Excel Tutorial for Mac 2011

8/9/2019 Excel Tutorial for Mac 2011

1/5

Step-by-step guide to making a simple graph in Excel 2011 for Mac

Mariëlle Hoefnagels and Lauren Bobzin, University of Oklahoma

The following tutorial includes bare-bones instructions for using Microsoft Excel 2011 for Mac

to make two types of simple graphs: column/bar graphs and line (XY) graphs. At the end, you

can also find a note about using the logarithmic scale for the graphs you make for your ChickenWing Microbiology labs.

A. Column/Bar Graphs

Column or bar graphs are for data collected in an experiment in which the independentvariable (the one that goes on the X-axis) is qualitative (categorical), not quantitative

(numerical). As an example, perhaps you designed an experiment to determine which type offood produces the most weight gain in your parakeet.

Step 1: Enter the data in the cells of an Excel spreadsheet, like this:

Step 2: Use the mouse to highlight the block of cells

containing your data, then click Charts. A bunch ofchart types will appear. Choose the type that says

“Column.”

Step 3: When you click on the chart type you want,Excel automatically makes a draft of the chart

for you and pastes it into the worksheet, like

this:


2/5


3/5

You get a little window that looks like this:Give it a name you like. When you click OK, your chart will look really nice.

Of course, you can fool around all you want with the fonts, text sizes, bar colors, gridlines, background color, and so forth, but I left it pretty basic.

B. Line (or XY) Graphs

Line (or XY) graphs are for data collected in an experiment in which the independent

variable (the one that goes on the X-axis) is quantitative (numerical). As an example, perhaps you designed an experiment to determine how long it takes to boil various

volumes of water.

Step 1: Enter the data in the cells of an Excel spreadsheet, likethis:

Step 2: Use the mouse to highlight the block of cells containing

your data, then click Insert! Chart. A bunch of charttypes will appear. For Mac Excel 2011, the chart type

you want is listed under “other” labeled“Straight Marked Scatter”.

I know you’re tempted by the Line graph

option, but don’t let it seduce you; choose

the X Y (Scatter) chart, the one with dots

and jagged lines (see the arrow in thefigure at right).


4/5

**Pay attention!** If you accidentally choose the Line graph, Excel will NOT considerthe relative values of the numbers on your X axis! In our example, the X-axis values are

100, 200, 500, and 1000. If you choose Line, you will get those numbers equally spaced.If you pick Scatter, as you should, Excel will create a graph in which 1000 is ten times as

far away from 0 as 100 is. If you don’t believe me, try both graph types with the data I

have given you, and look at the difference.

Step 3: When you click on the chart type you want,

Excel automatically makes a draft of the chartfor you and pastes it into the worksheet (see

example at right).

Step 4: You’re still not done, though, because therearen’t any axis labels or units, and the title is

lame. So the next step is to click on the “ChartLayout” tab, which brings up the chart format

options. You can see a picture of it under step 4of the instructions for making a column graph. To start with, click on the tab called

“AxisTitles,” where you can change the labels for the horizontal (X) axis and the vertical(Y) axis. You can also add a chart title using the tab labeled “Chart Title” much like we

did in the column graph. Just for the heck of it, I also deleted the legend, because itdoesn’t add any information to this graph.

Step 5: The only thing left to do is to move the chart to its

own sheet so that the spacing looks more attractive and proportionate. To do that, click Chart! Move Chart.

When the little window pops up, click on “New Sheet” andclick OK (see step 5 for the column graph instructions if

you want to see what this looks like).

Here’s what the final graph looks like (of course, you

can fool around all you want with the fonts,text sizes, line color, gridlines, background

color, and so forth, but I left it pretty basic).And that’s it! You’re done!


5/5

One last note …

For Chicken Wing Microbiology, the logarithmic scale will be your friend

In BIOL 1005, you sometimes have to graph data for which differences among the Y-axis values

are huge. For chicken wing microbiology, for example, your control wings might have billions of bacteria per ml, whereas the treated ones “only” have thousands. In Excel’s default graphing

mode, the scale that accommodates the huge numbers will dwarf your puny values, and you willhardly be able to see the smaller bars at all. What to do?

Answer: use the logarithmic scale! Each increment on the logarithmic scale represents a 10-fold

change. That is, whereas a linear scale goes 1, 2, 3, 4 …, the logarithmic scale goes 1, 10, 100,1000, …

Using the logarithmic scale only makes sense when the differences among your data points are

very large. To use it, double click on the Y axis of your graph. A box called “Format Axis” willappear. Click on “Scale,” and then tick the “Logarithmic Scale” box. The data won’t change, but

their presentation on the Y axis will, and it will make your graph much easier for you (and yourTA) to read.

Documents

Excel Tutorial for Mac 2011