A10 : =A9 + $B$4EXPLORING FINITE DIFFERENCES I
You are going to create a worksheet in Excel to investigate finite differences for either a linear or a quadratic function. The format is as follows :
|
COLUMN |
A |
B |
C |
D |
|
ROW |
|
1 |
|
2 |
|
3 |
|
4 |
|
5 |
|
6 |
|
7 |
|
8 |
|
9 |
|
10 |
|
11 |
|
12 |
|
13 |
|
14 |
|
15 |
|
16 |
|
17 |
|
18 |
|
a = |
1 |
|
|
|
b = |
1 |
|
|
|
c = |
1 |
|
|
|
x step = |
1 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
differences |
|
|
x |
y |
first |
second |
|
1 |
3 |
|
|
|
2 |
7 |
4 |
|
|
3 |
13 |
6 |
2 |
|
4 |
21 |
8 |
2 |
|
5 |
31 |
10 |
2 |
|
6 |
43 |
12 |
2 |
|
7 |
57 |
14 |
2 |
|
8 |
73 |
16 |
2 |
|
9 |
91 |
18 |
2 |
|
10 |
111 |
20 |
2 |
Start with a = in cell A1. Space out the rest of the cells accordingly.
Put in the remaining labels ( b = , c = , x step = , differences, x , y , first, second )
in the cells as shown above. Put any values in B1 to B4.
Letting a = 0 reduces the problem to a linear relation.
Put a 1 in A9. Enter the following formulas in the cells indicated :
A10 : =A9 + $B$4
B9 : =$B$1*A9^2+$B$2*A9+$B$3
C10 : =B10-B9
D11 : =C11-C10