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Business Calculus with Excel

Section D.1 From Section 6.1 - Evaluating and graphing functions of several varaibles

Subsection D.1.1 Evaluating a function of several variables

Formulas in a cell can refer to several cells 6.1.3, allowing you to create and evaluate functions of several variables. You can see a screencast of the example 6.1.2.

Subsection D.1.2 Making a table for a function of 2 variable

To make a table of values 6.1.9 I need to construck an array where one variable is horizontal (Row 2 in the example), and the other variable is vertical (Column A in the example). The variabkles are then semi-absolute in the formula, with a dollar sign before either the row or column as needed. You can see a screencast of the example 6.1.2.

Subsection D.1.3 Turning a table of a function of 2 variables into a surface graph

Once we have made a table of of values for a function of two variables, we would like to turn it into a 3-D graph. We start with a table like found above 6.1.14.We then move the varable names out of the corner 6.1.15 into adjacent rows and columns. Highlight the table, including the values of hte cariables. Then insert a chart, choosing the appropriate chart type. You can choose 3-D surface chart 6.1.16, a 3_D wire frame chart 6.1.17, or a contour chart 6.1.18. You can see a screencast of the example 6.1.13.
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