Excel is a spreadsheet program used for business-type calculations. It is part of the Microsoft Office package. We are using it in Math 150 as a fancy graphing calculator. You will not be tested on your knowledge of Excel, but you will need to use it as a tool for some assignments. You are allowed to use Excel during tests, also.
Excel should be available on all public PCs on campus. Maybe you have a copy on your own PC. Double-click on the icon, and you are in business.
The most common versions are Excel 2007, but there are many copies of Excel 2010 around now. The available features are almost the same, but they have rearranged the menu bar.
Our new lab computers use Excel 2010.
During the weekly lab meetings we will teach how to do the specific tasks that needed for the course if requested. There are also some tutorials that come with the textbook; we will discuss them below. You can also get help inside Excel ( Click the little question mark on the upper right corner of the screen). This is more for getting help on specific questions.
There are some Excel tutorials that come with the textbook. You can find them in MyLabsPlus, and in the Online Materials page.
We also put together some of our own tutorials that correspond to the Excel assignments. Look for links to those in the weekly lesson plans.
One of the tools that we use in this class is the Solver. It is installed in the computer labs in Carver 449 and Carver 250, but maybe not in other labs or on your own machine.
To instal the solver, follow the proper instructions: For 2007; For 2010
Goal Seek is another tool like the Solver . It is usually pre-installed. If you can't find it, follow the same procedure as for the Solver.
Instructions for using Goal Seek are in the Excel 1 tutorial and in the Week 4 Lesson Plan. Make sure you pay attention to the instructions below on how to increase accuracy.
To find Goal Seek in Excel 2007/2010, go to Data -> What If Analysis -> Goal Seek.
One problem with Goal Seek is that it has very low precision by default. In order to do some of the Excel homework problems, you have to increase the accuracy. This is done by setting an option called Maximum Change to a small value. The default value is 0.001, which only gives you 3 decimals accuracy. Set it to 0.0000001 or something similar.
To set this variable in Excel 2007, go to 
-> Excel Options -> Formulas -> Maximum Change.
To set this variable in Excel 2010, go to Menu Bar -> File -> Options -> Formulas ->Calculation Options -> Maximum Change.