Working with Spreadsheets Lab

In this lab we are going to become familiar with spreadsheets by using them in  some applications. We are going to need:

• A computer with the EXCEL software
• Graphical Analysis software

In labs, we are always collecting data and spreadsheets are a great way to present your results in a lab report. They make the tables you would need for someone that is reading the report to easily understand what quantities were obtained for a certain part of the lab. They keep your data neat and organized as well.

Procedure:

We began by opening up Microsoft EXCEL and saved the spreadsheet as Practice Spreadsheet 1. Our first table we created was one that would calculate the values of:

f(x) = A sin(Bx + C)

Our initial values we are going to use are:

• A = 5
• B = 3
• C = (pi)/3

We put these values on the right side of the spreadsheet. We put each value in a column and labeled them. In the Amplitude column we put 5, which was cell R2, the Phase column we put (pi)/3 in cell T2, and the Frequency column had 3 in cell S2.

We then made column headings labeled "f(x)" which we put in K1 and "x" which was in cell J1. In the x column, we put the first value as 0 and below that we put 0.1. We highlighted both cells and in the bottom right hand corner of the highlighted cells is a square. We clicked on the box and dragged it down until we reached the value of 10. Doing this creates all of the cells needed for the column because it recognizes the change in values and creates them all without having to type them in one by one.
In the In the "f(x)" column, we are going to create a formula to calculate the function. To create a formulat, you must put an = to let the program know you want it to calculate something. In  cell K2 we created the function by inputing =H2sin(J2D2+I2). It will calculate the value for f(x) for us so we don't have to. Again, we highlighted the cell and in the bottom right hand corner we dragged that to fill the column as far as the x column went. This calculates everything so we don't have to. In order to see the equation that creates the value in the "f(x)" column, you can press "Ctrl~".

We made a copy of the table with the values and then one with the equations of the first 20 rows.

We copied the table by highlighting the whole thing and dragging into the program Graphical Analysis. In Graphical Analysis it created a graph of the table we made with the equation. We highlighted a part of the graph and performed a curve fit to show the equation with the same values we gave it. On the graph, we titled it "Graph of Excel Spreadsheet", labeled the y-axis as "f(x)" and the x-axis as "x". We printed out the graph.

Once we finished that part up, we then repeated a similar process to calculate the position of a freefalling object. The next function we are going to look at is the kinematic equation:

x₁ = x₀+v₀(t_f –t_i)+.5g(t_f-t_i)²

for the values we used: 

g = -9.8 m/s²

v₀= 50 m/s

x₀= 1000 m

(t_f-t_i)= 0.2 s

These values were also put in celss with column headings. g was in column N, v was in column O, and x was in the P column. In column F, we labeled it as time, and we put the time value. In F2 was 0 and F3 was 0.2. We highlighted the cells and dragged the box down until the time reached 20 s. In the G column with the header Position. Here we typed the equation =P2+O2*F2+0.5*N2*F2^2. We highlighted that cell and dragged it to fill all the time values.

We copied a table of the first 20 values calculated for the position. We also showed a table of the equations by pushing "Ctrl~" and copied that table as well.

We dragged the table of values into the Graphical Analysis as we did before and created a graph of the table. In the graph, we titled it "Free Falling Particle", labeled the y-axis as "position (m)" and the x-axis "time". We fit the data with a curve fit using a quadratic type equation (y = A+Bx+Cx^2) to get values for A, B, and C.



The values of A represented a similar value to our initial position, the B value represented the velocity, and C was 1/2 of the value of g.

Conclusion:
In this lab we learned how EXCEL can be used to create a spreadsheet of values that we find during a lab. We learned that you can copy that table into Graphical Analysis that way you can create the most accurate graph of the data that you find. We can use this skill in just about any lab because we are always using experimental data in equations to find values of the lab. Take the free fall part of this lab for instance. We performed this lab at the beginning of the semester and could've used a spreadsheet with a given equation to create the graph of what occurred.