1. Graphing with Excel The Basics

2. Working With Excel The spreadsheet program Excel is useful for constructing data tables and graphs The results can easily be inserted into a Word document of Power Point presentation This presentation will introduce you to the basics of data presentation with Excel

3. Working With Excel Consider the following example: –One of the most important skills to learn in driving is how to stop safely. No car can “stop on a dime.” The faster the car is moving, the further it travels before it stops. There is also the “reaction time;” the time between the decision to stop and the time the driver steps on the brakes. During the reaction time, the drive travels a certain distance, called the “reaction distance.”

4. Working With Excel Using Excel, we will prepare a table and a graph of original speed, reaction distance, braking distance and total distance to stop. Begin by opening Excel and inserting the table headings (don’t forget the units)

5. Click and Drag here To change cell size Choose a cell and type your text. Don’t forget to add your units (like I did) You can adjust font size and color as you would in Word Note: Avoid entering Any data in cell A1.

6. Enter all your table headings and data Two important things to remember here: 1. Enter independent variable (x-axis) first 2. Do not mix numbers and letters (text) in the data; it will create a problem when you try to graph it

7. Select “Format Cells” Right click to open Click and drag to select

8. Select the “Number” tab and choose the appropriate category. Here I will select “number” and the appropriate number of decimal points based on the precision of my measurement. This helps to keep the correct number of significant figures in your data. Take a moment to look at the other options in this menu

9. Selecting the “Borders” option on the toolbar Will open the “Draw Borders” feature This will allow you to add borders to your data table

10. To make a graph, begin by highlighting the data you wish to graph. Be sure to highlight only the numbers Once the data is highlighted, select “Chart Wizard”

11. With Chart Wizard open, select “XY (Scatter)” Then select Next

12. The next view Should look Like this Note the three Sets of data Select Next

13. Here you can add a title to the graph and labels on the axes Don’t forget to include units on your axes

14. Last step is to save your graph (or chart as it’s called) Select Finish

15. A graph will now appear In your spreadsheet. You can drag, resize, and copy-paste this just like any image used in Word Let’s add a few more details before we finish

16. “Right Click” on any one of the data points. The points in that series will be highlighted (as shown) A box will open up. Choose “Source Data”

17. Select “Series” tab Here you can Add names to Your legend (if you have one). Select the series Type name here Select OK

18. “Right click” a data point again to open menu box. Select “Add Trendline”

19. Based on the “shape” of your data points, choose the regression type that best fits. For this example, I am selecting linear, since the data points are almost in a straight line

20. Select the “Options” tab Select “Display Equation on Chart” This will give you the slope and equation for the Best-fit curve through you data

21. The equation is in the form y = mx+b where m = slope and b= y-intercept

22. Repeat for any additional Data Note: For the other plots, I selected the “power” regression option since the data points tended to curve instead of being in a straight line

23. Working With Excel So what do these results mean? Notice the reaction distance increases by roughly the same amount for each increase in speed (linear relationship). The braking distance however, increases more rapidly as the speed increases (exponential relationship). In other words, you need much more stopping distance for a small increase in car speed.

24. Working With Excel From this point, you can save and print your results right from Excel Alternately, your can copy-paste your table and graph into your report if your are using Word. This is a nice way to create a very “finished” and professional–looking document.