Department of Chemistry
How can I successfully complete the lab portion of this course?
What should I do to prepare for lab each week?
What supplies do I need to have with me for lab each week?
What happens if I am not dressed appropriately for lab or forget my goggles and/or lab coat?
What happens if I am late for my lab?
What do I do if I miss my lab session entirely?
Do I work with my lab partner to complete the report?
What do I do if I don’t understand or don’t agree with how my lab report was graded?
What do I do if I don’t finish the lab or I cannot collect a complete set of data that makes sense?
How can I successfully complete the lab portion of this course?
Prepare for the lab in advance so you fully understand the purpose of the experiment and how it relates to the rest of the course. Attend all of the scheduled labs, showing up on time and ready to work. Complete the lab reports and submit them on time, showing all of your data and calculations and critically evaluating your results. Read the introductory pages of the lab manual EVERY QUARTER so that you are well-informed about lab-related policies and safety. Your TA is your primary resource for one-on-one help with the lab portion of this course, but the Lab Instructor (see the syllabus for contact information and office hours) is also available to assist you.
What should I do to prepare for lab each week?
Go to the webpage for the lab (follow the appropriate links from the department’s courses’ page: http://depts.washington.edu/chem/courses/) and do the following:
What should I write for the Purpose/Method section that is required to be in my lab notebook before I go to lab?
It is important for you to understand that this section is your opportunity to demonstrate to your TA that you are truly prepared for the lab. However, this is not meant to be a re-writing of the lab manual content. Instead, in a paragraph or two, you should address the following:
What is the goal of this experiment?
Explain how this goal is accomplished. What is the general method that you will be using to achieve this goal? Do NOT provide information like volumes, masses, or concentrations. DO provide the equations for the chemical reactions that are involved.
How will you process the data that you record in lab?
What calculations will you perform? What equations will you use? How do you obtain all of the values to plug into those equations? How will you evaluate your results?
For labs with multiple parts, you may need to write more than one Purpose/Method statement.
What if I forget to do the prelab assignment, do not complete it with a score of ≥ 3.5 out of 5, or use up all of my submissions in WebAssign prior to the deadline?
All prelab assignments, except for Chem 162, Lab 5, are submitted via WebAssign. The prelabs will be available for at least a week before the deadline, so you will always have plenty of time to complete them if you do not wait until the last minute. Be aware of the date and time of the deadline so that you don’t accidentally miss it. In order to be considered “prepared” for lab, you must score ≥3.5 out of 5 on the prelab assignment. If you do not meet that minimum score, or you forget to do the prelab entirely, then you will receive a penalty (-10 points in Chem 142 and 144 and -15 points in Chem 152 and 162) in addition to not earning the 5 prelab points. If you encounter circumstances that prevent you from doing the prelab for the entire week it is available, consult your TA.
Work carefully to understand the prelab questions and how to do the calculations – they are a preview to what you will have to do on the lab reports. If you do get an answer incorrect, do not waste submissions by just guessing other answers. Re-check your work and how you entered the answer in WebAssign. Additional submissions will NOT be provided, even for seemingly minor errors (clicking “submit” twice, using the back button incorrectly, etc).
What supplies do I need to have with me for lab each week?
Lab coat, safety goggles, lab manual for the current quarter, lab notebook (with Purpose/Method section already written), pen, and calculator. For some labs, a ruler may be helpful. The lab manual is the book containing the lab policies, safety information, and recipes and procedures for each experiment. The lab notebook is the book in which you record all of your data and observations. It must have carbonless duplicate pages, which you will turn in to your TA before you leave the lab.
What happens if I am not dressed appropriately for lab or forget my goggles and/or lab coat?
Your safety is our #1 priority! If you are not dressed appropriately, you will not be allowed into lab. If you forget your lab coat or safety goggles, new ones may be purchased at the undergraduate stockroom (BAG 271, in the hallway outside the labs). You need to have long pants and sturdy shoes to protect your feet and legs from splashes or broken glass, should someone drop something like a beaker containing acid on the floor behind you. If you remove your safety gear while in the lab, you will be asked to leave. If you are late for lab or do not complete the lab because you are not dressed appropriately, you will lose points for that lab.
What happens if I am late for my lab?
Lab periods start with a safety and procedure overview from the TA. If you are late, you miss that information and also make your lab partner wait for you unnecessarily. As such, if you show up more than 10 minutes late for lab, you will not be allowed to do lab with your section and will have to go to the undergraduate stockroom (BAG 271) to try to schedule into another available spot, if there is one. In Chem 142 and 144, 10 points will be deducted from your lab report for that experiment as a penalty for not arriving on time ready for lab. In Chem 152 and 162, the penalty is 15 points. If there is not a space available for you in another section that same week, you will receive a zero for the lab. The text of the policies as they are explained in the front of the lab manual are available for download here (updated 9/24/09).
What do I do if I miss my lab session entirely?
If you miss a lab, or plan to miss a lab, contact your TA immediately to let him/her know what is going on. The policies for missed labs are explained in the introductory pages of the lab manual. Read them and know where to find them should you find yourself in a situation where you will miss your lab. To briefly summarize here: 1) you will be allowed only one absence, of any kind, from lab during the quarter, 2) let your TA know what is going on, and 3) contact the undergraduate stockroom as soon as possible to try to get scheduled into another lab session that week. It is worth noting here that experiments can only be performed during the week they are scheduled (see the syllabus; the following week we will have moved on to the next lab). The lab manual outlines what is considered an excused absence. If your excuse is documented and valid (as determined by the stockroom and/or Tracy Harvey), you will be able to earn the full points available for the lab by rescheduling into another section or doing a make-up lab if no space is available. If your excuse is not valid, your report for that lab will be penalized (10 points for Chem 142 and 144 and 15 points for Chem 152 and 162) if you are able to schedule into another lab session. If there is no space available for you in another session, and your excuse is not valid, you will receive a zero for the lab. The text of the policies as they are explained in the front of the lab manual are available for download here (updated 9/24/09).
Follow the instructions on the Post Lab webpage for each experiment. With a few exceptions, especially for Chem 142 and 162, the lab reports are due to your TA at the start of your next scheduled lab session. The policies regarding lab reports are outlined in the introductory pages of the lab manual. Be aware that late reports incur heavy penalties, so be sure to get your lab report in on time. The policies include instructions for special circumstances (excused and planned absences), so make sure you know what is expected of you if you are going to miss a lab for any reason. The text of the policies as they are explained in the front of the lab manual are available for download here (updated 9/24/09).
Do I work with my lab partner to complete the report?
You are assigned a lab partner because there is not enough space and equipment and the cost of reagents would be too high if each person were to perform each experiment individually. However, the work you do together should be restricted to the experiment itself and the recording of data. The lab reports should be your own work and the answers to questions should be in your own words. Yes, your data will be identical, but the rest of the report should be completed independently. You are required to sign an acknowledgement statement at the top of each lab report you submit, stating that the work you are turning in is your own original work.
What do I do if I don’t understand or don’t agree with how my lab report was graded?
Your TA grades your work based on a grading key provided by the Lab Instructor. If you have questions about why something was graded a certain way or what you can do to improve your lab report scores, talk with your TA – he/she is the person who has first-hand knowledge about why you lost points. Re-grade requests must be submitted within 48 hours of the graded lab report being returned to you. If, after you talk with your TA, you still have questions or cannot get a situation resolved, contact the Lab Instructor (see the syllabus for contact information and office hours).
What do I do if I don’t finish the lab or I cannot collect a complete set of data that makes sense?
All data collection events are designed to be completed within the time allowed for the lab session. Students who prepare for lab, focus during the lab session, and work carefully will have no problem collecting all of the necessary data. Students who are not prepared for lab, do not use their time well, and make time-consuming mistakes (usually resulting from inadequate preparation) may struggle to complete the experiment in the time allotted. The penalty for this outcome will be the loss of points associated with any calculations that cannot be performed or questions that cannot be answered in the lab report because of the lack of usable data. Should you encounter technical problems during the lab, talk with your TA to resolve them. If the problem cannot be resolved in enough time to allow completion of the experiment, your TA may give you data to include in your report. However, DO NOT just use someone else’s data without permission from your TA AND you MUST include a statement in your lab report that indicates that the data you are reporting is not yours, where the data is from, and the reason for this exception. Using data that you did not personally collect, without permission from your TA and without this written acknowledgement, will result in a grade of “zero” on your report.