The Individual Components of an FLR

A Formal Lab Report is divided into eight sections.  Each section communicates to your reader a particular type of information about the experiment.  The sections are arranged in a sort of chronological order, with each section picking up where the section before left off.  The sections take the reader through the experiment step by step from beginning to end.

Below is a table showing what each section is and the order in which the sections are arranged.  In addition to a brief explanation and description, there is also a link to a complete description of each section.
 
 

Section
Explanation/Description
Abstract a very short explanation of the entire experiment
Theory a statement of the theory being tested in the experiment
Procedure an explanation of how the data was collected
Data a report of the measurements and observations made during the experiment
Calculations a sample of each important calculation performed on the data
Results a report of the outcome of all calculations
Discussion of Results an explanation of the meaning and significance of the results, in light of the original theory
Conclusion a clear, concise statement about the validity of the original theory, based on the results

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