Using Formulas in Excel

Excel is a powerful program not only because you can make spreadsheets and plots, but because
you can perform multiple, linked calculations very quickly and accurately. The purpose of this
handout is to give you a quick introduction to some of these capabilities. However, the only way
you will really learn these, is to try them yourself.
First, you must develop a spreadsheet not only with data in mind but also with what calculations
you expect to perform. As an example, consider the following: You want to calculate the
concentration of a set of serial dilutions as well as the absorbances from the percent transmittances.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7

A
B
Stock Conc. (M) 0.002400
Stock Vol (mL)
0.00
2.00
4.00
6.00

Water Vol (mL)

8.00
6.00
4.00
2.00

Total Vol (mL)

Conc (M)

%T
100.0
81.3
66.1
53.7

Absorbance

In order to use Excel to perform a calculation in a given cell, you must start with an = to let
Excel know you want a calculated answer in that cell. The function after the equal sign can be an
arithmetic function or a more complicated function from the function button in the toolbar.
So in cell C4, you could type =A4+B4 and then press enter. What would be displayed in cell C4
would be 8.00. In order to do similar calculations using sets of data in columns, you can left-click
on cell C4. A box will be highlighted around the cell and there will be a small black square in the
lower right corner of the cell. If you bring the cursor over that square, a bold + will appear.
Holding the left mouse button down, and dragging the cursor down to C7, the cells C5 through C7
will be filled using the appropriate data in columns A and B. For example in cell C6 you would
see in the formula bar =A6+B6.
In cell D4 you could type = $B$1*A4/C4. This would calculate the concentration based on
Md=McVc/Vd. You could again highlight cell D4 and Fill down by holding down the left
mouse button down while dragging down the column. Note that I did not use = B1*A4/C4. This
would have given the correct answer for D4, but D5 would use = B2*A5/C5. This would be
incorrect. By using $B$1, this locks the cell as B1 in any pull-downs.
In cell F4 you could type = LOG10(100/E4). This would calculate the Absorbance based on
A=Log(100%/%T). You could again highlight cell F4 and Fill down by holding down the left
mouse button down while dragging down the column.
Note that some of the decimal places may not show as indicated above. Formatting of numbers
can be done using the Increase Decimal or Decrease Decimal, or the Format pull-down menu
can be used.

At this point your table would look like the following:

1
2
3
4
5
6
7

A
B
Stock Conc. (M) 0.002400
Stock Vol (mL)
0.00
2.00
4.00
6.00

Water Vol (mL)

8.00
6.00
4.00
2.00

Total Vol (mL)

8.00
8.00
8.00
8.00

Conc (M)
0.00000
0.000600
0.00120
0.00180

%T
100.0
81.3
66.1
53.7

Absorbance
0.000
0.0900
0.180
0.270

You can also show the spreadsheet in a Formula View mode. The advantage of this is that if you
insert a copy of your results (shown above) as well as the Formula View, both in your notebook,
those would fulfill the requirements of showing all runs for a set of calculations. When printing
out these spreadsheets, you must make sure to select display column and row headings from
page setup so that someone can determine what data was used in a calculation.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7

A
B
Stock Conc. (M) 0.002400
Stock Vol
0.00
2.00
4.00
6.00

Water Vol
8.00
6.00
4.00
2.00

Total Vol
=A4+B4
=A5+B5
=A6+B6
=A7+B7

Conc (M)
= $B$1*A4/C4
= $B$1*A5/C5
= $B$1*A6/C6
= $B$1*A7/C7

%T
100.0
81.3
66.1
53.7

Absorbance
=LOG10(100/E4)
=LOG10(100/E5)
=LOG10(100/E6)
=LOG10(100/E7)

To access Formula View, you pull down the Tools menu and select options. You will see a
series of folders with tabs. Select the View folder and under Window options, check the box
marked Formulas.
By printing both the result and formula spreadsheets, you will have a summary of all the
calculations. However, in your notebook you need to show a set-up of each type of calculation.
This would include a description of what you are calculating, a set-up of the calculation, a sample
with data, and the answer.
Once you have the data and calculated values in columns, you can perform a variety of plots by
simply highlighting the columns and selecting ChartWizard.
Other functions:
=SUM(A1:A5)
adds the values in cells A1 through A5
=AVERAGE(A1:A5)
calculates the average value of the values in cells A1 though A5
=SLOPE(A1:A5,B1:B5)
calculates the slope of the line from known y-values in A and xs in B
=INTERCEPT(A1:A5,B1:B5) calculates the intercept of the best line through points (B,A)