Sample calculations

When using a spreadsheet software to compute uncertainties, you can ask the software to show the formulae instead of the calculated quantities.

To do this in excel:

• Duplicate your worksheet (you want to keep an original) by right clicking on its tab at the bottom of the screen and select “Move or Copy”.

• Go to Tools menu > Formula Auditing > activate the Formula Auditing Mode.

• Go to “File” > “Page Setup”. Under the tab labelled “Sheet”, select the options to print “row and column headings” and “gridlines”.

• Print this out and include it as sample calculations in your formal report.

Important Note:

Whenever you use a predefined function, make sure it is really the one you intend to use.

When using AVERAGE(A2:A16), is it an arithmetic, geometric, harmonic average, etc. ?

What is the difference between the functions STDEV and STDEVP?