One hundred and eighteen base elements make up the periodic table of elements. Every single substance on earth is composed of one or more of these elements, which can combine to make up famous shortcuts for writing out compounds. Many people know that H2O stands for water, or two hydrogen atoms chemically combined with one oxygen atom.
A trained chemist should be able to follow your lab report and repeat your experiment using the information you provide. This includes the proper identification of the elements. While there are no hard and fast rules for identifying elements, err on the side of caution and clarity. For example, if there might be confusion regarding the typing of a single letter, such as N for nitrogen or F for Fluorine, spell out the word.
If you spell out the word in one place, you can abbreviate it later as long as you referenced the abbreviation the first time you mentioned the word. In other words, if you initially identify iron as Fe, usually placed in parentheses, you can continue to use the proper element abbreviation of Fe.
Scientific style refers to word choice and sentence structure. Your writing needs to be clear and concise without being overly wordy or flowery. While other scientists should be able to easily understand your lab report, you should use nontechnical words when relevant, especially for nonscientific terms. Vary sentence length and keep the report flowing.
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