20 February 2013
Dr. Haag
Physics 4A
Working
with Spreadsheets
Purpose:
To
be familiar with entering and computing data on an Excel Spreadsheet,
using equations and other given information
Equipment:
- Computer with Microsoft Excel software and Graphical Analysis software
Procedure:
Turn
on the computer and open Microsoft Excel. In different columns type:
x, f(x), amplitude, frequency and phase. Amplitude is equal to 5,
frequency is equal to 3 and phase is equal to (PI/3); place these
values below it's respective title. For the “x” column, type “0”
directly below and continue incrementing the values by .1 below until
you reach to 10. For the f(x) values, you will plug in the equation
“A sin(Bx+C)” under the f(x) column. Instead of typing in the
equation, you will have to use the given values for each variable, so
for A click on the square that contains the Amplitude value, for B
click on the square that contains frequency value and for C click on
the square that contains the phase value. Notice that the variables
A, B and C remain constant, while the x value gradually increases. In
order to accommodate the constants to not change, use “$” between
the block column name and the block row name. Once you type in the
equation, drag the equation down to all the rows consistent with the
“x” column. The f(x) will provide you with an answer for each
corresponding “x” value. Finally you will copy and paste the x
and f(x) values onto the Graphical Analysis software under the “X”
and “Y” table to make a graph of the function.
After
you finish you will repeat the steps for a different set of data: g =
9.8m/s/s, v initial = 50m/s, x initial = 1000m with an increment of
.2 seconds using the equation “A+Bx+Cx^2”.
Data:
All
of our data was done on a Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet and Graphical Analysis software posted and attached with this blog below:
Conclusion:
My
partner and I figured out that we can easily calculate an equation
from given variables and constants on an Excel Spreadsheet. Excel is
like a Microsoft calculator that easily interprets data and
determines a result based on your computation, your data, and your
equations. Now for future experiments and labs we can easily enter
our data into an Excel Spreadsheet and let the program compute the
results. This minimizes human error in computation and leaves the
hard part for the computer program. Also with the data readily
available on the computer, we can easily transfer our data onto the
Graphical Analysis software like we did in this lab. We than can view
our results in a much more time efficient way.
The
difficult part of this lab was correctly entering the equation. The
downside for the program was that there were various symbols that
pertain to the program that the user might not necessary be familiar
with, and it might take some research to find out. In this case we
had to use the symbol “$” to identify unalterable constants while
leaving the rest of the variables that change alone. We wouldn't have
known to use this symbol if our teacher hadn't told us, otherwise we
would have been searching for it online.
Once
we copied and paste our data onto the Graphical Analysis software we
got an accurate position graph of the particle in motion. To make
sure the graph was accurate, we highlighted a certain portion of the
graph and clicked on analyze to let the software provide us with the
given variables involved in the equation. We ended up with the
values: a = -5, b = 3, and c = -14.7. Our given values were
originally a = 5, b = 3 and c = (PI/3). The “a” became -5 because
the portion of the graph we highlighted included the bottom of a
parabola rather than the top. We immediately realized that the
amplitude goes up and down in a sin graph so with a given amplitude
of 5, the amplitude would either be – or + depending on which
portion of the graph we highlight. The phase was off as well for the
same reason, the sin graph infinitely continues in the x direction so
depending on where we highlighted our graph we would receive
different results.
