Example Lab Write-up

Write ups will be done in class as we perform the experiments, and can be done in a spiral notebook, on printed handouts and put into a 3 ring binder, or in your Apologia student notebook (if you have one). Remember to be neat, thorough, and carefully record any changes you make. Each report, no matter where it is written, should include: Title, Question, Hypothesis, Materials, Procedure, Data/Observations, and Conclusions.

Name__Joe Chemstudent____

Date__9/14/15____

Experiment: _Determining if Air has Mass

Question: Does air have mass?

Hypothesis: If you can’t see it, it doesn’t have mass, so air must not have mass.

Materials:

• • Yardstick

  • Two balloons

  • 2 equal pieces of string

  • Tape

  • Safety goggles

  • Marker

Procedure:

• 1. Use strings to tie empty balloons to either end of the yardstick, leaving one of the balloons loose enough that it can be removed.

  2. Balance the yardstick over the back of a chair.

  3. Very carefully mark the point on the yardstick where it meets the chair, and the point where the loose string is hanging on the yardstick.

  4. Record observations.

  5. Have someone hold the stick steady.

  6. Remove the loose balloon, blow it up, and fasten it back in place on the yardstick.

  7. Have the person holding the yardstick let go.

  8. Record observations.

  9. Clean up all materials.

Data and Observations:

• • The stick was balanced across the chair with two empty balloons. In order to knock it off, a force would need to be applied.

  • The stick was no longer balanced when one balloon was filled with air. The end with the filled balloon fell.

Conclusion:

It would appear that the air in the balloon made it weigh more than the empty balloon, and therefore the air must have mass. I don’t understand this, since there was air in the room already. I plan to run more tests to confirm this finding.