This page contains information on:
what to do BEFORE, DURING, and
AFTER a laboratory session.
BEFORE LAB
Prelaboratory preparation:
It is absolutely essential that you
prepare for the day’s experiment prior to arriving in the laboratory. The first step,
of course, is to read the experiment. Make sure that you read the entire experiment
including any peripheral material that you may find helpful (e.g. excerpts from your text
or some of the lab texts that can be found in Smyth 301 or the library). It is my
recommendation that you not only understand what is going on, but also why
you are doing the experiment. We definitely want your laboratory experience to be one of investigation
and discovery and NOT "cookbooking". A summary of preparatory steps follows:
- Read the experiment and any peripheral materials
(suggested reading)
- Give your experiment a title, number the
pages, provide the date, and write out any pertinent chemical
equations/reactions
- Write out the PURPOSE/HYPOTHESIS of your
experiment
- Research physical properties of reagents and all
safety considerations (use the Internet, the materials provided in Smyth
303, and MSDS) and create a table of reagents which includes an exhaustive
list of each reagent’s physical properties (mass, moles, MW, density, mp,
bp, IR
data, NMR data, solubility, safety considerations, etc.) and a li
- Sketch relevant equipment set-ups
- Perform ALL necessary calculations
- Leave a space in your notebook for pre-lab
lecture notes.
Notebook format:
Your laboratory notebook is your
personal guidebook. You will want to have it with you for every experiment. For each laboratory
session, you will want to have the following:
- your laboratory notebook (you must have
this at each and every laboratory session)
- a calculator
- a pen (not a pencil)
- an EXCELLENT working knowledge of what you are about to do
and why you are doing it.
Each experiment in your notebook should contain
the following sections (in order) -- SEE example in Appendix III, p. 283 of
the Lehman text:
1. Title
2. Date
3. Chemical equations/reactions/structures
4. Table of properties with safety information
5. Prelab section:
a.
calculations
b. equipment sketches
(and flowchart)
c.
prelab lecture notes
6. Actual procedure with observations
7. Data and results (including calculations)
8. Conclusion or summary
DURING LAB
- Take prelab lecture notes --- you will want to leave a
section for this in your notebook.
- Work safely and efficiently in the lab.
clean up after yourself and make sure reagents are handled properly.
- Write the experimental procedure (as you
perform the experiment)
- Record experimental observations --- you may want to create
a section called "observations" and record within or find some way to coordinate
your observations with your flow chart (procedure).
- Record experimental results and data --- it is often helpful to have
a results section and record within a table. Results generally include the following: mass
of product (in grams), percent yield (show calculation), melting point, boiling point,
color/condition of the product, spectral data (IR, NMR), chromatography data (Rf,
retention times), miscellaneous graphs, results of qualitative tests.
- Experimental summary/conclusion --- a brief one paragraph summation of
the experiment including relevant findings.
- Dispose of any remaining organic solids and
liquids in the appropriate waste container
- Clean your work area/bench/fume hood
- Put equipment/glassware away in its proper
location
- Get your notebook signed by your lab
partner!!!
AFTER LAB
Laboratory follow-up exercises:
I will post on-line a series of
questions/directives during the week of each laboratory session. These exercises will be
turned in as indicated in the assignment schedule. All follow-up exercises are to be
turned in by 5:00 p.m. on the due date. Late assignments will NOT be accepted.
The formal laboratory report:
The formal report that you will be
required to write should be formatted similarly to a manuscript copy from the
Journal of Organic Chemistry (J. Org. Chem.). You may also want to review the information that is found within the ACS Style
Guide which can be found in the Wilmot library. A template for
creating the manuscript can be found by clicking on the link below:
manuscript
templates
It is also worth your while to consult the
information found in the writing text used for the chemistry seminar courses, as
the formal report rubric
follows this information very closely. You can receive a copy of this
information from me.
