How To Use Excel In Analytical Chemistry And In General Scientific Data Analysis

Because of their intuitive layout, extensive mathematical capabilities, and convenient graphics, spreadsheets provide one of the most straightforward routes to scientific computing. This book uses Excel, the most powerful of spreadsheet packages presently available, to explore and solve problems in general and chemical data analysis. The author follows the usual sequence of college textbooks in analytical chemistry: statistics, chemical equilibria, pH calculations, titrations, and instrumental methods such as spectrometry, chromatography, and electroanalysis. The text contains many examples of data analysis, and also uses spreadsheets for numerical simulations, and for testing the sensitivity of analytical procedures to noise. It treats modern data analysis methods such as linear and non-linear least squares in great detail, as well as methods based on Fourier transformation. It shows how matrix methods can be powerful tools in data analysis, and how easily these are implemented on a spreadsheet. It shows how to use a spreadsheet to simulate chemical kinetics, and discusses the trade-offs between explicit and implicit methods. And it introduces the reader to the use of VBA, the macro language of Microsoft Office, which makes it possible to import higher-level computer programs into the spreadsheet. All of these methods are illustrated in detail. Moreover, several useful macros are described, including those for data interpolation, Fourier transformation, convolution and deconvolution, weighted least-squares analysis, error estimation for multi-parameter non-linear least squares, and general error propagation. This text is primarily intended for undergraduates and entry-level graduate students in departments of chemistry and chemical engineering, both as a main text for courses in computers in analytical chemistry, or as a supplement to courses in analytical chemistry, quantitative chemical analysis, and instrumental analysis.