EXCEL IN ME - PART 3

Keith A. Woodbury
Mechanical Engineering
University of Alabama

EXCEL MATRICES

There is a built in solver in Microsoft Excel that can

produce almost all the necessary matrix calculations
that Matlab is capable of.

transpose
mmult
minverse

Naming matrices are different than naming

cells/columns because the naming must be done by
highlighting the entire matrix and going to the
Formulas Tab. Select Define Name and enter the
name of the matrix. This can be seen on the next
slide.

EXCEL MATRICES EXAMPLE

Three individuals are connected by bungee cords.

Using Newton's second law we get the following
force balance and for each jumper
(k1+k2)x1 k2x2 = m1g
-k2x1 + (k2+k3)x2 k3x3 = m2g
-k3x2 + k3x3 = m3g
The table of properties for each jumper is as follows
Jumper Mass(kg) Spring Constant (N/m)
Top (1) 60
50
Middle (2)
70
100
Bottom (3)
80 50

EXCEL MATRICES EXAMPLE

Now lets set up our system of equations in Excel by

substituting our given variables into the initial
equations

EXCEL MATRICES EXAMPLE

EXCEL MATRICES EXAMPLE

Substituting our parameters we get the following

matrix equation
150 -100
0
x1
588.6
-100 150 -50
0

- 50

50

x2 =
x3

686.7
784.8

EXCEL MATRICES EXAMPLE

In order to solve for our lengths (x) we will need

to divide our spring constant by our forces:
x = k/mg
Unfortunately there is no matrix division in Excel
therefore we must multiply the inverse of k by mg
x= k-1*mg

Make sure to hold

down Ctrl+Shift
before pressing
enter in order for
the matrix solution
to work

Make sure to
hold down
Ctrl+Shift
before pressing
enter in order
for the matrix
solution to work

EXCEL ITERATION

Microsoft Excel iteration can perform a for-next

loop with no programming at all.
In the next example well set up a simple counter
that will show how Excels iteration and circular
reference works

EXCEL ITERATION - EXAMPLE

Click on the Microsoft Office Button (Circle Button

in Top Left) and select Excel Options. Once that is
done go to Formulas on the left column. Make sure
Manual is selected under Workbook Calculation.
After that check the box that reads Enable iterative
calculation and set your max number of iterations
to 1. Then select OK. This will return you back to
the spreadsheet. You can then continue the iteration
by pressing the F9 button.

EXCEL ITERATION

Hit the F9 key

to continue
the iteration

VISUAL BASIC MACROS

Sometimes it is easier to place a formula inside a

visual basic macro to solve a problem
Using the macro makes it easier to identify the
formula instead of having to copy it numerous times

VISUAL BASIC MACROS - EXAMPLE

The Redlich-Kwong Equation of state is given by:

RT
a
p

v b v (v b ) T
where R is the universal gas constant, T is
absolute temperature, p is absolute pressure, v is
the volume of a kg of gas, and a & b are
constants with the
parameters:
2 2.5
Tc
R Tc
b 0.0866 R
a 0.427
pc
pc

VISUAL BASIC MACROS - EXAMPLE

The parameters for the equation are:

pc = 4600 kPa
Tc = 191K
R = 0.518 kJ/(kg-K)
You are asked to determine the amount of methane
fuel that can be held in a 3m3 tank at a temperature
of -40C with a pressure of 65000 kPa.

VISUAL BASIC MACROS - EXAMPLE

The first step in the procedure is to set up a macro

using Microsoft Visual Basic.
You may need to add the Developer Tab on the
ribbon in Excel 2007.
You can do this by going to the Microsoft Office
Button (Circle Button in Top Left) and select Excel
Options. Under Popular on left column, check
Show Developer tab in the Ribbon under Top
options for working with Excel. Then select OK.

How to find
Visual Basic
(Found
under
Developer
Tab)

VISUAL BASIC MACROS - EXAMPLE

Once you select Visual Basic from the

Developer Tab, a new window will pop
up. Then select Insert Module.

Select
Insert and
then Module

VISUAL BASIC MACROS - EXAMPLE

Now that we have our module lets write our function

into visual basic
Once we have our function set up in visual basic we
can set up our parameters to solve for p.

Since we dont know v at this point lets make up a value of

0.5m3/kg.
Also dont forget to name your variables in Excel.

Make sure that

the module is
in the modules
folder and not
the workbook
folder

Go here to return to
Microsoft Excel (Note:
Your macro does not need
to be saved individually.
As long as the module is
shown in visual basic the
macro will apply to your
spreadsheet)

Make sure you do

NOT name this cell
p as it will
interfere with the
name of the macro

VISUAL BASIC MACROS - EXAMPLE

Now that we have our function set up we can use

GOALSEEK to find our specific volume by setting our
pressure equal to 65000 kPa
Once we find our specific volume at 65000kPa we
can find the amount of methane fuel (kg) inside the
3m3 tank

VISUAL BASIC MACROS

Note: Unlike Matlab all given variables in Microsoft

Excel must be written in the actual spreadsheet
instead of the function. Doing otherwise will not give
you a result for a function