Standard Curve Trainer

Overview

This project provides an interactive teaching tool for understanding standard curves, linear regression, and how Excel calculates a line of best fit.

It helps learners connect the steps they perform in Excel with the underlying mathematical process: entering standards, plotting absorbance data, adding a trendline, interpreting the equation, and using the curve to estimate unknown concentrations.

Live Demo

Access the project here:
https://claireprice.github.io/Standard-Curve/

Features

• Step-by-step Excel-style walkthrough

• Editable standard concentration and absorbance data

• Live standard curve visualisation

• Automatic line of best fit

• Display of regression equation

• Display of R² value

• Warning for poor linear fit

• Options to add/remove points, add noise, and reset the example

How It Works

Standard concentration and absorbance values are entered into a table.

The tool plots the data points and calculates a best-fit line using linear regression.

The equation is shown in the form:

y = mx + c

Where:

• y = absorbance

• x = concentration

• m = slope

• c = intercept

The R² value updates automatically to show how well the data fits a straight line.

Educational Purpose

This tool is designed to help students understand:

• How standard curves are constructed

• What Excel’s trendline is calculating

• How slope and intercept affect the curve

• What R² means

• How poor-quality calibration data affects results

• How unknown concentrations can be estimated from a regression equation

Use Cases

• Biomedical science education

• Laboratory skills teaching

• Analytical chemistry training

• Spectrophotometry practicals

• Excel-based data analysis workshops

Licence

This project is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International licence.

You are free to:

• Share — copy and redistribute the material

• Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material for educational purposes

Under the following terms:

• Attribution — appropriate credit must be given

• NonCommercial — the material must not be used for commercial purposes

Licence details:
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

Notes

This project is intended for educational purposes and should not replace validated laboratory analytical systems or formal calibration procedures.

Citation

Price, C. L. (2026). Standard Curve Trainer. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19785069