MatSci Excelets: Interactive Excel Spreadsheets
for Materials Science
These interactive spreadsheets (aka - simulations) are used in-class and as out-of-class projects. Through the use of numerical experimentation and "what if" scenarios, we have a powerful discovery learning tool for students using readily available off-the-shelf software. For a discussion on using Excelets, see Chemical Spreadsheet Investigations: Empowering Student Learning of Concepts via Camouflaged Mathematical Exploration.
How do I interact with the spreadsheet?
The interactivity on the spreadsheets
occurs as cells with a yellow background, where the number can be entered by
typing in a value, or
sliders, where one can drag the center bar or click on the terminal arrows, are
changed.
Likewise, the spinner works by clicking on the arrows. You may also see check boxes
or option buttons which perform the indicated task. A response
will occur on the graph and/or data by adjusting any of these items. List
boxes are also used to select information. Comment
cells (red triangle in upper right corner) are used to deliver information as well.

The
Collection - work in progress/many in draft form
Here are a variety of Excelets
(hold the cursor over the link for a brief description) and
some pdf handouts for topics in Materials Science. Some of these are
simple calculation aids, while others explore concepts by bringing the
mathematics alive. (Note
- In Excel, you may need to resize these spreadsheets to fit your screen
by going to View on the menu bar and selecting Zoom.)
For information on designing Excelets and links to mathematical modeling of data support materials, see Developer's Guide to Excelets. For more Excelets in general chemistry, see the Chemical Excelets page.
Other good sites for materials science:
Spreadsheet Applications for Materials Science (SAMS) (new URL!!!)
This work is supported by the
Howard/Hopkins/PGCC Partnership for
Research and Education in Materials (PREM), which is funded by NSF Grant No.
DMR-0611595.
Please e-mail any corrections, modifications, suggestions, or questions.
Scott A. Sinex Prince George’s Community College 10/2008