A spreadsheet is a computer program that turns your computer screen into a smart piece of paper.  It removes much of the busy work associated with repetitive calculations and lets you easily see the results of your work.  A spreadsheet will help you examine and understand your experimental data.  You can enter raw data and manipulate and plot the data with a few simple commands.

What makes spreadsheets so useful?

• Whenever you change a number or formula in a spreadsheet, everything else in the spreadsheet that depends on that number or formula, including plots, is automatically updated.  If you make a mistake and have to re-measure a quantity or change a formula, all numbers that depend on the quantity or formula are automatically updated.
• All your entries and calculations are saved and displayed.  This makes easier to understand your data and spot potential mistakes.
• Spreadsheets can plot your data in a variety ways.
• Spreadsheet can easily handle the statistical analysis of data sets with a large number of data points.  The average value and the standard deviation are functions you will be using.  Excel can also perform least square fits to a straight line (known as a linear regression) to find the slope and the intercept.