Slaxxor

In case you haven’t heard, the greatest thing since Google is Google Docs. It basically sticks Microsoft Word inside your browser, letting you access all of your documents, spreadsheets, and just recently, slide show presentations, all from anywhere with internet access. It’s a fantastic service, allowing multiple people to collaborate on one document with real time updates as they edit the document. I’ve been using it for homework, writing my various attempts at stories, and most successfully so far, my journal. I’ve never had success keeping a journal until Google Docs came along. Now I’m writing in it nightly, and haven’t missed a day in two weeks (since I started). Anyway, on to the project at hand.

To demonstrate the ease-of-use and utility of Google Docs, I’m going to show you step-by-step how to create a spreadsheet and graph to track your vehicle’s fuel economy (gas milage, for those of you with IQs below the room temperature).

Step 1. Create a Google Docs account.
If you don’t already have a Google account, first slap yourself for a few minutes and rethink your life, and then go make one. It’s simple, fast, and the most useful account you’ll ever sign up for on the web.

Step 2. Create a New Spreadsheet.
From the Google homepage, click the “more” button in the top left corner of the screen. From the pull down menu that will appear, click on Documents. This will bring you to the Google Docs control panel. Next, click the New button and select spreadsheet. A new spreadsheet will now appear as a new tab, unless you have IE6 or older, in which case, slap yourself for a few minutes, rethink your life, and get Firefox. Congratulations, you just made your first Google Spreadsheet.

Step 3. Name your spreadsheet and prepare it for data entry.
Here’s the fun part. First step, title your spreadsheet by clicking once in the upper left hand corner where it currently says “Unsaved Spreadsheet”. I’d recommend naming it [Your Car] Fuel Economy or Gas Mileage, but it’s completely up to you. Once you’ve done that, click into square A1. Type into this box the word “Miles”. Next, enter the word “Gallons” into box B1. If the word don’t fit entirely at first, simply click and drag the side of the column to expand it as needed. Enter the word “Date” into box C1. Finally, enter “MPG” or “Mileage” into box D1. If you’ve followed me correctly so far, your spreadsheet should look like mine.

Step 4. Collect and Enter Data
This part may take some time if you don’t keep track of your mileage to some extent already. Here’s what you do, if you don’t already. The next time you get gas, reset your trip odometer. Note: for this method to work, you have to fill your tank completely. Next time you fill your tank, write down or remember exactly how much gas it took to completely refil my tank. For my example, the last time I bought gas I had driven 320 miles and it took 14.9 gallons of gas to fill up my tank. Now, enter this date into the spreadsheet. I would write 320 under Miles, 14.9 under gallons, and the current date under date. Your spreadsheet should look like mine but with different numbers.

Step 5. Insert a math function into the spreadsheet
In order for the spreadsheet to be able to calculate the gas mileage, you have to tell it where your data is located. To do this, first select the Forumulas tab at the top of the screen. Next, click cell D4 and press the “more>>” button on the far right side of the screen, next to Sum, Product, etc. This will open up a small window. Scroll down in the Math category until you see QUOTIENT. Click on Quotient. This will insert an incomplete formula into the cell you selected (under MPG). It will read as follows:
=QUOTIENT(numerator, denominator) To complete this formula, plug in A2 for the numerator and B2 for the denominator. Your forumula should now read =QUOTIENT(A2,B2) Next, press escape. If you set up the formula correctly, a number should appear in box D4. My number is 21. If you get a reasonable number, you’ve successfully set up this part of your spreadsheet. Note: you do not have to repeat this step each time you enter data. Just put your mouse over the corner of cell D4 until your cursor becomes a + (plus) sign, and drag downward to apply the QUOTIENT calculation to all the cells below it.

Step 6. Create your graph.
Here’s where your spreadsheet starts to look cool. Go back to the Edit tab at the top of your screen. Now, select cells C1-D5, or however much data you have entered. Be sure to include the headers. For explanatory purposes, I’m going to add a few more lines of date. Click the Insert Graph button that looks like a pie chart (it’s on the left side of the edit bar). This will bring up a window that looks like this.

To make our graph look right, we need to change a few of these options. First, click the “Lines” button where it says What Type? For the subtype, I recommend choosing the second option from the left (lines with dots). Check the box that says “Use Column C as labels”, as well as the one that says “Use row 1 as labels”. If you like, you can label the horizontal axis Date and the verticle axis MPG. Now that all that’s finished, click Save Chart. Congratulations, you’re finished! If you followed my directions exactly (and I didn’t mess up) your chart should now look like this.

This spreadsheet will let you monitor your car’s fuel efficiency, as well as your driving habits. For example, if you drive consistently faster from one filling to another, you will see a dip in your car’s fuel economy. This will allow you to adjust your driving habits for minimum fuel consumption.

Thank you for reading, and I hope this tutorial/instructable was helpful to you. Tell your friends!

This entry was posted on Monday, September 24th, 2007 at 9:01 pm and is filed under Technology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.