Useful Excel Commands for Lab



Lets say you want to know the difference between two columns of data, for example, lets subtract column C from B.  First you have to do it for one data point, as shown in the picture below.

filler image

Then all you do is copy your formula, 

filler image

and then paste it all the way down the column:

filler image

Excel knows to change the cell references accordingly!




To get


 Choose Data - Data Analysis - Regression (If DATA ANALYSIS is not visible, you must install it by going to "File"-"Options"-"Add-ins", choose "Analysis ToolPak" and click "Go..."; check box for Analysis ToolPak and click "OK")

Choose appropriate y- data and x- data.

Since we generally use 90% confidence intervals in this class, change the confidence level to 90%.

Click ok.

The output gives: 

filler image 

While we may be interested in the other things at times, we are generally interested in deriving an answer from the fit.  The slope ("X Variable") and y- intercept are given, with one standard error for each.  From these, we can write the 90% confidence interval for the slope and y- intercept of the fit.