Physics 220

Excel[TM]

G-Hints for Using Excel[TM]

Spreadsheet software packages can be one of the most useful tools to students
and professionals in business, engineering, and the sciences. Becoming acquainted
with the basic workings of such programs is well worth your investment of time. In
this lab, you will be using Microsoft's Excelsoftware, but its function is very similar
to other common spreadsheet software applications.

• Spreadsheet programs like Excelare very large and use a lot of a
  computer's available memory. One result of this is that they do
  occasionally "crash." Therefore, you should alwayssave your work
  on a regular basis (like after every major change) so that you do not
  have to waste time by repeating the process should the computer
  need to be rebooted.

• Data should be
  entered as tables with
  each column labeled.
  To do this just click
  on a cell, type your
  entry and then hit
  either "return" or
  "enter."

• If you want a cell reference to remain fixed even when copying, you can place
  dollar signs ($) in the formula. This tells the program that the reference is
  always to that specific cell, even if the formula is copied. For example, if you
  wanted to use the value of g in a formula, you would type the reference as:

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