Logbook
Wether or not your are to submit a formal lab report, you must write an account of your experiment in a logbook. As a scientist, you must be accountable for everything that happened during the experiment. In a week, a month or a year, should your results be challenged by another scientist, you must be able to provide your data, describe accurately the setup of your experiment, your data acquisition method, as well as anything that happened during the experiment that may have influenced your results.

In the logbook, you necessarily must have the following elements:

  1. The title of the experiment.
  2. The date.
  3. The Objective of this lab in your own words.
  4. A labelled sketch of the apparatus.
  5. List of variables: Independent, dependent, controlled.
  6. List and evaluation of the uncertainties related to each measurement.
  7. List of the possible sources of errors, random or systematic.
  8. The raw data, with units and uncertainties. If a computer is used to record data during the experiment, a copy of the data either as a table or graph should be pasted in the logbook for the next period.

As a rule, everytime you are faced with a decision as to how to perform a certain measurement or action in the lab, you should note how it is done in the logbook.

The logbook will also be an invaluable tool in order to write your lab reports.You may use the logbook to take any notes related to lab experiments, uncertainties, etc. I strongly encourage you to use your logbook to make your calculations. The better your logbook, the easier it will be to identify what might have gone wrong during an experiment.

After each lab period, I will be evaluating your logbook. You will receive a mark of either Complete (2 points), Partial (1 point), or Not at all (0 point). These marks will be recorded and will count for 5% of your final grade.