  There are Excel
         tutorials and videos all over the web (YouTube, Microsoft's web 
site).  If you aren't
         sure about how to do something after looking for help please 
ask me.

     e) You should discuss the graphs in the Discussion section. What is 
the density from the
         graph and how does it compare to the average from the table?  
What do they indicate
         about determinate and indeterminate error?  What should the 
intercept be and why might
         your intercept not agree?  Turn in all 4 graphs.  Remember, 1 
graph per page.
         Include the report questions 1 and 2 (on a separate sheet of 
paper) in your report.
         You should also be discussing the results in your table. How do 
they compare to the
         results from the graphs?

     f) At a minimum, make sure you cover all the points to consider 
(found on p. 10).

         1) For the first one, when you are discussing precision think 
in terms of the uncertainty
             of the particular piece of glassware.  Since you didn't do 
repeated measurements
             of a single volume it's tough to address your precision.  
Think about how the % errors
             for density agree for each separate piece of glassware and 
what on the graph gives you
             an idea about precision (it may actually be easier to 
answer this by looking at the graphs).
             See my help file on line.

I'm will be sending a follow-up e-mail with a few more specifics about 
exp 1 data and graphs.

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

Dr. Zellmer
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.osu.edu/pipermail/cbc-chem1250/attachments/20180111/3764d223/attachment-0001.html>