By past tense with no pronouns I mean like, "200mL of water was poured into a 250mL beaker and placed on hot plate for X minutes." I know there's another name for that tense, I just don't know what it is. Anyway, does the whole lab report have to be in that tense, or just the method. I've heard either so I'm confused. Thanks!
-
Whenever you talk about the method, or something that WAS done in the experiment, it needs to be in the past tense. You're correct that depending on who you have, whether or not the rest of the report NEEDS to be written in the past tense varies, but as a general rule it is better to write everything in past tense.
You're also correct that all pronouns should be avoided, and this applies to the entire report. Furthermore, the word "there" should typically also be avoided; it's essentially a "no content" word, in that any sentence you can make using it can be made without it, and very often made more succinctly without it.
@Josh Daniel,
"In order to find the amount of ___ diffused, we had to use the...."
Nope... You used the word "we".
You're also correct that all pronouns should be avoided, and this applies to the entire report. Furthermore, the word "there" should typically also be avoided; it's essentially a "no content" word, in that any sentence you can make using it can be made without it, and very often made more succinctly without it.
@Josh Daniel,
"In order to find the amount of ___ diffused, we had to use the...."
Nope... You used the word "we".
-
You want to write in past tense.
For example, "In order to find the amount of ___ diffused, we had to use the...." Yeah, your sample writing looks good! Just write like that and you should get a good grade :D
Remember, it's science, not english, so don't stress out too much about the writing. Your organization/details is MUCH more important! In fact, most teachers only care about that.
Good luck!
Edit: You can use "we" in a lab report... especially if you worked in a group, which you probably did.
For example, "In order to find the amount of ___ diffused, we had to use the...." Yeah, your sample writing looks good! Just write like that and you should get a good grade :D
Remember, it's science, not english, so don't stress out too much about the writing. Your organization/details is MUCH more important! In fact, most teachers only care about that.
Good luck!
Edit: You can use "we" in a lab report... especially if you worked in a group, which you probably did.
-
I would say it applies to the entire lab report; at least that's what my organic chem prof required.
-
You are doing it correctly. That is how I wrote my lab reports. It would work in the conclusion/summary as well.
"We found that by doing xyz it was determined that abc could occur"
"We found that by doing xyz it was determined that abc could occur"
-
it has to be in past tense and make sure when u writing the report, do not command the reader