A FORMAL REPORT

TITLE PAGE: Title of experiment, experiment number, date of experiment, names of author and co-partners. (5 marks) CONTENT: An index to contents, sections, sub-sections (if any) and page numbers. (5 marks) Lists of symbols used Usually contains not more than ONE page or about 150 words. Must be brief and accurate on the work done and what was concluded. It should be clearly understood by any reader i.e. any reader can read it separately. (10 marks)

SYMBOLS: SUMMARY:

INTRODUCTION: The background and aspect of the work. Why are you carrying out the work? Why was the work necessary? Has it been done before? Does it refer to any existing theory? Is the theory clearly explained? (10 marks) PROCEDURE: Describe how the experiment was done. The problems you encountered and how to overcome it. Why did you face such problems? All equipment, materials and auxiliary equipment must be clearly described and identified. All diagrams/illustrations must be named and numbered. (15 marks) RESULTS: All observations must be recorded and explained. Make sure the data presented are in correct units and within the range of accuracy. Ensure all data are derived correctly. No adjustments should be

Dr Cheun- January Semester 2014

made to any results obtained from the experiment. Graphs and tables must be numbered and include titles. (15 marks) DISCUSSION: All results must be vigorously discussed and not just mere reporting. Are the results compared with other published work, theory, semi-empirical formulas etc.? A good report is one that the author discussed well and how problems are overcome, together with suggestions and ideas to improve the work, equipment, materials and etc. for future experiment. (20 marks) CONCLUSION: It must be a factual section of conclusions that are drawn from the experiment. It should be clear, accurate and not beating about the bush. (10 marks) REFERENCES: The references should be numbered with names of authors, titles, publishers and year of publication included. Do you have to get permission from the authors that you are copying certain statements exactly? (5 marks) APPENDICES: This section contains data, calculations, derivations and formulas that cannot be put in the main RESULT SECTION. This section helps reader to refer to the necessary information. Each area must be numbered and properly referred to in the main report. (5 marks)

NOTE: ALL REPORTS MUST BE HAND WRITTEN. MARKS WILL BE DEDUCTED FOR PLAGIARISM.

Dr Cheun- January Semester 2014