[Blindmath] Doing calculations with Excel?

Tue Jan 10 04:08:50 UTC 2012

Sarah,

Ah. Well, you've found people who live for math. /grin/

So others have given you lists of Excel resources for that part.

Maybe it would help us give more direct information for your class and 
background if you told us what you know so far in terms of math. For 
instance, do you know the fundamentals of arithmetic, including the 
basic operators and the order in which arithmetic functions are written 
and how they are grouped so that the correct calculations can be 
performed according to the right relationships? Sorry, I just blanked on 
the names of everything I just mentioned. /lol/ Then again, since you're 
apparently not a math fan, that sort of language probably gives you 
hives anyway, Well, most of my friends break out in hives when I start 
saying that according to the associative rule of whatever the heck... /lol/

Anyway, if you're not comfortable with how to write expressions like (2 
+ 3)/4 - 3 or how to know the difference if the parentheses are in a 
different arrangement, you might want to review those rules. If you 
already know them, then you're on your way! /grin/ I'm preparing to dive 
back in and hope I remember how to do it or at least that once I review 
it all non visually, it will come back to me. I'm a natural math geek, 
so I'm excited, but also afraid some big hairy equation will turn out to 
suddenly have actual hair and fangs. Then again, I live for adventure. 
/lol/ Could be in a couple of months, I'll be asking you how to do this 
stuff!

Anyway, if you can give us some idea of what you do know vs. what you 
want to know, there will be someone who can explain it. I think it 
sounds fun having a tutor while you're getting your feet wet. Also, a 
help in keeping up with the students who can look at the visual cues 
like parentheses and brackets because that is what those symbols are 
meant for. Look at the bright side, though. If you find you love 
statistics and want to move on to regressions and all the really fun 
stuff, counting opening and closing parentheses for the really fun 
(hairy/fanged) equations is much friendlier with braille than with 
sight. /lol/

Good luck!

Tami

On 01/09/2012 02:42 AM, Sarah L. Gales wrote:
> I don't even know what those are. Grins. I am lost when it comes to
> math. That's why I joined this list I figured I'd get some help while I
> make my way through the class.
> Sarah
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Ken Perry" <kperry at blinksoft.com>
> To: "'Blind Math list for those interested in mathematics'"
> <blindmath at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Sunday, January 08, 2012 5:45 PM
> Subject: Re: [Blindmath] Doing calculations with Excel?
>
>
>>
>> You could make a VBA macro to do things like the dot product and
>> multiplying
>> matrixes if you wanted to dig into the VBA
>>
>> Ken
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: blindmath-bounces at nfbnet.org
>> [mailto:blindmath-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
>> Behalf Of Birkir R. Gunnarsson
>> Sent: Sunday, January 08, 2012 3:19 PM
>> To: Sarah L. Gales; Blind Math list for those interested in mathematics
>> Subject: Re: [Blindmath] Doing calculations with Excel?
>>
>> Hi Sarah
>>
>> Keep in mind that Excel cannot do things such as multiplying to
>> matrices for instance, so there are some basic things that Excel will
>> not be too helpful with.
>> However it does some statistical things very well, regressions,
>> standard deviations etc. You can produce these by hand, which you
>> probably will have to do, since using the built-in Excel functions are
>> probably considered cheating, depends on what the class is.
>> The thing I like about Excel is that most online hints, manuals and
>> courses that have demo Excel spreadsheets are accessible, and you can
>> work your way through Excel workbooks online. It takes time, but I did
>> this for a few years very uccessfully as a risk analyst.
>> Google some courses on Excel, Excel for beginners, regression with
>> Excel, calculating standard deviation etc.
>> Remember in Jaws ctrl-page up and page down will take you between work
>> sheets in a work book.
>> Pivot tables are not very accessible, but I doubt you'll use them.
>> a formula in Excel always starts with an equals sign.
>> a semi coln (:) is a range indicator.
>> If you want to sum all values in cells a1 through a14 you type in the
>> formula =sum(a1:a14) into any other cell.
>> If you want to sum only absolute values of a cell, use a $ sign in front.
>> =sum($a$1:$a$14).
>> If you do not do this and then you insert a row at the top, the
>> formula will automatically change to
>> sum(a2:a15), if you do not use the $ sign to indcate aboslute position.
>> Open Excel and play around with it, the sooner the better. It's a
>> matterof comfort level.
>> You should do fine. R is more powerful and fit for many statistics
>> problems, but Excel can definitely do a lot of these things for you.
>>
>>
>> On 1/8/12, Sarah L. Gales <imafarmgirl at verizon.net> wrote:
>>> Hi everyone,
>>>
>>> I am interested in doing calculations with excel for the statistics
>>> class
>> I
>>> will be starting in a week and a half. I realize it can't do everything,
>>> but know it can do basic math and keep it organized in a way that my
>>> Professor will be able to read if necessary. The other students will be
>>> using a calculator and writing down their answers. The professor has
>>> suggested I use excel.
>>>
>>> Does anyone know if there is a guide someplace of how to accomplish
>>> this?
>> I
>>> will be using excel 2010. I have done math in excel but it has been
>>> about
>>> ten years. All I remember is that it had something to do with using
>>> brackets or parentheses or something like that. Can anyone help get me
>>> started? I don't want to end up failing this class. Luckily I will have
>> a
>>> tutor.
>>>
>>> Sarah
>>>
>>>
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>>>
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