Description
I have a lab report that’s due for my general chemistry class. I am done with the Excel part of it. I don’t know how to do the report. I am putting the guidelines and other papers that were provided. I am also putting in the excel portion that I did to go based off it.
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Data Acquired to Determine the Density of Water at 25.0 °C, 1 atm
All samples have a volume of 25.00 mL
sample number
Mass (g) Density (g/mL)
1
24.9753
2
24.9157
3
24.8125
4
24.8745
Average
Standard Deviation
Density of Water as a Function of Temperature at a Pressure of 1 atm
Temperature (°C)
Density (g/mL)
15.0
16.0
17.0
18.0
19.0
20.0
21.0
22.0
23.0
24.0
25.0
3
Density (kg/m )
999.1016
998.9450
998.7769
998.5976
998.4073
998.2063
997.9948
997.7730
997.5412
997.2994
997.0480
DePaul University
Spreadsheets and Graphing Activity
CHE 131
Lab Notebook Preparation and
Spreadsheets and Graphing Activity
Learning Objectives
1. Report all experimental procedures and data obtained within the lab in a notebook.
2. Use Excel to perform calculations using functions.
3. Use Excel to form tables and graphs.
Introduction
The two parts of this activity will teach you some of the essential skills needed to work up
numerical data across the entire General Chemistry sequence. You will also learn the appropriate
way of presenting experimental data in the form of tables and graphs. For these parts of the activity
you will be provided with a set of experimental data and you will learn how to gather them in an
organized table using Excel. One dataset will be used to create a graph from which useful
information such as the slope will be extracted. Because values determined from experimental data
should be reported with appropriate precision, you will learn how to present your results with the
correct number of significant figures. Knowing how to properly present experimental data will be
a skill used throughout the sequence.
The third part of this activity will focus on setting up a proper laboratory notebook. Because
laboratory manual pages are typically not allowed in the laboratory itself, you will see the critical
elements that need to be written down to successfully complete an experiment.
Measurements: Units, Accuracy, Precision, Significant Figures
An important aspect of science is to present information in a clear and precise manner so that other
people can interpret and trust your data. Consequently, you should be able to organize and present
your experimental data in scientifically accepted ways, the most common forms being tables and
graphs.
Experimental values collected in an experiment are usually recorded using SI (abbreviation for
International System of Units) units of measure of which seven are considered base or
fundamental. There are many units derived from the base units of measure. An example, density,
d, is defined as the mass m per unit volume V, as shown in Eq. 1. The SI-derived unit for density
is kg/m3. Note that for practical purposes, scientists often use the centimeter-gram-second (CGS)
system and hence express density in g/cm3 for solids and g/mL for liquids.
d=
m
V
(1)
The quality of your experimental data is revealed by the precision and accuracy embedded in the
values you observe. Accuracy reflects the closeness of your experimental values to an accepted
reference value. Precision refers to the reproducibility of a series of replicate measurements
obtained under comparable experimental conditions. The degree of precision and accuracy in your
measurements arises from the uncertainty associated with the laboratory procedure and any
instruments involved in the acquisition of your data. This is reflected by the number of significant
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CHE 131
figures used to report any acquired experimental values. The rules of significant figures are of
utmost importance, and they must be applied properly to avoid the misleading presentation of data.
In this activity, you will gain experience in organizing your data in a table built with the help of
various Excel features, building a graph, and determining the best fit to the data displayed in the
graph, all using the rules of significant figures.
Experimental
It is assumed that experimental data has been acquired prior to this lab. You will be provided with
values for data analysis and presentation purposes only.
Preparation
Pre-lab Assignment
There is no pre-lab assignment for this experiment. Students are expected to read ahead of time
and to be familiar with the concepts described in Appendix A: Precision and Accuracy of
Experimental Data, as well as Appendix E: Graphing Techniques.
Procedure
The Excel file you will be working with (CHE131 Excel Exercise) has two worksheets—”Mass
and Volume” and “Density and Temperature”. Please make sure that you have selected the
appropriate worksheet for each activity. By working with the data provided, in Activity A you
should gain a sense of how to enter formulas in Excel and how to calculate an average and standard
deviation for a set of data; in Activity B you should gain a sense of how to plot data and how to
apply a linear fit to portions of a non-linear curve. You will also be provided with some guidance
on how you should present data in tables and figures in a lab report. Activity C walks you through
preparing your laboratory notebook for the next experiment.
Activity A: Mass and Volume
Select the “Mass and Volume” tab in the Excel file. Click on the first empty cell in the “Density
(g/mL)” column (cell C6). Calculate the density of water at 25.0 °C by first typing an equal sign,
then clicking on the first value in the “Mass (g)” column (cell B6), and then typing: “/25”. The
formula bar at the top of the spreadsheet should read “ =B6/25”. Press “Enter”; a value of 0.999012
should appear in cell C6.
Click on cell C6; position the cursor in the bottom, right-hand corner of the cell. A black plus sign
should appear. Click on the left mouse button and drag the formula down to calculate density
values for all the measured masses. Alternatively, you can double-click on the plus sign to fill in
the formula.
Correct the number of significant figures in the density values by selecting the density values,
clicking on the arrow in the right-hand bottom corner of the “Number” group in the top ribbon,
choosing the “Number” category, and typing in the appropriate number of decimal places. You
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Spreadsheets and Graphing Activity
CHE 131
can also use the “Increase Decimal” and “Decrease Decimal” buttons in the “Number” group to
alter the number of decimal places. Note that the volume used to calculate the density is 25.00 mL.
In cell B10, type “=average”, then an open-parenthesis, then select all of the mass values, and then
type a closed-parenthesis. Press “Enter” and an average mass should appear. Click on cell B10
again, position the cursor in the bottom right corner until the black plus sign appears, and then drag
the formula over to cell C10 to determine the average density. Perform similar operations to
calculate the standard deviation for the mass and density by using the function “=stdev”. Based on
the standard deviation values obtained, reduce or increase the number of digits for both the
standard deviations and the averages, as appropriate. Recall that the standard deviation should
always have only one significant figure and the same units as the values with which it is
associated. The average values must be reported such that the number of decimal places is
equivalent to the number of decimal places for the standard deviation when it has one significant
figure. For example, an average density of 0.92814 g/mL with a standard deviation of 0.0231 g/mL
should be reported as: (0.93 ± 0.02) g/mL.
Select all the sample number, mass and density values (not the average and standard deviation)
and the column labels. In the “Font” group, click on the arrow that opens the drop-down menu for
Borders. Select “All Borders” from this menu.
Select the cells now surrounded by borders. Paste this table into a Microsoft Word document. It
would be wise to save this Word document in case your computer has issues while you continue
to work on this exercise. Your file name should include your name. Add an appropriate title above
your table using the format: Table 1: Appropriate title.
Above the table, type a few sentences in which you describe the data reported in Table 1 and report
the average and standard deviation of the density at the relevant temperature and pressure,
including units and using the appropriate number of significant figures. Your value should have
the following format: (1.000 ± 0.004) g/mL. The “±” symbol can be found through the “Insert,”
“Symbol” menus.
Activity B: Density and Temperature
Select the “Density and Temperature” tab in the Excel file. Determine how the density values in
kg/m3 can be converted to g/mL (recall that 1 mL = 1 cm3, exactly). Note that powers of ten can
be entered in Excel as “10^6” for 106. Perform this mathematical operation for the first density
value given. Drag down or fill in this formula for all the density values. Check that the density
values are reported in the correct number of significant figures. You should include a typed
example of this calculation in your report.
Select all the temperature and density (in g/mL) values. Click on “Insert” and then choose “Scatter”
in the “Charts” group. You should select the scatter plot that presents the data as points.
From the “Chart Layouts” menu, select “Layout 1.” Delete the legend, title, and gridlines by
clicking on each and pressing the “Delete” button. Click on each “Axis Title” and type in an
appropriate title and unit of measure for that axis. Unless told otherwise, Excel will assume that
the independent variable (plotted on the x-axis) is in the left-most column, whereas the dependent
variable (plotted on the y-axis) is in a column to the right. Right click on each axis and select
“Format Axis” from the menu. In the “Axis Options” window, add major and minor tick marks to
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Spreadsheets and Graphing Activity
CHE 131
each axis. The format of the numbers on the axis should be changed, there is no need for too many
digits. Change the y-axis values to four decimal places and the x-axis values could be zero or one
decimal place.
You will fit these data points to a linear model. To do so, right-click on one of the data points and
select “Add Trendline” from the menu that pops up. In the “Format Trendline” pop-up menu, be
sure that “Linear” is selected for the model. Then type “4” in the “Forward” and “Backward” boxes
in the “Forecast” section (this will extend the best-fit line beyond the points selected). In addition,
click on “Display Equation on chart”.
In general, you should not leave the equation of the line on the graph. Instead, you should copy
the best-fit line and paste it elsewhere in the Excel worksheet to retain this information. You can
then delete the best-fit equation (and R2 value, if present) from the graph. Recall that the best-fit
line for a linear model has the form y = mx + b, where m is the slope and b is the y-intercept. Note
that for your fit, there is only one significant figure reported for the slope. In order to obtain a more
precise value for the slope and the y-intercept, you can use the following functions: =slope(y
values, x values) and =intercept(y values, x values). Using these functions, determine the slope and
intercept for the as follows. In an empty cell, type “=slope” then an open-parenthesis; select the
density data points for the entire range; type a comma; select the temperature points for the entire
range; finally, type a closed-parenthesis. Follow a similar procedure, starting with “=intercept”, to
find the y-intercept.
Copy and paste your graph into your Word document. Underneath your graph, provide a figure
caption (i.e., Figure 1: The dependence of the density of water on temperature …). You should
include the best-fit line (with units for the slope and y-intercept) in your caption. You should report
the slope with three significant figures and the y-intercept with five significant figures. These
values are based on the known uncertainties in the fitting parameters.
Use the equation of the line to determine the density of water at 22.7 °C and 1 atm. Type your
calculations, including a bit of text to introduce the calculations, in your Word document. To do
so, go to “Insert” and then choose “Equation”. Be sure to include units in your calculation and
report your answer with the correct units and number of significant figures.
Activity C: Lab Notebook
A lab notebook is a record of any performed experiment, and it must be both accurate and legible
so that someone can repeat the experiment later. Ethically, a scientist cannot remove evidence of
any work they have done from the lab notebook. Additionally, a scientist cannot prove they first
discovered something if evidence of this discovery is not present in a lab notebook with the date
on which it was made and the signature of a witness to the discovery. Scientists rely on the
information present in laboratory notebooks to avoid repeating mistakes and make efficient
progress. For these reasons there are guidelines to setting up a lab notebook.
You must record all scientific data in a hardbound (not loose-leaf) laboratory notebook with
sequenced page numbers. All entries must be done in black or blue ink only. A table of contents
at the beginning helps to find experiments later. Remember you cannot write your work on scrap
paper, and original pages should never be torn from the notebook.
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CHE 131
Each experimental entry must contain all the information needed to obtain or derive the final
results of an experiment. Such information includes, but is not limited to:
• The title of the experiment
• The name of your laboratory partner, if applicable
• The date of the experiment
• The purpose of the experiment
• A detailed list of equipment and its condition
• The procedure for the experiment with any procedural changes
• Clearly written data with proper significant figures and units, preferably in tabular form
• Clearly written calculations with proper significant figures and units
Essentially, you must be able to complete the experiment using only what is written in your lab
notebook.
Using this handout and the procedure handout for the next experiment—Density and Volumetric
Glassware—handwrite the answers to the following prompts in your laboratory notebook in blue
or black ink.
1. In general, what is the purpose of a lab notebook?
2. What pieces of information should be included in a lab notebook?
3. Now you will start to prepare your notebook for next week’s experiment. The top of the
first page should include:
a. The title of the experiment
b. The name of your lab partner, if applicable
c. The date of the experiment
d. The purpose of the experiment
4. Write down the equipment and chemicals necessary to perform the Density and Volumetric
Glassware experiment. This information can be found in Table 1 under the Experimental
section of the procedure handout.
5. List any special safety hazards for the experiment, if applicable.
6. Write out the procedure for the Density and Volumetric Glassware experiment so that you
can follow it in the lab next week. Here are some suggestions: Bullet point the actual
procedure and write in any cautions. When you first encounter a technique that you might
not be familiar with, include more details in your procedure. As you become familiar with
techniques you should be able to use the term (such as “prime a pipette”) instead of writing
out all the exact steps. Leave space to write in any changes that were made, including all
data and observations. Another suggestion is to split each notebook page into two columns,
one that you prepare ahead of time and the other for you to make comments as you go
through the experiment.
7. Using the procedure you just wrote as a guide, prepare empty data tables for all of the
relevant raw data you will collect during next week’s experiment. Data might include the
values from the balance, the thermometer, the burette, and anything else; these are called
raw data. Some data might be observations, such as a color change or cloudiness appearing.
Making tables before coming into lab will assist in collecting the data. As you put tables in
your notebook remember to leave enough room to write in the values with all digits and
units, you can use multiple pages in your notebook.
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CHE 131
8. What calculations will be completed in Lab 2? Write in any calculations you will be using
so that as you collect data you can quickly do the calculations prior to moving to the next
part.
Assignment
You must upload your completed laboratory notebook pages (in a single PDF), your Excel file,
and your Word document with the tables and figures to the appropriate submissions folder in the
D2L website for your Chemistry 131 section by the stated due date and time. All your work must
be legible; if the instructor cannot read your handwriting, it will not be graded. The Excel
spreadsheet calculations must be organized and clearly labeled so that they can be followed by
your instructor. You must use Excel formulas (i.e., do not use a calculator and then manually type
in all your calculated numbers!) to earn full credit for the calculations. If the instructor cannot
follow the sample calculations or if the formulas are not present in the submitted Excel spreadsheet,
no credit will be awarded.
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CHE 131
Guidelines for Writing a General Chemistry Lab Report
Assessment
• The instructions and rubric for each lab exercise will state the specific requirements and
expectations for that exercise.
• At the top of each rubric, scientific writing and mechanics categories appear.
o Scientific writing covers the quality of your writing in each section in terms of
organization, clarity, content, and flow. General expectations for scientific writing
appear later in this document, as do specific expectations for each section.
o Mechanics includes categories such as grammar, typographical errors, and
formatting. Separate table and figure formatting categories will appear when
appropriate for a given exercise. Please see the table and figure categories in this
document for formatting expectations and examples.
• Each of these components will be assessed using the following scale:
o 4, proficient: no more than 2 unique errors
o 3, satisfactory: no more than 5 unique errors
o 2, developing: no more than 10 unique errors
o 0, insufficient/missing: more than 10 unique errors or absent
• Each lab exercise will have a prelab assignment (an online D2L quiz and, on some
occasions, an additional activity). The prelab assignment will be scored out of 10 points.
• There is also a lab conduct score worth 10 points for each lab exercise. This includes the
following items: report is stapled, submitted yellow notebook sheets are complete, legible,
and organized, and lab conduct was appropriate. If your report is not stapled prior to the
lab, a point will be deducted. A point will also be deducted for each lab conduct issue, such
as not wearing goggles at all times in the lab, leaving your lab bench area messy, or other
issues noted by your instructor.
• You will also be assessed for experiment-specific items such as tables, figures, Excel
calculations, and answer to discussion questions. These will also generally be assessed on
a 4, 3, 2, 0 scale, but specific criteria will be provided for each element on the lab rubric.
Items such as tables and figures will be assessed separately for formatting and experimentspecific content. For example, including gridlines on a figure is a formatting error. Using
the incorrect units in a best-fit line in a figure caption is an experiment-specific category.
Scientific Writing
• Scientific writing is a form of persuasive writing. You are writing a scientific argument to
persuade your audience that your interpretation and analysis provide the most compelling
explanation for what occurred using your data and observations as evidence.
o Your audience is not your instructor. Your audience is a practicing chemist who
has not performed the experiment but is interested in the results from it. You can
safely assume the reader knows what a gram is, but not necessarily why you are
getting the mass of a sample of Diet Coke.
o The most compelling scientific argument is the one that is best supported by
evidence. Usually data are clearly presented first, then followed by a well-supported
argument using the data and analysis as evidence. Presenting the data first allows
the reader to interpret them and come to a conclusion. Your goal is to have the
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CHE 131
reader not just come to a conclusion, but come to your conclusion. That’s why
scientific writing is considered persuasive writing.
Scientific writing is in the third person, past tense, and passive voice.
o Incorrect: I measured the mass and volume of the sample to find the density.
o Correct: Mass and volume measurements were used to calculate the density of the
sample.
o Do not use the words ‘students,’ ‘individuals,’ or ‘persons’ to get around writing in
the third person. Saying, “Students were asked to obtain a sample,” is the same as
saying, “We were asked to obtain a sample.”
Scientific writing is concise. Avoid flowery descriptions and “empty” sentences that don’t
contain any useful information. Concise does not necessarily mean short; it means that
every word you write serves a purpose.
o Incorrect: When I mixed the solutions together I saw a pretty, pinkish-purplish goo
form at the bottom of the tube that was like bubble-gum.
o Correct: Two clear solutions were mixed together and a bright pink precipitate
formed. The solid settled at the bottom of the test tube when allowed to stand for
several minutes. The precipitate was opaque and had a thick consistency.
o Incorrect: Two solutions were mixed, and a reaction happened.
o Correct: Aqueous sodium iodide was mixed with aqueous lead(II) nitrate, and the
formation of a yellow precipitate of lead(II) iodide was observed.
Scientific writing is clear. Using big words to make the sentence sound “smarter” often
accomplishes the exact opposite—it often sounds amateurish to the reader and that the
author is overcompensating for any lack of understanding. Although some jargon may be
necessary (for example, “spectrophotometry” and “titration”), the sentence should still be
easily understood.
o Incorrect: Spectrophotometry was utilized to observe the decrease in intensity of
electromagnetic radiation in the visible regime in order to ascertain the quantity of
the chemical moiety of interest dissolved in an aqueous solvent.
o Correct: Spectrophotometry was used to measure the absorbance of each colored
solution in the visible spectrum, which is proportional to the concentration.
Scientific writing is still writing, so remember all of the stylistic concerns discussed in your
writing classes, such as, flow and transition.
o This is most easily (and most concisely) accomplished by using the logic of the
argument and scientific analysis. For example, you can’t calculate the density of a
sample until you know its mass and volume.
Scientific writing is formal writing, which does not use contractions, slang, or
colloquialisms, is grammatically correct, and is free of typographical errors.
Abstract
• The abstract is the first section of the lab report and is a concise (100 – 250 words) summary
of your experiment. It gives the most important information about the experiment, analysis,
and results. In the end, if the reader of the abstract reads nothing else in your report, he or
she will walk away with a basic understanding of what you did.
o The abstract must contain the: scope, purpose, method, and significant results and
conclusions for the experiment.
o It answers “why”, “how”, and “what happened” for the experiment.
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o You have 100 – 250 words in this section (yes, we count), so only include the most
important information. All of the other detail will be in the other sections of the
report.
Scope and purpose (“why”): Give a concise description of the overall point of the
experiment in 1-2 sentences.
o Concise means never starting a sentence with phrases like “The goal of the
experiment was…”, “The aim of the experiment was…”, “The objective of the
experiment was…”, “The purpose of the experiment was…”, etc.
o It is appropriate to include a sentence about any relevant, general applicability of
the experiment here—why would anyone care about this experiment? Why is it
important? What else could it be used for?
o The “purpose” of the experiment refers to the experimental goal or purpose, not the
pedagogical goal. Yes, hopefully you learned a lot from doing the experiment and
the resulting analysis, but the lab report is not the place to discuss that. (Remember
your audience!) For example, learning how to use Excel or how to pipette
something are never valid goals. Valid goals are to determine something (such as
the formula of a compound, the concentration of a solution, or the wavelengths at
which a substance absorbs light) or to validate an experimental approach. In the
latter case, a known quantity will be found using one or more methods to see if
these methods work or to find the best possible method.
Data and Method (“how”): Describe the main data collected and how they were collected
in the experiment.
o Focus on the most important data. What were the data you needed to collect in the
lab in order to answer the goal? For example, in a titration, the total volume of
titrant delivered is more important than the raw data (initial volume reading and the
final volume reading of a burette) themselves.
o Do not write out the steps of the procedure. “How they were collected” refers to the
method (e.g., spectrophotometry) rather than the exact process you followed (e.g.,
putting in the reference cuvette, pressing the “0” button, removing the reference
cuvette, putting in the sample cuvette, etc.).
o Incorrect: During the lab, 10.00 mL of solution were pipetted into a pre-massed
flask. The mass of the solution + flask was then found. The mass of the solution
was found by subtracting the mass of the flask from the mass of the solution + flask.
o Correct: The mass of several known volumes of unknown solution #3 was
measured using mass by difference.
Results and Conclusions (“what happened”): Describe how the main data and subsequent
analysis answer the problem posed in the goal of the experiment. State the main results and
(if appropriate), provide a conclusion.
o The relationship between the data and the goal is usually illustrated by the
calculations and plots you make when analyzing the data in Excel. All of those
calculations are necessary to arrive at the final conclusion, which should answer the
main experimental question.
o Give a brief description of the theory only as it relates to the experiment. Remember
your audience—you don’t need to define mass or volume when talking about
density, for example.
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CHE 131
o Incorrect: The density was found by dividing the mass of the solution by the volume
of the solution. This was done for a second, third, and fourth sample and used to
find the unknown. By looking at the list in the lab instructions, the unknown was
easily found.
o Correct: The density of each sample was calculated using the mass and the
respective volume. The unknown solution was identified as acetone by comparing
the average density of (0.790 ± 0.002) g/mL at 25.0 °C to a list of possible options
with known densities. The precision of the result allowed the unknown to be clearly
identified, indicating that density determination using volumetric glassware is a
valid method for finding the identity of an unknown liquid.
Procedure
• You do not need to rewrite the entire procedure. Instead, use this citation:
o CHE 13X Experiment X, General Chemistry X Lab, ______ Quarter 20__-20__,
DePaul University. [Online] https://www.d2l.depaul.edu (accessed on month day,
year).
o For example:
The procedure carried out followed that given in: CHE 131 Experiment 1,
General Chemistry I Lab, Autumn Quarter 2020-2021, DePaul University.
[Online] https://www.d2l.depaul.edu (accessed on September 9, 2020).
• List all deviations to the procedure as bullet points. This means if you did anything
differently, you should note it. Deviations are usually mentioned explicitly during the
prelab lecture by your instructor. Someone should be able to duplicate your results with
high precision by making the same changes you did.
o If you did not do anything differently, you need to state that no deviations were
made. A bullet point under the procedure is sufficient.
o You cannot state that there are no deviations to the procedure and then list a series
of deviations. This may sound obvious, but this a consistent mistake that is made.
o Only deviations to the procedure are mentioned here. If an experiment consists of
identifying an unknown, then the specific unknown you have is not a deviation to
the procedure because you are told to get an unknown. Accordingly, your unknown
number should not be listed in this section.
Results
• The results section should contain all of your tables, necessary equations, and figures
coherently worked into an overall narrative of the experimental results. You are walking
the reader through the evidence for your argument by explaining what you did, how, and
why.
• Treat the results section as the start of your report. It needs to stand separately from the
abstract section and make sense assuming the reader hasn’t read the abstract.
o Therefore, you should start this section by restating the goal of the experiment. You
want to let the reader know why they should care about the argument you’re going
to make.
• Remember that you are writing a narrative and argument, so imagine as if you’re telling
someone a story.
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CHE 131
o You would never start by summarizing the whole story in a minute and then start
over and go through the whole story again in more detail. Similarly, you would
never present all of the text first, then the tables, then the figures, then the equations
for the calculations. Everything should be intermingled in a logical order.
o You wouldn’t start the story in the middle or with the final scene, either. The
listener wouldn’t know any of the characters, or why they were there, or why that
scene was so important. You would keep having to backtrack and explain who is
who and what happened, and it wouldn’t be clear if you were telling the story
forward or backward. Everything would be extremely confusing. It might sound
obvious, but start at the beginning and end at the end. Save the main conclusions
after you’ve introduced the characters (data) and why they’re important (equations,
figures, scientific interpretation).
o You want to include as much explanation as needed so the reader can clearly follow
what is going on with minimal effort. You would have a very hard time figuring
out what is happening while listening to a story about this guy who meets some girl
and then they go on a trip somewhere with some other girl where they meet two
other guys and some of them go to a different place. Why would a report about
dividing this number by this other number for all of the trials and then making a
plot with a line be any different?
Tables
• Tables are used to clearly present a large amount of (usually numerical) data.
• Tables must be referred to by number in the text before the table itself appears. Therefore,
you cannot start a section with a table.
• You will be assessed separately for the formatting of your tables and the content of the
specific tables requested in each experiment.
• The table should be well-organized and formatted correctly. Formatting includes the
following elements.
o All data tables have a number and a title. The title sits atop the table.
o Tables DO NOT have captions.
o All of the cells should have an entry. Don’t leave empty boxes.
o Alter the size of columns to avoid excessive white space.
o Do not include a column if every entry is the same value. For example, if every
sample has an identical volume of 10.00 mL, then a full column devoted to volume
is not necessary. The title might be a better place for that information (see the
example table below).
o When stating the average value of a column, do this in the narrative rather than as
a single entry in the table. Remember that averages are generally reported with the
standard deviation, that the standard deviation ALWAYS has only one significant
figure, and that the average is written to the same decimal place as the standard
deviation.
o The en
