Graphing and presenting data:

Scientists use many sorts of graphs to represent their results from experiments and
investigations. Graph help us show trends in the collected data clearer and more visually
appealing.
The following exercises aim to give you an opportunity to practice your graphing skills on
Microsoft excel. For the exercises it is suggested that you open a new Excel spreadsheet
and copy and paste the data sets into the page. This activity aims to build up your skills in
creating graphs that suit data, and adding elements to graphs (trendlines, equations, r2
vales). Below are two screen shots one of the insert tab and the other of the charts menu
which we will be using today.

Creating graphs: For each of the data set, creating a graph to match it should be simple.
 Arrange your data in columns with the
name of the data at the top and values
below it. Make sure not to add letters
to the cells containing numbers (2kg or
10mins), as this can confuse the
program.
 After that you should be able to
highlight (click and drag over) the data.
 Once highlighted then click the insert tab
(shown above), and then select the type
of graph you would like to insert from the
chart menu shown above.
The examples below show different examples of data being laid out, highlighted and then
graphs being inserted based on them.
When graphing data there are a couple of key things to keep in mind:
 Placement of variables (independent variables go on the X-axis, dependent variables
go on the Y-axis)
 The graph scale is also important, graphs should start at 0, but where they go up to
depends on the range of the data set.

Adding elements: Once you have your graph

it is important to add some further information Y-axis
to it 12

 Graphs should contain appropriate titles 10

for the chart as a whole and each 8
individual axis. 6
 If the data being collected as units 4
(degrees C, m/s, Kg) then these should 2
also be included.
0
 Any other chart elements like trendlines, 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5 5.5
r2 vales, equations, and errors bars.
To add these final touches double click on your graph to bring up the “chart design” tab
shown below

Then in this tab click the “add chart element” drop down on the left-hand side. After clicking
that you should see various options. The most important features of this drop
down are
 Axes: taking away the numbers/information on each axis
 Axis title: allowing you to add a title to each of your axis, it is good
to also add units to the axis title if appropriate.
 Chart title: allowing you to add a title to your graph Some
examples of chart titles include “Mass of gas produced Vs.
Temperature”, “Survey results of preferred social media app”, and
“How does the angle of elevation affect the acceleration of a cart?”
 Data labels: allowing you to add the numerical value of the data to the
graph.
 Error bars: allowing you to add errors bars which indicates the level
of uncertainty each data point has.
 Gridlines: allowing you to customise the gridlines.
 Legend: allowing you to add or customize a legend
 Trendline: allowing you to add a trendline that fits the proposed
relationship between the data points
 Your graph may not need
all these features, but it is Time spent learning about excel vs. En-
important that you joyment
consider your options and 12

Amount of enjoyment
add the correct elements 10 10
to enhance the clarity of 8 8
your graph. 6 6
4 4
2 2
0
0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5 5.5
Hours spent learning about excel

Other graphing features used in science

 A trendline or a line of best fit is a graphical representation of the relationship
between two variables, usually found on a scatterplot graph. Depending on the type
of data and the relationship, the type of trendline you select may be different
o Linear trendlines are used to show relationships that appear as simple line
shapes
o Logarithmic trendlines are used to show relationships between data sets that
increase/decrease quickly and then level out
o Power trendlines are used to show relationships that curve (parabolic) and
increase at a specific rate
o Exponential relationships are used to show relationships that curve
(parabolic) and increase or decrease at increasing rates

Log (logarithmic) Linear

trendline
trendline

Power Exponential
trendline trendline
 Once you’ve added your trendline you may also add an equation and r2 value. The
equation represents the relationship between the two variables based on your
trendline, if it’s a linear trendline then the equation will also be linear (y = m*x +C).
The r2 value represents how well your data points fit the proposed trendline. The
closer the r2 value is to 1.0 the closer the data is to being exactly represented by the
trendline. The lower the r2 value the more variation in your data points you would
expect. Consider the two sets of data and trendlines below. The data set on the left
would have a low r2 value as the data points do not appear to correlate much with the
proposed trendline. The data set on the right would have a higher r2 value as the data
points appear to correlate much more so with the proposed trendline.
 To add a trendline and the r2 value open the “add chart elements” drop down, click on
the “trendline” tab and open the “more trendline options”. A box should open on the
right-hand side of the excel sheet. Click graph icon (third icon on the right below the
format trendline) and scroll to the bottom of the options. There you should “Display
Equation on chart” and “Display R-squared value on chart” options. Tick these to add
these features to your graph.

 The last feature you may add to your graph may be error bars. Error bars commonly
represent the level of uncertainty for each data point on your graph. Uncertainty is a
measurement of the variability of results. For a result there may be a set of possible
values due to the measurement errors or uncontrolled variables. Values that include
uncertainty may be expressed as “measured value ± uncertainty” which represents
all the value from the measured value – the uncertainty to the measured value + the
uncertainty. Let us look at some examples.

Consider a standard ruler, the smallest

units of the ruler are 1mm. If we measure
something that is between two separate
millimetre lines on a ruler, we cannot be
sure of exactly how long the object is.
Based on the image on the right, is the
object 27.4mm or 27.6mm? We cannot
tell. To calculate measurement
uncertainty, halve the smallest unit of
measurement shown. For a ruler the
smallest unit of measurement shown is 1mm, so the uncertainty is 0.5mm. Another
example could be a thermometer. For a thermometer that shows individual lines for
each degree Celsius, the smallest unit shown is 1 degree so the un certainty is 0.5
degrees Celsius.
 Another type of uncertainty involves the variation in results after completing multiple
trials. If you complete an experiment, in which you conducted multiple trails, your
results will likely vary suggesting some level of uncertainty. To calculate this you use
the following equation (max value - min value) / 2. Consider the following dataset
from an experiment in which students measured the height a ball bounced after being
dropped from a fixed position

Trial number 1 2 3 4 5
Height (cm) 77 85 74 88 81

After performing five trials a student may calculate the average (sum of all the trials /
number of trials) which is equal to 81cm.

( 77+85+74 +88+81 )
=81
5

But to best represent their results they should also include the uncertainty to show
the variability in their results. To calculate this they should use the formula (max
value - min value) / 2 as shown below.

88−74
=7
2

Thus the students results can be represented as 81 ± 7. From this calculation you
would expect results from another trial under the same conditions to fall within this
range. This process may be used for multiple trials and then shown on a graph.

To add error bars to your graph to present your uncertainty open the “add chart elements”
drop down, click on the “Error Bars” tab and open the “more Error Bar options”. Click graph
icon (third icon on the right below the format trendline) and scroll to the bottom of the options
and click “custom” option and then the specific value option. After you have clicked specific
value button, a small box will appear asking you type the positive error value and the
negative error value. Type your uncertainty value into each of those fields. Your graph
should only have errors bars in the direction of the dependent variable (vertical). If your
graph is showing error bars in both directions double-click the horizontal error bars and
change the specific value to 0.
Your final graph with Time spent learning about excel vs. Enjoyment
the accompanying 12
error bars
Amount of enjoyment

10
may look like this. f(x) = 2 x
8 R² = 1
 Graph title 6
 Axis title
 Data points 4
 Units 2
 Trendline
0
 r2 value 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5 5.5
 Equation
 Error bars Hours spent learning about excel