3 dimensional table for 3 dimensional data

[Hijrofoyle]

hello, i have a number of sensors arranged along a length of pipe, i have done frequency distribution graphs for each sensor and they are all fine. However i wanted to do a 3 dimensional graph in which the axis from my 2d graphs are still the x and y axes, but the z axes is the length along the pipe in real time. I was then hoping that excel would interpolate a surface or somethin glike that. Is this at all possible? and am I even making sense?

 

[Hijrofoyle]

i just realised that i had absolutely no business using the word 'real time' in that previous discussion. I'm sorry, it's just that it's a areally really cool word. Realtime.

 

[ThePencilQueen]

Have you looked at 3d surface charts? The column/row values relate to x/y on the chart and the value in the cell relates to the z value.

 

[Hijrofoyle]

yeah, i tried but couldn't quite figure out the ordinate system, could you explain it to me again?

 

[ThePencilQueen]

What sort of data do you have for each sensor? are they all measured across the same values?

The surface chart will plot the height of a chart as the same as the value in a cell. The position on the chart (x,y position) is decided by the row, column reference
so

11111
12221
12321
12221
11111

Will look like a pretty pyramid.

If your sensors were located at equal intervals along the pipe, and each sensor recorded it's measurements at equal intervals, you could just create a column of data for each sensor and plot it stright across. However if there are uneven intervals either along the pipe or for each sensor (ie one measures every 2ms and the next sensor measures at every 5ms etc) then you would have to allow for this in the way the data was laid out.

In summary - its very confusing!!