To find and open Excel on a GWU Lab computer: 1) left-click on the Start button 2) left-click on Programs 3) left-click Microsoft Windows/Office Suite 4) left-click on Microsoft Excel (the icon is a little green square with a green "x" in it)
You'll be brought to a brand-new file which Excel calls a workbook. Each workbook has 3 worksheets to start off with (look at the tabs at the bottom of the page) you can do a different problem on each worksheet to keep things straight - saving the workbook saves all your worksheets at once. 1) First things first, left-click on "File" at the top of the screen 2) Left-click on "Save As" and rename your file and decide where you would like to to be saved then you can just click on the little disk icon, below "edit" whenever you want to save NOTE: Save your file right away and as frequently as you can after that - it's worth it should Excel malfunction and it recovers the document when you last saved.
If you are trying to type words, several characters are recognized by the program as instructions to perform a mathematical program such as: means minus + means plus = means equals * means multiplication / means division
These symbols are used to construct a formula to tell excel how to treat the data that you've entered into specific cells Treatment x (mm) Replicate 1 For: addition subtraction multiplication division 6 Type: "=c29+d29" and hit ENTER "=c30-d30" "=c31*d31" "=c32/d32" Treatment y (mm) 5 Result: 11 1 30 1.2
To sum across many cells you can type "=c29
Or use these symbols in a formula from the Excel Help Menu: "Enter a formula that contains a function" 1 Click the cell in which you want to enter the formula.
2 3 4 5 6
To start the formula with the function, click Edit Formula in the formula bar. Click the down arrow next to the Functions box . Click the function you want to add to the formula. If the function does not appear in the list, Enter the arguments. When you complete the formula, press ENTER.
Now for an easy example I want to average the numbers in columns A & B and I want the rusult to appear in column D. I need to highlight cell D42 and type: =(C56+D56)/2 A (mm) Relpicate Relpicate Relpicate Relpicate Relpicate Relpicate 1 2 3 4 5 6 5 1 5 6 2 3 B (mm) 6 2 8 5 2 6 5.50 << highlight this cell and view the formula up above
The nice thing about excel is the work it can save you - you can apply that formula by cutting and pasting to the rest of the column. The formulas will also be readjusted - left-click on E73 and check above. A (mm) B (mm) Relpicate 1 5 6 5.50 Relpicate 2 1 2 1.50 Relpicate 3 5 8 6.50 Relpicate 4 6 5 5.50 Relpicate 5 2 2 2.00 Relpicate 6 3 6 4.50 This way you do not have to keep writing your formula over and over again.
Your turn. Highlight E81 with your cursor (a white plus sign) and drag it across the lower right corner of the cell until it switc into a black plus sign. You've now highlighted the cell in Copy mode. Holding down the left mouse button, drag the formula down to cell E73 A (mm) Relpicate Relpicate Relpicate Relpicate Relpicate Relpicate 1 2 3 4 5 6 6 5 5 3 2 3 B (mm) 6 2 5 5 8 6 6.00
If you did that, your table should now look like this below: A (mm) Relpicate Relpicate Relpicate Relpicate Relpicate Relpicate 1 2 3 4 5 6 6 5 5 3 2 3 B (mm) 6 2 5 5 8 6 6.00 3.50 5.00 4.00 5.00 4.50
Now if you want to get a sum for a whole row, there are a few ways to do it Say I want to add up all the values from E91 through E96. Highlight the series of cells plus the cell immediately after (in this case, E97) then bring your cursor to the button for sigma "E" and left-click it Try & see what happens
Now check the formula - place the cursor over E97 and see what the other way to write the formula looks like
OK - well those are some of the basics that will introduce you to the different uses for excel Try experimenting, clicking on different icons. Take a little time to explore the different menus and you'll be using this program in no time. Good luck! Additional notes: For all work in this class make sure to title to every graph and chart, label all data and specify units If you're working with many rows of data and you're loosing track of what columns you're working with, you can use "Freeze Panes" located in the "Window" menu to hold the column and row titles in place as you work If you click on the "Freeze Panes example" tab at the bottom of the screen you can see an example To do this on your own spreadsheet highlight the square beneath the title rows of your data set as in this example and select "Freeze Panes": A (mm) Relpicate 1 Relpicate 2 5 1 B (mm) 6 2
If you are typing and not working with numbers and do not want Excel to treat it matematically you can highlight the cells you would like to work with, right-click and select "Format Cells" and on the "Number" tab select "Text" which will keep anything you type just the way you typed it - without applying formulas
If you need to alphabetize data or arrange items numerically try using "Data Sort" in the "Data" menu An annoying feature of older Excel versions is that if you want to cut and paste anything numerical, like in column B here and I want to number each of the replicates 1 through 6, I can't do it by holding down the left mouse button and highlighting "1" in cell B138 and dragging it down Replicates 1 A (mm) 6 5 3 5 B (mm) 6 2 4 5
because I'll get this result: Replicates 1 1 1 1 A (mm) 6 5 3 5 B (mm) 6 2 4 5
instead, start your numerical series with 1 and 2, highlight both those cells and then drag them down to copy Replicates 1 2 A (mm) 6 5 3 5 B (mm) 6 2 4 5
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A (mm) Relpicate Relpicate Relpicate Relpicate Relpicate Relpicate 1 2 3 4 5 6 5 1 5 6 2 3
B (mm) 6 2 8 5 2 6
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