Main Article ~ Online Business Tip ~ Excel Tip ~ Training Tip
Thank
you for voting on Wednesday 29 May. The goal of bringing the ANC under 50%
(40.2% actually) was achieved spectacularly. Pity it was largely due to the MK
party of eternal spoiler Jacob Zuma. This is troubling.
The Multi-Party Charter for South Africa did not get enough votes to form a
government. Most of its members either could have done better (the DA and IFP)
or fared poorly (the rest).
Now we will have a GNU, or reasonable facsimile. That looks promising, despite
ANC corruption-accused that will be participating. Speaking of which...
No less than Gwede Mantashe (someone we don't often agree with) has a point. The
ANC has not gone the route of so many other African (and world) "liberation"
movements. It has lost its majority, and the ability to govern on its own.
Yet, there are no soldiers on the streets. John Steenhuizen, Julius Malema and
Velenkosini Hlabisa are not in prison or exile. Cyril Ramaphosa has not gone on
TV to suspend the constitution and declare himself President-for-Life. As Jacob
Zuma might have done in his place.
Contrast this with what happened in Zimbabwe, and continues to happen, with the
full blessing and support of the ANC.
This political maturity and willingness to accept the will of the people is a
good sign for the future... we hope that the presence of the DA and IFP in
government will result in more evidence-based and less ideology-based policies.
And not that they, instead, adopt cadre deployment and corruption of their own.
An early dividend from the new dispensation: The Rand has strengthened against the US Dollar to levels last seen in July 2023. Consequently, we have notice of a price decrease effective close of business 19 June 2024. The decrease will be 4.8%.
We will re-quote all open quotes on our system at the new prices once we have the list.
Say what you like about Autodesk (and we usually do!) but when did Eskom, your municipality, or even your local supermarket, give you a nearly 5% sustained price decrease? Don't all shout at once, please.
The 2023-2024 update to Adobe Acrobat Reader makes the All Tools menu on the left open automatically each time you open a PDF document. This takes up a chunk of screen space, while adding no value. If you are as annoyed as I was by this, read on.
You can set the All Tools menu to remember how you left it. Hence, if you close it, it will still be closed the next time you open the program.
Here's how:
To see this in action, watch this video.
Our host, WorldsView, has told us that they are closing their eStore facility, which we have used for some years. For renewals, or to buy new Autodesk products, email us directly now! We sell AutoCAD including specialized toolsets, AutoCAD LT, AutoCAD Revit LT Suite, and Maya LT. This is for new subscriptions and renewals.
The Excel for Engineers course is on our online platform, systeme.io. It has video in most lessons, This is the most complete one we have produced. There are extra sample files and material we don't have time for on the regular two-day live course.
Why should you take the Excel for Engineers course?
The course is chock-full of benefits for any Excel user in a technical field. Using 19 pre-built spreadsheets (yours to keep), we comprehensively cover using Excel as an Engineering and Scientific Tool.
Do it at your own pace at times that suit you. Take half an hour a day and complete it in a month. Spend an hour a day and finish it in two weeks. Or dedicate two days –a weekend, perhaps?– and crack the whole course. Then revise until your memory is solid.
Sign Up Now and get three Free Bonuses.
The Excel LINEST function is normally used to fit a straight line to data points. However, using this little-known technique, you can also fit higher-order curves. This example shows how to use LINEST to fit Quadratic and Cubic Curves to data. We'll look at the former today.
This comes from the sample spreadsheet LINEST-2-3.xlsx in our Excel for Engineers online course. You can type the example in yourself from the data below, or order the file free of charge from us by email.
Here is an example from Mechanical Engineering. Specifically, pump design. From experimental data, we have the Pump Curves for one impeller of a multi-stage high-lift pump. These curves are for Head (m) and Power (kW) for given values of flow (in ℓ/s).
To interpolate between the points, we want to fit curves to the flow/head and flow/power points. We surmise that quadratic (y=ax2+bx+c) or cubic (y=ax3+bx2+cx+d) curves may fit.
To make it easier to understand the formula later, we will name some ranges. Select cells B6:B11. In the Name Box on the left of the formula bar, type the word Flow and press Enter.
Similarly, name cells C6:C11 as Head and cells D6:D11 as Power.
Let us calculate the quadratic (2nd power) LINEST Coefficients for Head:
LINEST is an array function. We first select the cells for the results. Then type the formula. Finally, press Ctrl+Shift+Enter to enter it as an array formula.
The quadratic equation has three coefficients (a, b and c in y=ax²+bx+c). Select the three empty cells G2:I2.
Type =LINEST(Head, Flow^{1,2},TRUE, FALSE) and press Ctrl+Shift+Enter. You should see three coefficients.
We will put the equation for Head (fit²) in F6 to line up with the first row of values. The formula is:
=$G$2*B6^2 +$H$2*B6 +$I$2
Copy it down to cells F7:F11.
Now to see the error (difference between experimental values and the fitted curve). In cell G6, enter the formula =C6-F6 and copy down as far as row 11. Some values will be positive and some negative.Next time: Fitting a Cubic Curve with LINEST.
Do you use Microsoft Excel a lot? Do you repeat the same actions every week or month? You can record them and simply play those actions back –lightning-fast– at the press of a button. Take the Excel Macros online course now and learn how! Do the repetitive work in a flash, instead of repeating the same boring stuff by hand. Save hours not working late, and spend more time with your family... The Software Africa Quick 'n Easy Turbo-Start Excel Macros course is online. Take it now, and lead a better life.
It works! Now, if only I could remember what I did...
All the Best from
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