Welcome to the magic world of Excel animation!
– All the animated models are created using plain MS Excel and VBA.
– All the Excel files and PDF tutorials can be downloaded from BLOG page.
– All the downloads on this site are FREE and there are hundreds of them.
Hello!
Finding engineering work quite unchallenging lately I decided to start this blog in which to share cool ways of solving engineering problems or just interesting modeling of natural phenomena in MS Excel 2003.
I use cell formulas and VBA in order to take advantage of the ease of “programming” and the native speed of the Excel spreadsheet.
My name is George Lungu and I am the author of this blog. In my daily life I am a circuit designer.
Why bother with this blog?
1. It’s science, it’s physics, it’s electronics, mechanics, games …you name it. You could also suggest future directions of development
2. Engineering is coming back in force and it will rule again. Lots of people nowadays want to either manage or market that’s why we need more engineers.
3. It might be boring at times but it’s very useful stuff. I will give it a sugar coating by producing “live” models with at least some catchy animations and sound effects
4. You can understand most of it with just a high a school background. No computer language is necessary. A little visual basic (VBA) will be involved but you’ll learn that on-the-fly. We do search Wikipedia occasionally here but as a last resort.
5. If you follow this and begin to model your own ideas with your own methods you could build some real understanding of engineering. School is good for acquiring discipline and a background, but only you can teach yourself deep knowledge by personal experience. Learn by having fun!
6. This blog it’s just a lure. The best and most effective teacher lives inside you.
7. The most important aspect: no matter what you want to do, start by thinking and experimenting before reading or asking someone else (no matter who).
Trust me on this one, you are far smarter than you think (if you dare to use your mind).
One month of continuous pondering and experimentation will get you farther than a year of school.
Learn slowly, speed is a big spoiler. The traditional education system is built on speed and superficiality.
“External teachers” were taught one thing: compliance. And that’s what they will teach you.
Trust your “inner teacher” instead. You won’t be disappointed.
Why Excel?
- Excel is cheap and and you can find it everywhere.
- It’s a good environment to do complex programming without being a programmer. It gives you the feel of of a bread board. A donkey could use it…
- As opposed to regular programming languages, Excel is a two-dimensional programming canvass
- Excel has decent built in graphics (I like using 2D scatter plots)
- As a 2D matrix calculator, Excel it’s wickedly fast
- Excel has decent GUI capabilities within the program itself
- Programming in Excel gives you more understanding of physical processes than “black box” type programs such as Matlab, Simulink, Octave since in Excel you build everything from basic formulas
All right, Excel, but why versions to use?
2007 is slow and bugsy. While most of the models should work in most versions, if one is serious about speed, Excel 2003 or earlier is a better choice. In terms or charting speed the new Excel is about 10 times slower than the old Excel (see a 2008 study here). By the same study, with 1023 MB of RAM, the Excel 2007 Line charts take 15 to 22 times as long to redraw as the Excel 2003. The recalculation time is also slower in the new Excel, but only by about 30% (study).
And why Microsoft?
I have to admit that for introductory scientific modeling, Excel is a great overall choice out there. Though I am not against product evolution, I decry the drop in speed (mainly charting speed) in the last versions of Excel. And by the way, while Open Office “Calc” is alright for filling taxes, it is about one order of magnitude slower than Excel for large calculations. I admire the open-source initiatives though.
https://www.mail-archive.com/users@openoffice.org/msg80893.html
Thanks Gaurang!
Hi George, Thanks a ton for such a blog where our imagination meets visualization.
Its a great work man. salute n best of luck to you.
I am really impressed with this blog / site. Thank you for the information you are providing for free. Hope you are able to keep up the good work. I have already shared it with some other engineers and posted it to other online media!
Thanks, Chermac.
Hi George, I had some inclinations towards Excel. After looking at your blog and the power you using Excel for engineering solutions is amazing. I am studying the two-stage spring-mass-damping system given by you. On a similar model for vibration analysis I am working. I shall be needing your help for plotting graphs, as I progress in my work.
Sure Iranna, I will help you as much as I can. Charting is a very interesting topic for me. There are just a few tricks that make all the difference in the world. Cheers, George
Hi George, Finally I´m checking your page, is amazing!!!, I never thought that you can do this things with Excel.
I´ll try to follow all the model that you create and learn more about this program and your tips.
Regards,
Wolfgang Wuth.
Wolfgang, thanks for the feedback. I advise you to take it lightly. Chech out a couple of models rather than too many, otherwise you’re going to burn out and hate it. Excel is a great resource and you need to find something that you would like to do with it. Of course you need to do it for pure fun. George
George,
You have produced amazing examples of how powerful and versatile Excel really is. I’ve used Excel for years with statistical analysis and graphing among other things. You’ve taken it to new heights. I applaud your initiative and capabilities.
Many thanks and good luck in all you do.
Vaughan Dewar, PMP
Thanks, Vaughan!
Hi, superb work. I am a teacher in a high school and am using Excel in IT and also in maths. Just wondered if you have done anything at a lower level.
Mark’o
Mark, my problem is that I miss almost any feedback from teachers. My parents were both high school teachers and I know there is a lot of good “virtual lab” work that can be done. I would appreciate if you can give me some suggestions about what would interest you or other teachers in Australia. Cold formulas are not interesting to me unless combined with some special effects (animation for instance). Point me to an audience and I can do mostly lower level, didactic stuff for not only high school but middle school too. If I make the stuff that you suggest is there a way to advertise the blog to school in Australia? Cheers, George
Loved your work… has given me inspiration to do something….
Thanks!!!
All the best for future endeavors….
Regards,
Akshay
Thanks, Akshay.
Thanks for the comment! Yes, I like Excel because it allows me to stay in control and the more control the more interesting it is. The other programs are like wheelchairs, a lot of them seem created for handicapped people. Güle güle, George
Sounds interesting. What subject do you teach, Marcelo?
Materials science, mainly metallurgy.
Sounds good. It would be fine if you would like to publish some models but you need to make 2-3 pages largely written with your photo, name and a very brief CV plus instructions on how to use the model (which must be unprotected). You can self advertise, teach (tutorials) but you won’t get paid (if that’s important to you). Are you from Italy?
Hi George,
Unfortunately I dont have enough time to produce so detailed material right now (maybe during my vacation). By the way, I am not interested to get paid for that and I am from Brazil.
Hi Marcelo. Whenever you have time… A few phrases will do. Mainly explain what the model does and how to use it. Thanks, George