The practice report is a written work, individual or group, whose purpose is to record the results obtained in laboratory experiments. It is usually done in institutes and universities, in scientific careers.
The practice report must include the name of the author or authors, academic institution, tutor and subject, and specify the name of the experiment, its objectives, and the entire practical process carried out..
In other words, the report must clearly explain what was done in the laboratory, how it was done and the results obtained from the experiment, in such a way that anyone with the required knowledge understands it and can reproduce or modify it..
In general, it is not a very extensive work, it can reach between 30 to 80 pages (depending on the characteristics of the experiment), and this extension is usually provided in advance, both in institutes and universities..
Usually, practice reports follow a fairly strict structure, as they should serve as a guide for later reviews..
The structure is usually composed of title, authors (emails, affiliation, subject, year), abstract, introduction, experimental development, results and discussion, conclusions, bibliography and appendices.
The cover includes title and authors. The title should be a short statement, which explains the content of the report in the clearest way. With it, the reader should immediately find out what the work is about.
The authors are the ones who carried out the practice and prepared the report. Emails are usually included in case someone wants to contact them, and the affiliation, that is, the institution to which each one belongs; in case of being an institute, the course, subject, career, year will be set.
It is a short text of the content of the report that explains in less than 150 words the problem and the purpose of the experiment; establishes what was done, the result and if any conclusion was reached.
The introduction refers to the theoretical bases that were used (bibliography), briefly describes what the experiment consisted of (it answers the question “how was the practice done?”) And gives the reasons why it was carried out. practice.
The last paragraph can be used to summarize the main objective of the experiment. The results obtained or the conclusions should not be presented.
In this part, the method used, the instruments, devices and measuring equipment are detailed, specifying characteristics, brands and models (this with the intention of demonstrating the scope of the results).
It is the most important part of the practice report, and the information of everything that was done and how it was done should be presented chronologically, according to its importance and priority. If information was obtained through other means, include references.
It is common for diagrams and graphs to be incorporated to further clarify the methodology.
The results are the data that were obtained with the measurements and experiments. The discussion is the analysis and processing of these data, the presence or absence of abnormal situations and the possible application in the real world.
It is also the time to explain how the uncertainties were assessed. If tables or graphs are included, they must be clearly identified.
The conclusions include the discussion of how the results demonstrate or not what was set as objective.
In this part a brief account of the results and the discussion can be elaborated. Above all, it must contain what was achieved with practice, what was learned and the consequences and implications that these results may have..
The bibliography is the detailed reference of books, articles, essays and any other format (videos, conferences, etc.) that were taken as a theoretical framework and that were cited in the text, as well as to develop the experiment itself.
Appendices are supplemental information that helps clarify the content of the report. They can be calculations to obtain results, photographs of the process, etc., which are placed at the end so as not to distract the reader's attention.
To make a practice report, a series of steps are followed. To explain them we will use an example of some practices on solar energy and water.
Define the theme and title: "Solar-decontaminated water molecules".
Define the objectives: analyze the behavior of contaminated water molecules when solar energy is applied to decontaminate it, and how this method would benefit from cleaning wastewater.
Start the experiment under controlled conditions, that is, in the laboratory. Samples are taken from contaminated water sources, analyzed, subjected to chemical processes with a photocatalyst (this absorbs the sun's rays and creates hydroxyl radicals, which are oxidizing agents of organic matter).
Take detailed notes on each phase of the experiment, noting date, time, types of contaminated molecules, their reaction to the photocatalyst, obtaining smaller carbon dioxide molecules. Take photos and screenshots of the microscope.
Analysis of the water already treated and what results were obtained.
Organization of data and results. Begin the writing of the report by making a brief summary of the objectives and results.
Write the introduction, indicating the bibliographic sources used, the working method and what is expected to be obtained.
Present the experimental report: indicate what type of microscope was used, the characteristics of the photocatalyst and the precision of both (equipment and materials), the state of contamination of the water and where it was obtained. Include graphs, figures, tables and equations if necessary.
Likewise, it includes the discussion of the results, the observations made during the experiment; Here the results obtained are compared with other similar ones reported by the scientific literature and those of other work groups, to demonstrate the viability of the experiment..
When analyzing the results, it was observed that with homogeneous and heterogeneous photocatalysis treatment processes, hydroxyl radicals were also generated that degrade organic matter, cleaning contaminated water between 80 and 90%. If there are comments or suggestions, include them in this section.
Compile the bibliography and order it alphabetically, indicating author, title, year of publication and editions.
Organize the appendices: diagrams, calculations, photographs, etc..
Let's take an example of a practice report in the subject of chemistry:
Extract rosemary essences to make cosmetic products.
The extraction of essences with the Soxhlet extractor allows to obtain substances of great purity. You want to see the efficiency in artisanal procedures to be used by natural cosmetics.
Today there are more and more users of cosmetics and personal care products who demand that these products be biodegradable, not tested on animals and produced with low environmental impact.
In this sense, extraction with the Soxhlet and rotary evaporation help to be more efficient. On the other hand, there is abundant literature that talks about the benefits of rosemary for the skin.
The objective of this experiment is, therefore, to extract rosemary essence with low environmental impact methods..
The following materials were used for this experiment:
We place the alcohol in the flask and on top the Soxhlet extractor, properly fitted in the mouth of the flask. The cellulose cartridge was placed inside the extractor, where rosemary branches were placed.
It was then heated on the gas stove holding everything up and down with gloves. The alcohol vapors reached the refrigerant, there they condensed and fell on the cellulose cartridge.
The drops of alcohol were in contact with the rosemary and remained that way until they reached the height of the lateral siphon, falling back into the flask. At this point a new extraction cycle began, culminating in the second round..
The alcohol was separated from the essence using a rotary evaporator, the resulting substance being a concentrated rosemary substance, on the one hand, and solvent residues (alcohol) that were discarded..
Rosemary extracts by means of the Soxhlet extractor and rotary evaporation guarantee a purity close to 98%, which allows the production of creams, tonics and other cosmetic products at a lower cost and with greater efficiency..
Although the large-scale procedure may not be very practical, at the artisanal level it shows great efficiency, being able to guarantee SMEs a pure product.
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