Types of experiments:

1. Measuring a constant k: There is theoretical (or accepted) value k _true. You measure this constant and obtain k _measured. Write the calculated percentage error into the conclusion, and say whether k _measured agrees k _true or not.

2. y = c x: y and x are variables. c is a constant. The measured (x, y) have been made into a "y versus x" graph in the procedure. Describe how close these data overall are located to the regression line, and say whether y is proportional to x or not.

   A generalization can be y ^m = c x ⁿ. The most frequent n or m are +2, -2, -1, +0.5, or -0.5. For the case m = 1 and n = -1, we say "inversely proportional."

3. z = c y: This is similar to the previous one. However, x , y and z can all be variables, but keep one fixed and vary the other two each time.

4. Conservation X _i = X _f, i means initial and f means final.:

   The loss percentage needs to be calculated as, Loss percentage = (X _f - X _i)/X _i ´ 100%.

   Say in the conclusion whether X is conserved or not.

Things that should NOT be put in conclusion:

1. Do not describe lab procedure in conclusion. Conclusion is a quick summary of the experimental results.

2. "This may be probably caused by friction, air resistance, or timing errors."

   The example above is a bad conclusion because there is no evidence to support it. Do not do "error analysis" like this. Error analysis can be done only when you have designed and performed extra experiments to prove that a factor is indeed an error source.

3. Any other irrelevant materials are better off the lab notebook. Please keep your lab report professional.