Variation in planetary radii with density

Variation in planetary radii with density

This is an optional activity designed to help you learn to use spreadsheets for the analysis of scientic data. It is a repeat of Question 1.1 in An Introduction to the Solar System.

Study time: 30 minutes This activity introduces you to one use of computer spreadsheets for the analysis of scientic data: the production of charts and graphs. You have already used the traditional approach for producing a graph of scientic data in Question 1.1 of An Introduction to the Solar System, namely plotting the data on a piece of graph paper. However, it is increasingly rare for scientists to use a pen and paper approach to data analysis, especially with extremely large datasets such as those derived from geochemical analyses or space missions. In this activity, you will reproduce the graph you constructed for Question 1.1 using the same data. The relevant raw data from Appendix A, Tables A1, A2 and A3 have already been entered into a spreadsheet.

Learning outcomes
. . .

Examine how the radii of planetary bodies vary with density. Use a spreadsheet to display data by plotting graphs. Present information in a spreadsheet effectively, accurately and logically.

The activity
This activity is a repeat of the exercise you completed in Question 1.1 of Chapter 1 of An Introduction to the Solar System, except this time you will be plotting the graph electronically using a spreadsheet. In this activity you will use the StarOfce spreadsheet. If you have not used this type of software before, you may nd the Using your Computer part of this handbook helpful. As you work through the activity, feel free to experiment with the spreadsheet commands and menus. Dont worry if you make a mistake: in most cases you can use the key combination Ctrl-Z to undo the last action and bring you back to where you were before. Note: if you have Microsoft Excel or Microsoft Works installed on your computer, then you may prefer to use that rather than to install StarOfce. However, please note that, as we are able to distribute the StarOfce package to all of our students and hence provide identical software to all of them, this is the only package for which we provide specic guidance.

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Opening the data le

1 Start the Multimedia guide on the DVD and open the folder called The Solar System and internal structure. 2 Click on the icon for this activity (Variation in planetary radii with density). 3 Press the Start button to access the folder on the DVD containing StarOfce and Excel versions of the le containing the raw data (planet_radii.sxc [StarOfce] or planet_radii.xls [Excel]). 4 Open the le you wish to use by double-clicking on it.

Saving a copy of the le

Before you make changes to the le, you must save a copy to your hard disk. It is a good idea to create a separate folder for each activity so that you can keep all your work together. Use the File | Save As menu command to save a copy of the spreadsheet into this folder.

As you make changes to the spreadsheet you should save your work regularly to prevent any changes from being lost. From time to time make a backup copy of your work (using a different lename) in case you need to go back to an earlier stage. (If it all goes horribly wrong, you can always go back to the original on the DVD.)

Creating a chart
(Refer to Section 6.6 Plotting data in the Using your Computer part of this handbook for further instructions on creating and formatting charts and graphs. Depending on which version of StarOfce you are using you may need to complete the steps in a slightly different order.) The data in columns B and C can be used to plot a chart (graph) of radius against density for the various planetary bodies listed. Highlight both columns by clicking on Cell B1 and dragging all the way down and across to C37. From the main menu, select Insert | Chart A box labelled AutoFormat Chart will appear. (Note for Microsoft Excel users: if you are using Excel 97 or later on a PC or Excel 98 onwards on a Macintosh, then a Chart Wizard box will appear that is similar although not identical to the Autoformat Chart box in StarOfce.) Ensure that the check box next to First row as label is selected but not the First column as label box. In the pop-up menu for Chart results in worksheet, select new sheet -.

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Variation in planetary radii with density

Select Next >> to move on to the next step. From the Choose a chart type options, select XY Chart. If you hold the pointer over each chart, the type of chart is indicated in a yellow text box (the ALT tag). Notice once you have chosen the XY Chart, the words XY Chart appear in the grey box below the chart types (Figure 1).

Figure 1 The AutoFormat Chart box showing the XY Chart highlighted.

(Note: while going through the steps described, you can always press the << Back button to go to an earlier step if you need to correct something.) Choose Next >> to move on to the next step. From the Choose a variant options, select Symbols Only. Select the check box next to Grid lines: Y axis. (Note: if you wish you can also add grid lines to the x-axis, either at this stage or later when you format the chart.) Click Next >> to move on to the next step. In the AutoFormat Chart box type in the title of your graph: Chart title: Variation in planetary radii with density Leave the Legend box unselected. Make sure the X axis and Y axis boxes are checked to enable the axes titles. Type in the titles as follows: X axis: density/kg m-3 (Note: StarOfce cannot display superscripts, so m-3 is used rather than m3). Y axis: radius/km Press Create to create the chart. A box will appear saying X axis values must be sorted. Sort them now? Click Yes.

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Your chart should look similar to that in Figure 2. As you can see, most of the data points are clustered around the lower values of the y-axis.

Figure 2 The resulting chart. Most of the data are grouped around the lower values on the y-axis.

Formatting the chart

Having created the chart, you will probably want to tidy it up by changing the formatting. In order to make changes, the chart must be selected: there are two different levels of selection, signied by different borders around the chart.
To resize, move or delete the chart: To edit or format the chart: single-click the chart; the chart can then be resized using the green selection handles. double-click the chart. The chart appears in a grey box with a small black square at each corner and at the centre of each grey line. click on any other cell in the spreadsheet.

To deselect the chart:

For most of these formatting operations, you will need to make sure that the chart is selected for formatting (i.e. the grey border and small black squares are visible). The most obvious change required is the scale on the y-axis so that the data are not clustered around the lower values. You can achieve this by changing it to a logarithmic axis (as in the graph provided for Question 1.1 in An Introduction to the Solar System). Select the chart by double-clicking the chart, as described above, then select Format | Axis | Y Axis

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Variation in planetary radii with density

A box labelled Y Axis will appear. Click on the Scale tab then check the box next to Logarithmic scale. Select OK. Your nal chart should resemble the one in Figure 3.

Figure 3 The completed chart of radius plotted against density for various planetary bodies.

If you wish to add gridlines to the x-axis: double-click the chart to select it (as described above). Choose Insert | Grids and check the box next to X axis to add a grid to the x-axis. Click OK. There are various other formatting options that you can apply to your chart to improve its appearance such as changing the colour scheme, font size etc. If you are unfamiliar with spreadsheets, save a copy of the nal sheet you have produced before experimenting with other formatting options.

Printing the chart

Before printing your chart you should select File | Page Preview from the main menu to preview exactly what will be printed. You need to deselect the chart to do this. If the chart isnt visible in page preview, select Format | Page | Sheet tab. In the print area, make sure that the Chart check box is selected. Click OK. The chart should now appear in Page Preview. To ensure your chart prints out on one page only go Format | Page, then, in the scale area, check Fit printout on number of pages and type 1 in the box.

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