Recording Your Observations

Additional Notes on Notebooks

The following is to guide you in recording your observations during the experiment; all data should be entered directly into the notebook.

The Observations section should contain a record of what you actually did. It need not be written in complete sentences and you may use abbreviations if they are unambiguous, for example:

You can write "Clr. yell. sol'n let stand 5 min. RT, no xtals. Cooled in ice bath -- gave pale yell.-orng. xtals in 10 min; kept on ice 15 min..........

Instead of writing "The clear yellow solution was allowed to stand at room temperature for five minutes during which time no crystals formed. The solution was then placed in an ice bath and pale yellow-orange crystals began to form in ten minutes. Crystallization was allowed to proceed for a additional fifteen minutes at zero degrees.

You are not required to abbreviate; you will probably feel more comfortable about it later on in the course. Your instructor is often accused of abbreviating too much in lectures, so you will pick up some chemical abbreviations there. Don't hesitate to ask for clarification in lecture - other people probably have the same questions. Do not use abbreviations you are unsure of in your notebook. Always use a scientific style in writing your notebook.

Any deviations from the written procedure should be emphasized, so you can remember and discuss them in the conclusions section.

Note that errors are to be struck out with a single line only; any significant corrections should be explained with a marginal note. Never remove a page from your notebook.

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The linked pages show how a typical page in a research scientist's notebook might look for a (fictitious) synthesis of aspirin.

In the laboratory, even when repeating a literature preparation for the first or second time the sequence of operations is fully noted.

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