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Writing An Experiment

writing an exp

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Paul Martin
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8 views

Writing An Experiment

writing an exp

Uploaded by

Paul Martin
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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It is recommended that your reports should be set out as follows.

Title Introduction Diagram Method Results Theory Conclusion

1. Title
The title must state clearly the aim of the experiment. It must tell the
reader what you are trying to prove or measure. For example, "Ohm's
Law" is not a suitable title for an experiment report, whereas, "Experiment
to verify Ohm's Law" is a suitable title. Similarly, "Relative Density" is not a
suitable title but "Experiment to measure the Relative Density of a some
common substances" is a suitable title.
2. Introduction
If the experiment is designed to verify a law, state the law in the
introduction. The introduction can also include such ideas as why the
results/conclusions of the experiment are important in every-day life, in
industry etc. (it might even include a little historical background, but not too
much).
3. Diagram
In most cases a labelled diagram is useful. Every electrical experiment
report must include a circuit diagram. If diagrams are drawn by hand, use
a sharp pencil and a ruler. (If you use a computer, learn how to make the
best use of your drawing program.)
4. Method
The method section should give enough detail to enable another
experimenter to repeat the experiment to see if he/she agrees with your
results/conclusions. The method should include
- a description of the apparatus used
- what measurements you made (if possible, in the order you made them)
- what precautions you took to ensure the best precision possible
- a mention of any unexpected difficulties (and how you overcame them)
5. Results
You should record all the measurements made during the experiment
along with some indication of the uncertainty of each measurement.
Whenever possible, present the results in the form of a table.
6. Theory
This section should include any information which might help the reader to
understand how you used your measurements to reach the aim mentioned
in the title. For example; one method of measuring the density of a
substance actually involves measuring just two distances. The theory
section of a report on this experiment should include a clear explanation of
how the density of the substance can be calculated using these two
distance measurements.
7. Conclusion
Every experiment report must have a conclusion. If your aim was to verify
a law, state whether you have verified the law or not. If the aim was to
measure a particular quantity (e.g. density), give the final measured value
of the quantity in the conclusion.
In the case of an experiment designed to measure some well known
physical constant you should attempt to explain any difference between
your result and the accepted result. For example; if you find g = 9·5ms -2,
you should try to think of the most likely cause of this obvious error.

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