Spreadsheets

1. Spreadsheet lab assignment 1 - Excel Chart (handout)

• Include your name and assignment number at the top of the spreadsheet.
• Create a ss folder inside your Z:\cs102 folder. Save as Z:\cs102\ss\cs102sslab1.xls .
• DUE DATE: Fri, 9/19

(I will be harping on these rules all semester, and these rules will count on tests.)

• Include units of measure in spreadsheet columns and chart labels.
• Charts must have clear, descriptive titles.
• Chart axes numbers must have a uniform number of decimal places.
• Use no unnecessary legends in charts.
• Check your spelling.

• Create one Spreadsheet document per lab assignment. Create the following Excel documents in Z:\cs102\ss: cs102sslab2.xls, cs102sslab3.xls, etc. If you finish an assignment in lab, let me see it.

DUE DATE (assignment 2, 3): Fri, 9/19

• Spreadsheet lab assignment 2 - Turboprop (handout)
• Spreadsheet lab assignment 3 - Body Mass Index (handout)

DUE DATE (assignment 4, 5): Wed, 9/24

• Spreadsheet lab assignment 4 - Cable Car Velocity (handout)
• Spreadsheet lab assignment 5 - Plotting Polar Equations (handout)

DUE DATE (assignment 6, 7): Mon, 9/29

• Spreadsheet lab assignment 6 - Coin Toss Simulation (handout)
• Spreadsheet lab assignment 7 - More Random Numbers (handout)

• Typically, in spreadsheets, an original formula is copied and pasted to several adjacent cells where the cell references are updated.
  • With these formulas, you only need one result.
    • Example: =D1+E1
• But in some cases, you want to compute an array of results.
  • Example: From a bunch of test scores, count the number of A's, the number of B's, the number of C's, etc.
  • Spreadsheets provide array formulas that are designed to compute an array of results (several results at once).
• Array formulas are different in the way they are entered on the spreadsheet.
  • With array formulas, you do not copy from one cell and paste to adjacent cells.
  • To enter array formulas, you first highlight the range of cells where the results will be put, and then you enter the array formula, and finally finish the formula with Control-Shift-Enter.

• Why array formulas?
  • You can perform more sophisticated data analyses more easily than you'd be able to with normal formulas.

DUE DATE (assignment 7b, 8): Fri, 10/3

• Spreadsheet lab assignment 7b - Pair Of Dice (handout)
• Spreadsheet lab assignment 8 - Climatology (handout)

DUE DATE: Wed, 10/15

• Excel lab assignment 9 - “Let's Make a Deal” simulation

In a popular 70's game show, a contestant would be shown three closed doors. Behind one of the doors would be a brand new car, and behind the other two doors would be goats. The contestant would initially pick one of the doors, but the door would not be opened. Instead, the host would open one of the other doors to reveal a goat. Then the contestant would be given the choice to stay with his original pick of doors or to switch to the other closed door to try to win the brand new car. If you were a contestant on the gameshow, which strategy would you choose, stay or switch, to win the car? Explain your choice of strategy.

In your spreadsheet, you'll perform some large number of simulations of “Let's Make a Deal.” (200 is probably a sufficient number of simulations.) In the simulations, you'll stay with the original choice of doors 200 times, and then you'll switch to the other door 200 times. Count the number of times you win the game with both of these strategies.