Automatically computing column data for plots?

Hi,

I'm sure this question has been asked before but I'm not sure how to
look it up, so here goes. Let's say I want to do a smooth curve plot
of a bunch of columnar data (even a simple x, f(x) pairing in two
columns), but rather than manually drag a bunch of x values downward in
a column and then copy the formula converting x to f(x) in the next
column for each value, is there an automated way to tell Excel, "I want
you to compute a series of values between x1 and x2 using a specified
dx, and then plot the results"?

Mike