Education Anyone got a chemistry lab book?

Hello fellow chemistry nerds!

I've been told I need to keep a lab book this semester, which sounds like a good idea. Except, well I don't really know what sort of stuff I actually need to be recording in there. I've been told to record "research done before the experiment"(What, all 12 pages of my notes?), and the experimental procedure (while I'm doing it, afterward, in detail, in brief, etc. etc.?) and then conclusions (again, in detail, or in brief, at the same, sensory evidence only?).

So anyway, my hope is that one of you will have a lab book and be willing to either scan a single experiments worth of it up, so I know pretty much what to do, or take photos of the same. Failing that, if someone who has or does keep one could give me as much advice as possible on it, that'd be super-awesome.

Thanks guys

 

I have to keep a log book in my course (Computer and Electronic systems, a joint course between Computer Science and Electronic & Electrical Engineering) during the practical labs.

Basically the log's are like informal reports, details on pretty much every point of the labs including background (i.e. what the intended reason of doing the lab is), components, construction, testing, problems encountered & solutions, results, explanation of the results etc along with a number of circuit diagrams, details about the various components used etc.

I tend to write the relevant parts during the lab (i.e. construction, testing, results etc) in a different pad then transfer it all over into the actual log book after so I can put in the background and component info, spend more time on the wording and drawing the circuit diagrams etc.

Basically write down everything

 

What chem class is it?

 

have you been told the purpose of the logbook? we have to keep one each for a couple of our classes. In one, the log is purely for our own information to help us revise and do coursework, we're told to write down what we personally need to know. The other is so the log itself can be looked at, in which case follow the above advice

RwD

 

The class is actually named "Scientific Investigation" - basicly it's a labwork module, teaching us lab safety, procedure, how to do writeups, and how to keep lab books (they give us this the semester after the chemistry module in which we need all the above skills, of course!).

The purpose, as far as I'm aware, is just to learn how to keep one, and to have a resource of 12 experiments that are recorded in detail so we can always referr back to them. I'm gonna see if I can see someone from the higher years' one, but I'm still not very sure what it's meant to be like

 

hmmm... I've never had that one.

What I usually do for my backgrounds is do some research on the compounds we are using and find out bp and mp, chemical formula, draw a lewis structure, identify functional units, and put some in safety and disposal things about the compounds as well. Then I work through the steps of the reactions identify intermediates and their properties and indicate electron flow, then I put any other relevant information about the reaction. After that I move on the the materials I need and draw out how I am going to set up the apparatus in the experiment and write out the steps I am going to go through. I usually work in a hypothesis somewhere in there too.

For the details during the experiment I just write in the values that I am measuring in a chart I've already prepared and write down observations I make about the reaction. With that I draw a short conclusion about my results relating to my hypothesis and how the experiment went in general and if I think anything can be improved.

Then I use that for my reports which is what I usually get graded on as opposed to the actual log. Oh and sometimes I take pictures and videos with my camera phone because I have a horrible memory.