Spreadsheets - Basics

Spreadsheets
Spreadsheets have the following uses:

1. recording data,
2. searching for particular items of data,
3. performing calculations based on data,
4. producing graphs and charts.

Cell reference
Data is entered into cells. A spreadsheet is made up of rows marked with numbers and columns marked with
letters. (See figure 1).

Each cell can be identified using the column letter and the row number as coordinates. The active cell is shown
in the top left corner as shown in figure 1.

Entering Data
A cell can contain one of the following types of data:

1. Numerical data e.g. money, date and time but not telephone numbers.
2. Text e.g. People's names, titles of CDs, post codes, telephone numbers.
3. Formulae e.g. The total of a given range, the average, the minimum value or maximum value of a
range.

Ranges
Many spreadsheet operations require you to select a range of cells. For example, you may want to find the
total of the numbers in a range of cells or change the format for a range of cells.

A range can be identified by cells in the top left hand corner and bottom right hand corner separated by a colon
(:). For example, A1:B3 identifies a range containing 6 cells, A1, A2, A3, B1, B2 and B3. Some more examples
are shown below.

The active cell

is referenced in
the top left
corner

Active cell E14

Figure 1

To mark the range A1:B3 on a worksheet, move the pointer to the cell in the top left hand corner then hold
down the mouse button and drag the pointer to the bottom right hand corner. Release.

Alternatively, you can mark a range by clicking on the top left hand cell, then hold down the shift key and click
on the last cell.

Entering a formula
A formula is used to calculate the value for a cell from the contents of other cells. For example, it can be used
to calculate the totals or averages find percentages or find the maximum and minimum of a range of cells.

Remember: A formula in a spreadsheet always starts with an equal sign (=).

 Spreadsheets - Basics
To enter a formula:

Click on the cell where you want the formula to show the
result. In this example, the result will be shown in cell B7.

Type in the formula. For example = b2+b3+b4+b5+b6. Note

that you can use either upper or lower case.

Press [Enter]. The result of the calculation is shown in the cell.

The formula used in this example uses operators but a

function can be used instead.

Figure 2

Operators
Operators are symbols that you would use to perform calculations with as follows:

Operator Example formula What it does

+ Addition =A1+A2 Adds the values in cell A1 and A2

- Subtraction =A2 - A1 Subtracts the value in cell A1 from cell A2
* Multiplication =A1* A2 Multiplies the values in A1 and A2
/ Division =A2/A1 Divides the value in A2 by the value in A1
^ Raising to the =A1^A2 Raises the value in A1 to the power of the value in A2
power e.g. 2^3 is 8

Functions
Excel contains a wide variety of functions. Here are some of the most commonly used functions:

Function Example formula What it does

SUM (or autosum) =SUM(B2:B6) Finds the total of the values in cells B2 to B6.

AVERAGE =AVERAGE (B2:B6) Finds the mean average of the values in the cells B2 to
B6.
MAX =MAX(B2:B6) Identifies the maximum value in the cell range B2 to B6.

MIN = MIN (B2:B6) Identifies the minimum value in the cell range B2 to B6