Here is a set of data from a spectrophotometry experiment to determine the absorption

coefficient of potassium dichromate (K2Cr2O7) in aqueous solution. Absorbance has been

measured in the usual way with solutions of different concentrations placed in standard 1
cm cuvettes.

Concentration
Absorbance
(mM)
0.1 0.323
0.2 0.521
0.3 0.981
0.4 1.243
0.5 1.478

We're going to use Excel to plot a graph of absorbance (on the Y-axis) against
concentration (on the X-axis).

Creating a Scatter graph (chart)

 Open a new spreadsheet in Excel.

 Type 'Concentration' in cell A1 and 'Absorbance' in B1.
 Enter the data in cells A2 to B6.
 Select cells A1 to B6 (by dragging the mouse over them with the left button
depressed).
 Got to the Insert ribbon, click on Scatter from the range of Charts displayed,
and select Scatter with Straight Lines and Markers:
  Use Chart Tools > Layout > Labels > Axis Titles to set the X- and Y-axis titles
to 'Concentration (mM)' and 'Absorbance ' respectively.
 Use Chart Tools > Layout > Labels > Chart Title to give the graph a sensible
name like 'Potassium dichromate'.
 Use Chart Tools > Layout > Axes > Gridlines to remove the Y-axis gridlines
(because they're ugly!).
 Note that you can use Chart Tools > Design > Locations to place your graph
on a separate sheet if you wish - but don't do that now.

Improving the appearance of the graph

 First try dragging the graph around on the page so it's in a convenient position.
Take care to hold it near the edge or you'll only move the graph within the
'chart area'.
 Then try making it bigger by dragging the edges or corners of the chart area.
 Right-click on the plot area to get to Format Plot Area and set the background
colour to something tasteful. How about a pale blue?
 Right-click with the mouse pointer tip on one of the data points to go to Format
Data Series.
 Using Marker Options, Marker Fill, Line Color etc., get rid of the connecting
lines between the points, change the markers to large (8 pt) red circles.
 Click 'OK' then click the pointer somewhere else on the spreadsheet to enable you
to see the result.
  By right-clicking the axes, the axis titles, the legend etc., or
using Design, Layout and Format ribbons, see what else you can alter to
make the end result more attractive. I would be tempted to remove the 'legend'
on the right because there's only one set of data points on the graph, so it's
fairly obvious what they are.

Now you should have something like this: