Page 1 Introduction to Engineering Statistics: Excel Exercise

Lab 1: Use of Microsoft Excel

The three Excel assignments in this Lab should adhere to the following format:
A. Your name should appear left justified at the top of each page of each spreadsheet.
Immediately below your name the Assignment number must appear in the form
"Assignment _ ". The date of the assignment's completion should appear at the top right
of each page of the spreadsheet. To do this use the Custom Header option of the
Header/Footer menu accessed through the command sequence File/Page Setup.
B. All the assignments of this Lab should be handed in at the same time, stapled to the first
page. Do not hand in the assignments piece meal. Wait until all three assignments have
been completed.
I. Introduction
A spreadsheet program like MS Excel allows you to enter numbers and labels into cells which
make a two-dimensional array or table called a spreadsheet. The rows of the spreadsheet are
labeled by numbers and the columns by numbers. In addition to storing information, a
spreadsheet's real power comes from performing calculations and generating graphs.
Furthermore, if the contents of a given cell are changed, this change is automatically
incorporated into the calculations or graphs. For this reason, calculations in a spreadsheet should
always be stated as formulas involving the addresses of the cells containing the data rather than
the numerical values of the data. This illustrated below.
Cells D2-D4 contain the values 9, 8, and 6 respectively. To place the sum of this column (23) in
cell D5, we type the equal sign in the command line. This tells Excel that we are entering a
formula. The "function" name we want is sum. Selecting "SUM" from the functions bar results in
the dialogue box shown below. We need to indicate that the block of cells to sum is D2-D4. One
way to do this is to click on the "little spreadsheet" icon shown in the extreme right of the
Number 1 data box. This returns you to the spreadsheet and allows you to select with the mouse
those cells which are to be summed. Once the selection has been made press the enter key. Then
click on "OK" in the dialogue box.
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A second alternative is to simply type "sum(d2:d4)" in the command line and then press the
enter key.

A third alternative is to place the cursor in the cell D5 and left click on the sigma (summation)
button and press the enter key..
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In any case what is shown in cell D5 is the computed sum. (To actually see the formula in a cell
rather than the result of its evaluation use the command sequence Tools Options View and click
on Formulas check box.)

Another feature that makes spreadsheets easy to use is the use of relative addressing in copying
and pasting. Suppose we have two columns x and y, with x in cells C2-C7 and y in cells D2-D7.
We want to make a new column z, where each entry in the z column is the sum of the
corresponding entry in the x column with twice the corresponding entry in the y column. Stated
as a formula z = x + 2y . To put this formula into spreadsheet language, we compute the first
entry in the z column, E2 as +C2+2*D2. Using the leading + sign lets Excel know that we are
entering a formula without having to depress the = sign in the command line.

We could enter the corresponding formulas for cells E3-E7, but this is rather tedious, especially
if there were a large number of cells. Here's where the magic of relative addressing comes in. We
select cell E2 and copy its contents into the clipboard. Then we select the cells E3 -E7 and right
click with the mouse to get the selection menu. We choose to paste the clipboard into the selected
cells. You might think that this would paste +C2+2*D2 into each cell.
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In fact, we get just what we wanted. Excel is "smart enough" to know that the C column is being
added to twice the D column, so it changes the cell addresses for each cell. This is what relative
addressing is all about.

Sometimes we don't want to copy and paste cell address "relatively". For example, if a formula
must always use the contents of cell G17 regardless of what cell contains the formula, we would
refer to cell G17 in the formula as $G$17 . The use of the $ means that if this formula is copied
and pasted into another cell, the contents of cell G17 will still be used in the computation. The
use of the $ with cell addresses is called absolute addressing.

Excel Assignment 1: (15 points)

Go to the website http://faculty.madisoncollege.edu/alehnen/TechmathII/TechMathIILabs.html

and download a copy (“right click” on the link and choose “Save Target As”) of the Excel file
Salesort.xls. In Excel open this file. Using formulas and the Format menu modify the worksheet
so that it appears as follows:
A. All column widths are adjusted so that all column headings fit.
B. All columns except "Sales Associate" and "Employee Code" are displayed as currency with 2
decimal digits.
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C. The "First Quarter Sales" Column is the sum of each associate's sales from January through
March.
D. The "Commission" Column is 6.5% of the First Quarter Sales Column.
E. All Column headings are bold and a blank row separates the column headings from the sales
data. A single width line underlines the row of Column headings.
F. In addition to the original order of associates, three other listings of the spreadsheet results are
to be shown, each separated by a blank row. So make three copies by using select, copy, and
paste. The first listing should have the associates' names in alphabetical order. The second listing
should be in ascending order of the Employee Code, while the last listing should be in
descending order according to First Quarter Sales. To sort a block of cells, select Sort from the
Data menu. Block here refers to the entire set of cells to be included in the sort. Since all four
listings are to be displayed in the final form of the spreadsheet, be sure to make a copy of the
rows before executing the sort. That is, first make the changes to the rows in the order given,
then make a copy of these rows below them, then sort the copied rows. Repeat this process until
all four listings are in the same spreadsheet.
G. Insert a three-D pie chart showing the contribution of each associate to first quarter sales. To
access graphics use the command sequence Insert Chart. Select a three-D pie as the Chart sub-
type. Choose Series (rather than Data Range) and click Add. Select the column of first quarter
sales as the Values (cells to plot) and the column of names of sales associates as the Category
(X) axis labels. This graph should have a title of First Quarter Sales. Once the chart appears right
clicking on it (or any portion of it such as titles or labels) brings up an "object menu" which
allows you to make changes. The chart can be resized in the same way as graphic images in MS
Word. Insert the chart into your spreadsheet.
H. Print the spreadsheet. Use the Page Setup and Print Preview commands in the File menu to
get a printout that is easy to read and understand. Use the Scaling adjust option under the Page
index label of the Page Setup menu so that all columns printed fit on one page.

Excel Assignment 2: (15 points)

Go to the website http://www.weather.gov/climate/index.php?wfo=mkx of the National Weather
Service Forecast Office. Choose the following options: 1. Product: Daily Climate Report, 2.
Location: Madison, 3. Timeframe marked: Archived Data to find the maximum, minimum, and
average temperatures recorded in Madison for each day of the preceding calendar month. In an Excel
spreadsheet enter this temperature data in four columns. The first column is Day and runs from 1
(the first of the month) to the last day of the month. Compute the average, median and standard
deviation (using the Excel functions AVERAGE, MEDIAN and STDEV) for the Maximum,
Minimum, and Average columns and format these results to two decimal places.
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Next create a 2-D XY (Scatter) chart that shows the Maximum, Minimum, and Average versus
Day all on one graph. The Chart sub-type should be Scatter with data points connected by
lines. Click on the Series tab and press the Add button. There should be three Series. The X
Values for each series is the Day column. The Y Values will be the Maximum column for
Series 1, the Minimum column for Series 2, and the Average column for Series 3. The graph
should have a title, the x axis should be labeled, and each series should have a Name to identify
Maximum, Minimum and Average on the graph.
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Right click on objects such as the X and Y axes and the titles to adjust the scale, the size and
types of fonts, colors, etc. Generate a clear and understandable graph similar to the one shown
below. Insert the chart into the spreadsheet and print the result.

II. Generating Linear Models in Excel: (15 points)

Given a set of X, Y values where Y is the dependent variable and X is the independent variable,
the "best" straight line (which Excel calls a "Trend Line) through the data can be determined by
the method of "least squares". This linear modeling of the relationship between X and Y is
calculated by the equation Y = m*X+b , where m is the slope of the line and b is the y intercept.
In Excel this least squares or "regression" slope can be calculated with the SLOPE( ) function.
The SLOPE function's input menu requires the cell addresses of the Known_y's and the
Known_x's. These may be entered directly, or if you click on the "little spreadsheet" icon you
will return to the spreadsheet where you can select the appropriate cells. After selecting the
correct input, click on the OK button to calculate the slope. The regression y intercept is
calculated in a similar fashion with the INTERCEPT( ) function.
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To calculate the estimated Y values based on the linear model copy and paste the formula
Y=m*X+b as shown below. Note: the use of absolute addressing for the cells containing the
slope and y intercept.

Finally, a 2-D XY (Scatter) plot of the data plus the linear model can be constructed as shown
below. The chart sub-type chosen was Scatter with no connecting lines or curves between data
points. Then the series option was used to plot both the (X, Y) data pairs. Right click on a (X, Y)
data point and add a "Trend line" with the options to display both the regression equation and R2.
R2 is the fraction of Y that a linear equation in X explains, it is always between 0 and 1. To
change the background color of the plot right click within the plot and select Format Plot Area.
To insert grid lines right click within the plot and select Chart Options. The chart shown below
was modified from what Excel originally generated by various re-sizing and "much" right
clicking on its components.
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Excel Assignment 3: (20 points)

Down load the Excel File Power Law Exercise at

http://faculty.madisoncollege.edu/alehnen/EngineeringStats/Power_Law_Exercise.xls. In the
spreadsheet set up a Drop Down list to input data for the cells that contain p, A , x start, and
Change in x from the values in columns D through G, rows 6 to 10. Position the cursor in column
B in the cell which is to contain the value of the variable to be inputted. From the Excel Data
Tab, select Data Validation/Data Validation. In the Data Validation dialogue box select List under
allow: . Then in Source select the cells in the appropriate column of designated values in the first
step. Click OK. Use absolute addressing to generate twenty values of x in column B, rows 13 to
32, with the first value equal to the value in cell B8 and the remaining values in rows 14 to 32
increasing from the previous x value by the contents of cell B9. Generate using absolute
addressing the associated y values in column C, rows 13 to 32 by the power law formula,
y = Ax p . Generate columns D and E, rows 13 to 32, by taking the natural logarithms of the x and
y columns.
Use the drop down menu in column B, rows 6 to 9, to enter values for p, A , x start, and Change
in x.
In column B, rows 35 to 37 and rows 39 to 42 enter the formulas required to calculate the
information requested in column A. The Excel function to calculate the coefficient of
determination, R2 , is RSQ() with inputs entered the same way as with the SLOPE() and
INTERCEPT() functions.

Generate a 2-D XY (Scatter) graph of y versus x and add a trend line with both the regression
(trend line) equation and the value of R2 displayed.

Generate a second 2-D XY (Scatter) graph of ln(y) versus ln(x) and add a trend line of this
second graph again with both the regression (trend line) equation and the value of R2 displayed.

Now use the drop down menus to sample different values for p, A , x start, and Change in x.
From the results computed and displayed by the spreadsheet, answer the following discussion
questions in the spread sheet. Print out the results, including the two scatter plots, with neither
one separated by a page break.
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a) For the input values tested how well does a linear model of y versus x represent the data? Is
the linear model "exact"?

b) For the input values tested how well does a linear model of ln(y) versus ln(x) represent the
data? Is this model "exact"?

c) Describe in words a procedure for determining the "best" values of and for any data set that
obeys the power law relation, y = Ax p .