Graphical Analysis is a graphing software application ...



Graphical Analysis is a graphing software application similar to Microsoft Excel, except that it is designed to make graphing data easier and more “intuitive”. Graphical Analysis can be used to both (1) graph data and (2) “crunch” large quantities of data where there are a lot of repetitive calculations (e.g. 5 sets of 10 measurements would require a lot of calculator button pushing to get average values, etc.)

Using Graphical Analysis to do number crunching

1. In Windows select Start→ Programs ( Vernier Software ( Graphical Analysis

2. Double click on the X column (in the data table window) and enter an appropriate (briefly descriptive) name for the column (e.g. “trial 1”)

3. Enter the appropriate units

4. Click “OK”

5. Double click on the Y column (in the data table window) and enter an appropriate name for the column (e.g. “time 1” or “d=10 cm”)

6. Enter the appropriate units

7. Click “OK”

8. If you need more column you can add them to the data table

9. Select Data→New Column→Manually entered

10. Enter an appropriate name for the column (e.g. “time 2” or “d=20 cm”)

11. Enter the appropriate units

12. Click “OK”

13. Repeat as necessary

14. Enter your data values in the corresponding columns of the table (the graph will auto-scale as you enter the numbers)

15. Be sure to enter the trial number in the first column (1, 2, 3, etc.)

16. Select graph window

17. To get statistics for each column:

18. Using the mouse, highlight the whole data region of the graph

19. Select the Statistics button

1. Select the data column

2. Click OK

3. Repeat for each data set (Note: you do not need to re-highlight the data points as long as you do not unselect your original highlighted region)

4. Move the statistics boxes so that they can all be read and so that you can identify which data set they belong to

5. Print out your graph to get a hard copy

20. Record the average (mean) value for each data set (doesn’t this beat having to calculate the averages for all of these values)

21. To graph the average values you will need to set up a different data table and graph.

Using Graphical Analysis to graph data points

1. In Windows select Start→ Programs ( Vernier Software ( Graphical Analysis

2. Double click on the X column (in the data table window) and enter an appropriate name for the column (e.g. “time”)

3. Enter the appropriate units

4. Click “OK”

5. Double click on the Y column (in the data table window) and enter an appropriate name for the column (e.g. “distance traveled”)

6. Enter the appropriate units

7. Click “OK”

8. Enter your data values in the table (the graph will auto-scale as you enter the numbers)

9. Observe your data values on the graph

10. Click on the graph window

11. Select the either

a) Linear Fit button to get a “best-fit” line for your data {if your data is fairly linear}

b) Automatic Curve Fit button to get a “best-fit” curve for your data {if your data is not linear}

12. Select the appropriate fitting function. If your selection is not very good, try a different one and compare the fits. (The instructor will provide advice on your selection)

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download