Download Creating a Simple Scatter Plot and Calculating Slope in Google

Creating a Simple Scatter Plot and Calculating Slope in Google Spreadsheet
For our Ohm’s Law Lab, you should have recorded pairs of data of Voltage (V) and Current (I).
When you attempt to create a graph, I recommend that you input the Current data in “Column
A”; Google Spreadsheet will use the data in the left­most column as the x­axis, and we want
Current on the x­axis. You can then enter the Voltage data in the next column. Note: the R
column is where I will calculate the slope. (My sample data is below.)
To create a simple Scatter plot (we want this!) I will highlight the data I wish to graph; I choose to
include the labels of I and V as well. Once I’ve highlighted that data, I will Insert a Chart either
by selecting the “Insert” tab on the top, or by clicking on the icon that resembles a bar graph:
The default graph choice is a Bar graph. To get a Scatter plot, I click on the Charts tab and
select Scatter:
You will want to click on the small rectangular graph that shows the red and blue circles. You
will then click the “Insert” button, which will create your chart. Note: I recommend clicking on
the “Customize” tab; this will allow you to give your chart a title (ex: Ohm’s Law Lab, or Voltage
vs. Current), as well as label the x­ and y­axis.
Here is my finished chart:
Next step: calculating slope. To calculate slope, I will click in the cell labeled “C2” (Column C,
Row 2). In this cell, I will instruct the Spreadsheet program to evaluate the Slope function, by
typing in: =slope(b2:b11,a2:a11) Note: you must include the = sign, as well as the colons : and
the comma. This tells the Spreadsheet program to calculate the slope based on my data that
falls in column B, rows 2­11 (this is my Voltage) and column A, rows 2­11 (this is my Current).
Pressing the “Enter” or “Return” key will finish the calculation.
And at this point, you are done with the Spreadsheet! You can then copy and insert the graph
into the Calculations and Graphs section of your report.