Physics Lab Report LaTeX Template

\documentclass[12pt,a4paper]{article}
\usepackage[T1]{fontenc}
\usepackage{lmodern}
\usepackage{amsmath,amssymb}
\usepackage{siunitx} % v3 syntax: \qty{value}{unit}, \unit{unit}
\sisetup{per-mode=symbol}
\usepackage{booktabs}
\usepackage{geometry}
\geometry{margin=2.5cm}
\usepackage{microtype}

\title{Lab Report: Measurement of Gravitational Acceleration}
\author{Student Name \\ Partner Name}
\date{\today}

\begin{document}
\maketitle

\section{Objective}

Determine the local gravitational acceleration $g$ using a simple pendulum,
and compare the result to the accepted value of
$g = \qty{9.81}{\metre\per\second\squared}$.

\section{Theory}

For small oscillations, the period $T$ of a simple pendulum of length $L$ is:

\[
  T = 2\pi\sqrt{\frac{L}{g}}
\]

Solving for $g$:

\[
  g = \frac{4\pi^2 L}{T^2}
\]

\section{Data}

\begin{table}[htbp]
\centering
\caption{Pendulum period measurements at fixed length $L = \qty{0.500}{\metre}$.}
\label{tab:data}
\begin{tabular}{c S[table-format=1.3] S[table-format=1.3]}
\toprule
Trial & {Length $L$ (\unit{\metre})} & {Period $T$ (\unit{\second})} \\
\midrule
1 & 0.500 & 1.421 \\
2 & 0.500 & 1.419 \\
3 & 0.500 & 1.423 \\
\midrule
Mean & 0.500 & 1.421 \\
\bottomrule
\end{tabular}
\end{table}

\section{Results}

Using $L = \qty{0.500}{\metre}$ and $T = \qty{1.421}{\second}$ (Table~\ref{tab:data}):

\[
  g = \frac{4\pi^2 \times \qty{0.500}{\metre}}{(\qty{1.421}{\second})^2}
    = \qty{9.78}{\metre\per\second\squared}
\]

\section{Error Analysis}

The percentage error relative to the accepted value is:
\[
  \text{error} = \frac{|9.78 - 9.81|}{9.81} \times 100\,\% = \qty{0.31}{\percent}
\]

\section{Conclusion}

The measured value $g = \qty{9.78}{\metre\per\second\squared}$ agrees with the accepted value
to within experimental uncertainty. Main sources of error: air resistance,
timing reaction delay, and non-zero amplitude.

\end{document}

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