Microsoft Excel, a popular spreadsheet program, is equipped with a wide range of tools for creating any and all graphs and charts. With their help, you can visually show the dynamics of various numerical data and the relationship between them. Very often, a standard curve graph is used for these purposes.
The standard curve in Excel will help you visually display, for example, the distribution of the level of prices or income, the mortality rate or any disease incidence, etc. in a specific data sample. This guide will show you how to make a standard curve in Excel in just five minutes, even if you do it for the first time.
How to plot a standard curve in Excel. Step-by-step instruction
01. Launch Microsoft Excel and create a new spreadsheet.
02. Fill in cells “A1” and “B1” with the titles of data you want to associate.
03. Fill in the columns “A” and “B” with the necessary numerical values for comparison starting from the second row.
04. Then, you should select all the filled cells by dragging the mouse cursor from one corner to another diagonally with the left mouse button being pressed.
How to draw a standard curve in Excel using charts
05. Without deselecting, go to the “Insert” tab on the top panel and select the necessary diagram. For our purpose, a dot or bubble chart is best suited.
06. Now, you should click with a right mouse button on any horizontal line of the chart and select “Format Gridlines”.
07. In the window opened, click on the switch next to the “No lines” option in the “Format Major Gridlines” panel.
08. Repeat the previous two steps concerning the vertical grid line.
09. Then, click with a right mouse button on the horizontal axis of the constructed diagram and select “Format Axis” from the drop-down context menu.
10. In the window appeared, enter the maximum available value in the “Maximum” line in the “Borders” section.
11. Then, click with a right mouse button on one of the points with a certain number on the data chart and select “Add Trendline”.
12. In the window appeared, select the “Chart Design” tab, and then click on “Add Chart Element” in the “Chart Layouts” group.
13. Here, we can set the necessary titles for the main horizontal and vertical axes. To do this, click on the “Axis Titles” item, and then select “Primary horizontal” and “Primary vertical” to head the axes, respectively.
14. After having headed the axes, select the “Scheme” tab on the “Chart Design” tab and then click on “Add Chart Element”.
15. Here, you should click on the “Chart title” and then, “Above chart” – we head the whole chart in such way.
16. Next, enter the title of the chart and save the changes – the standard curve is ready.
If you process with a large number of data categories simultaneously, you can use the standard Microsoft Excel function. It is about averaging data for the convenience of processing them. To use this function, enter the phrase “=AVERAGE” in the first line of the new column. By using this method, you average the value of the column data in the chart.
The same method is suitable for automatic estimation of standard deviation. Next to the column with the average data, enter the command “=stdev”, and then, select the option “STDEVP” in the menu opened and fill in the required data points in open brackets.
As you can see, it’s very simple to draw a standard curve in Excel. It is enough to adhere to the above instructions, and you can quickly and with minimum fuss create various curves in Microsoft Excel for any purpose. This knowledge will be useful for you to subsequently create more complex and informative graphs and charts in Microsoft Excel.
