Objective:  To begin to work as a company and to create a professional graph using EXCEL in the role-playing environment.

Manager: Responsible for getting the company together to work on the graph and implementing the plan to accomplish the goals.

Chemist: Responsible for gathering any additional data and serves a "technical consultant" for the graphing criteria.

Software: Responsible for file transfers, and creating and printing graph using EXCEL for the Mac.

Hardware: Responsible for locating and starting suitable computing equipment and ensuring all connections necessary for file transfer and printing are made.
 

Communication constitutes an essential activity in the daily life of any scientist.  Commonly, the written word (either in electronic or paper form) does the bulk of formal communication in the scientific community.  This includes the use of graphs to convey information to a wider audience.  Think of a graph in terms of a picture (it is at least worth a thousand words)!  Therefore, it is important that you develop the skills to create professional looking graphs that convey the information contained within the data and have it in a form suitable for immediate publication.

Directions:

1. Access the Analytical Chemistry Server from somewhere on campus and log-in.
2. Find the file "RawData" in the folder labeled STUDENT.
3. Copy the file to your company folder (use the option key).
4. Use EXCEL to open the file and then save it as a new file name.
5. Pick ONE of the data sets (use the concentration and average absorbance values) and use it to create a professional looking graph on a separate sheet.
6. Place a COPY of the completed product in my folder on the analytical server (copy it using the option key) or print a hard copy and place it in the bins outside my office (SC 320).
7. E-mail me a message stating that the hard copy is in my box or the file has been transferred and comment as to how your company performed this activity (include problems or successes that arose).
8. Log out by dragging the server icon to the trash!  Don't forget to Date/Time stamp the chart!!!  I will return them with comments.

Characteristics of Professional Graphs

• Printed on a separate sheet
• Time/date stamped
• Has a descriptive title not just a reiteration of the axes
• Name of creator/company
• Axes labeled, include units and have dark lines
• Font size easily read
• Data occupy almost entire plotting space
• Number/labels formatted properly - not necessarily in significant figures
• Scales graded in readable increments
• Gridlines on major tick marks
• Trendline shown with data points
• Equation and statistics shown with trendline

Last Updated on 04 February 2000
Paul T. Jackson

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