Welcome to Excel 101!

2005

What is Excel?
Microsoft Excel is an electronic spreadsheet program.
You might of heard the terms spreadsheet and worksheet. People usually use
them interchangeably. To remain consistent with Microsoft and other publishers the
term worksheet refers to the row-and-column matrix sheet on which you work upon
and the term spreadsheet refers to this type of computer application, i.e., Excel.
The term workbook refers to the book of pages within the document, i.e., charts,
sheets, modules.

2005

The Spreadsheet Concept

The Workbook
Most of the Excel screen is devoted to the display of the workbook. The workbook
consists of grids and columns. The intersection of a row and column is a rectangular
area called a cell.
Cells
The workbook is made up of cells. There is a cell at the intersection of each row and
column. A cell can contain a value, a formula, or a text entry. A text entry is used to
label or explain the contents of the workbook. A value entry can either be a constant
or the value of a formula. The value of a formula will change when the components
(arguments) of the formula change. The appeal of spreadsheet programs is the
ability to change one value and watch all other values that depend on the first value
automatically change when the spreadsheet is recalculated.
Rows, Columns, and Sheets
The Excel worksheet contains 16,384 rows.
The Excel worksheet 256 columns.
The Excel worksheet can contain as many as 256 sheets within one (1) workbook.

2005

Entering Information Into a Workbook

Entering Text and Constants

Observe the the text above is displayed in two areas. Text is displayed in the active
cell within the workbook and it is also displayed in the formula bar. The formula bar
is activated as soon as you being typed into a cell. At the far left is the reference
section, which will show you what cell you are currently entering information.

2005

Entering Information Into a Workbook

Entering Text and Constants

Next to the formula bar are the Cancel and Enter buttons. The Cancel and Enter
buttons are only visible while Excel is in edit mode. Excel is in edit mode anytime
you begin typing an entry. To put Excel in edit mode, click in the formula bar. To
Cancel out of edit mode, click on the X. To enter the text while in edit mode, click on
the .

2005

Entering Information Into a Workbook

Entering Formulas

All formulas in Excel must begin with an equal sign (=). When a formula is entered
into a cell, the formula itself is displayed in the formula bar when that call is
highlighted, and the result of the formula is displayed in the actual cell. When you
are typing in formulas, do not type spaces; Excel will delete them.

2005

Manually Entering Formulas in a Worksheet

Within the Excel window, select cell A4, Type in =A2+A3 and Hit Enter. You have just
manually entered a formula.

Now that you know how to enter information into an Excel workbook, it is time to
create a simple workbook.

2005

Creating a Simple Workbook

To create a simple workbook, you need to start with a blank workbook.
Choose New from the File menu and a new workbook should appear labeled Book2.
Starting in cell A1, we will start to build the following table:

2005

Maneuvering Through Your Excel Workbook

To move through your worksheet, you can use the following arrow keys on your
keyboard:
The down arrow moves the active cell down to the next row.
The up arrow moves the active cell up to the previous row.
The right arrow moves the active cell right to the adjacent column.
The left arrow moves the active cell left to the adjacent column.
The return key/Enter moves the active cell to the next row.

2005

Creating a Simple Workbook (contd)

Go back to your workbook titled Book2 and continue building from the original table:
Select cell B1 and type in the text: Data
Starting in cell C1, build the following table:

Observe that the text is too large for the cell. You can change the width of the cell
by Changing Column Widths.

10

2005

Changing Column Widths

Position the pointer between the column headings for column C and column D.
The pointer should change shape to show a double arrow as you position the pointer
between the two column headings. When the pointer changes shape, you can
change the width of the column by dragging to the right or left. You can also double
click while the pointer is showing a double arrow and this will automatically fit the text
within the cell.

11

2005

Creating a Simple Workbook (contd)

Starting in cell D3, build the following table:

Starting in cell E1, build the following

table:
Make sure you change the column
width of Column E.

12

2005

Creating a Simple Workbook (contd)

Starting in cell F1, build the following table:

It is now time to save your worksheet.

Choose Save from the File menu or click the Save button and call your worksheet
checks.
Before you add more to your checks worksheet, lets learn how to write formulas
using arithmetic operators and functions.

13

2005

Writing Formulas Using Operators and Functions

Operators are what connects the elements of a formula. Some familiar operators
are: addition (+), subtraction (-), multiplication (*), and division (/). There is an order
of operations when you are evaluating a formula. Formulas are evaluated from left
to right, with expressions enclosed in parentheses evaluated first, then exponents,
multiplication, division, addition, and subtraction. Excel has many more operators,
but we will work with the operators listed above for now.
Here is an example of how the order of operations works:
If you have the following formula within a cell:
=A8/(A9+A4)
The first operation would be the sum of A9 and A4 and then A8 would be divided by
that sum.

14

2005

Describing Formulas
Excel allows you to add comments to explain the purpose of an inserted formula.
The comments are displayed in the Comment window which can be viewed by
choosing Comment from the Insert menu. Lets enter a formula using operators
and comment the formula.
Open a new workbook window. Hint: See Page 8 for Instructions.
Starting in cell A1 building the following table:

15

2005

Describing and Entering Formulas (contd)

We will now learn how to enter a formula, which will calculate the average of these
nine grades. Select cell A11 and type in the text: Total.

16

2005

Insert a Column
It would be best if the total sum of the grades was beneath the last grade. You need
to insert a column between column A and column B so you do not have to retype all
the numbers.
Highlight column A by clicking in the column heading.
Choose Columns from the Insert menu. Column A should
be a blank column now.

17

2005

Cut and Paste Feature

Select cell B1 and click in the formula bar (see Page 4).
Highlight the text: Grades and Cut and Paste the text into the cell A1. Complete the
same steps for the text: Total.

18

2005

Entering a Formula
Select cell B11 and enter the following formula. See below. Remember to click on
Enter button or press the Return key to enter the formula.

19

2005

Entering a Formula that Averages

Select cell A12 and enter the text: Average.
Select cell B12 and enter the following formula: B11/9

The next section you will learn how to Annotate (comment) the formula in cell B12.

20

2005

Annotating Formulas
You can attach notes to cells by using comments, formerly called cell notes. You can
view each comment when you rest (hover) the pointer over the cell or view all
comments at the same time. You can print comments in the same locations where
they are displayed on the worksheet or a list at the end of the worksheet.
By default, Microsoft Excel uses the users name in each comment. If you do not
want this to appear, highlight your name and hit the Delete key.
Select cell B12.
Choose Comment from the Insert menu.
You will notice to the right the following Cell
Comment box should appear.
Within the Text Note box, you will see where
you can type in comments, etc.
Once you click outside the box and if you want
to view the comment, place your mouse over
the red note indicator and your comment will
appear.

21

2005

All About Excel Functions

Functions are used to form all or part of a formula. Excel provides two general types
of mathematical functions: those that are used in business applications and those
that are oriented to higher mathematics. In this presentation, the focus will be
working with business applications formulas.
The AutoSum button ( ) located in the Standard toolbar.
Whenever you click the AutoSum button, Excel inserts a SUM() function in the
active cell. Not only will the SUM() function write the sum formula, but it will make a
guess at what range of cells you desire to sum, and will leave you in edit mode so
that you can correct the sum range.

22

2005

Using the Function Wizard

To use the Function Wizard you can choose Function from the Insert menu or you
can click on the Function Wizard button ( ) located in the Standard toolbar.
Once you have the Function Wizard dialog open, you will be able to perform
various functions. For instance, the AVERAGE function will take the average of all
numbers you list in the parentheses. The Function Wizard will take you through
setting up the formula step-by-step.

23

2005

Using the Function Wizard (contd)

Once you have the Function Wizard dialog box highlighted and click OK, the
following box will appear. This box will walk you through how the next steps. First,
you will want to enter what range you want an AVERAGE. Once you click OK, your
average of the numbers should appear below.

24

2005

Formatting The Appearance of a Workbook

Select the first row of the the checks workbook, by clicking on the cell containing
the bold face 1. This is what Excel describes as a range. See Picture 1.
Within this range, you can Bold and Center by using the alignment buttons. See
Picture 2 with end result.

25

2005

The Concept of a Range

A range is a rectangular block of cells. Many things are accomplished in Excel using
ranges. For instance, the format used to display values can be changed for an entire
range. All the values in a range can be referred to when writing a formula. A range
of cells can also be protected, which means the contents cannot be altered in any
way. Ranges can also be named.

26

2005

Selecting Discontinuous Ranges

When you want to select Discontinuous Ranges, you will want to click on the first
column and then by holding down your Ctrl key you will want to select your second
column. See below for an example.

27

2005

Formatting Dates and Numbers

The basic formatting rule select and then do is used when working in Excel.
Once you have selected the column that you want formatted, you will want to choose
Cells from the Format menu. The Format Cells dialog box should appear.
Click on the Number tag if it is not already
displayed. Within the Category box highlight
Date to view all the Format Codes. Scroll
through the options in the Format Codes and
choose which format you would like to have
shown.
If you do not see a format, you can choose
Custom, and type in how you want the date to
appear.
To format the Numbers, you will want to perform
the same steps as you performed above for the
Date.

28

2005

Page Setup
Page Setup contains several options to do the following: Orientation, Scaling (in
order to make a spreadsheet fit on one page), Margins, Header/Footer and Sheet
(define your print area, etc.).
For instance if you want to your page to
appear Landscape, you would want to
select Landscape on the Page tab.
If you want to change your margins, you
would click on the Margins tab.
If you want to add a Header and/or
Footer, you would click on the
Header/Footer tab.

29

2005