Excel spreadsheets for download

[ home ]

This page contains some Excel 95/97 workbooks for download. I hope these workbooks might be useful to other maths teachers who are looking for practical ways to use ICT in their lessons. All the spreadsheets here are compressed in ZIP files to save download time and avoid problems with Web servers not handling XLS files properly.

Interactive graphs

This workbook contains a number of interactive graphs. In each worksheet, you use scroll bars to alter the parameters of the graph formula. Worksheets include straight line and two versions of the quadratic formula.

Biological graphs

Some functions used in biology presented as interactive graphs. I use this worksheet with Access to Nursing students who study quite demanding science and maths modules.

Astronomical calculations

You can use VBA to provide 'user defined functions' which can be used like ordinary spreadsheet functions. This workbook has a number of astronomical functions defined in a VBA module. Users do not have to know how each function is calculated, they can just use the functions. Functions include trig functions working in degrees, Julian day, siderial time, obliquity of the ecliptic, coordinate conversions, positions of the Sun and planets and geocentric and topocentric positions of the Moon, rise transit and set time function, precession function. All position functions are approximate (4 minutes of arc on sky for Moon) and valid for about 100 years either side of J2000.0. The workbook contains examples of use of the functions. More documentation will emerge shortly.

Elliptical planetary orbits

A simple spreadsheet with no VBA which will calculate the equatorial coordinates (RA and DEC) of a planet from the date and the 'osculating elements' of the orbit. Used to demonstrate that Kepler's ellipses can give positions good to a few minutes of arc compared with more accurate predictions and rough observations.

Mystic rose workbook

The mystic rose is an old favourite for investigation work ('if you have 34 people in a room, and each person shakes hands with every other person in the room once, how many handshakes take place?'). This Excel workbook will draw roses of different numbers of points.

[ top ]