Overview
To expand on our data graphing skills that we did in class, this assignment will involve graphing using Microsoft Excel. The exercise is a practical one, as you will be required to use Excel in many of your science lab classes, so learning this skill now will help you in your future classes! If you don't already have Excel on your computer, you can get the entire Microsoft office suite for free at: https://www.umsl.edu/technology/support/faqs/microsoft-office-365.html
For this assignment, I am providing you with two different sets of data (see below). You first need to decide if each data set is best graphed using a bar graph or a line graph. You will then input the data into an Excel spreadsheet, select the data, then choose the correct type of graph in Excel to graph the data. HINT - if making a line graph for data that does not involve time in Excel, you will need to select making a scatter plot that connects the points rather than selecting a line graph. Make sure the data is graphed on the appropriate x and y axes. (Remember that the dependent, or responding, variable is graphed on the y axis.) For each graph, you need to include all the key components of a graph as we discussed in class, including: Title of graph that is informative of the data, labels for x and y axes and units if appropriate, labels of categories (each bar) if using a bar graph, and appropriate scales on axes for the data.
Submit your two completed graphs in your Excel file with the data to this assignment.
Data from Experiment #1
In this experiment, color change for a LacZ assay was measured through absorbance readings at 420 nm (absorbance readings have no units) after treating samples with varying concentrations of an inducer called IPTG.
| IPTG Added (µM) | Absorbance at 420 nm | |
| 0 | 0.022 | |
| 1 | 0.026 | |
| 5 | 0.048 | |
| 10 | 0.072 | |
| 20 | 0.125 | |
| 50 | 0.66 | |
| 100 | 0.753 |
Data from Experiment #2
In this experiment, color change for a LacZ assay was measured through absorbance readings at 420 nm (absorbance readings have no units) after treating samples with different types, amounts, and combinations of chemicals.
| Sample | Absorbance at 420 nm | ||
| Untreated control | 0.034 | ||
| 100 µM IPTG | 0.762 | ||
| 10 µM glucose | 0.034 | ||
| 10 mM glucose | 0.006 | ||
| 100 µM IPTG + 10 µM glucose | 0.564 | ||
| 100 µM IPTG + 10 mM glucose | 0.193 |