K Hinds | 2015

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The UWI Open Campus: Pine Site

CSEC ICT – Class 2 Microsoft Office: Excel
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Purpose of a Spreadsheet
A spreadsheet is a table of rows and columns that contains data, both text and numbers, on which
you perform actions, such as sorting and calculations, both simple and complex.
In business, spreadsheets are especially useful any time you have numerical data to store,
organize, calculate and present in easily understood formats. Spreadsheets allow the business
person to accomplish tasks as diverse as keeping track of receipts and financial forecasting and
planning. The diagrams below shows a typical spreadsheet and it points out some important
items found on it.

Figure 1: An Excel worksheet with some important characteristics highlighted.

 Active Cell – This is the cell which you are currently working in. This is where you can
apply formulas, editing features or any other function desired.
 Fill Handle- This is a small indicator on the bottom right corner of the Active Cell that
allows us to click on it and drag horizontally or vertically and fill all the other cells with
the formula contained in the Active Cell. This is extremely useful for solving listed
calculations.
 Formula Bar – This is where we input our formulas and tell excel to execute the equation
for us. All formulas begin with an equal sign (=)
 Ribbon – This gives us additional built in features. Features can be formatting,
calculations and file management. (saving, printing and exporting)
 Column – This is a vertical listing of cells on the spreadsheet. Every column has a Letter
(A, B, C, D, E, …, etc.) above it indicating its coordinate vertical position (y-axis only)
 Row – A row is a horizontal listing of cells. All rows on the same line carry the same
horizontal coordinate found at the furthermost left of the sheet. This coordinate is an
integer. (x-axis only)
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Note: Taking the column and row values for a particular Cell gives its Cell Address
The diagram below also shows some additional features. Why not load Microsoft Excel on your
computer now and see if you can find the indicators shown below:

Figure 2: Some additional identifiers

Other Terms to Note:
 Label - A label most often refers to a text entry such as a heading used to identify a
column of data.
 Value – This is the result of a mathematical operation or words placed into a cell
 Formula – This is a mathematical operation that we want to input into the spreadsheet to
calculate some value for us
 Fuinction – These are inbult mathematical operations that we can insert with little effore.
We click the Function Button on the Ribbon and use the function we desire. Click on the
function button to look at the inbult functions available to us.
 Worksheet – These are the sheets that you work on inside Excel. Each Worksheet is
selected by clicking on their corresponding tab, as shown above in Figure 2.
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 Template – These are predefined Excel sheets that are used to create calendars, work
schedules, appointments, calculators and budgets. Templates are used for comon ntasks
to save unnecessary time in their recreation.
 Range – This is a group of cells either defined horizontally or vertically. For example :
(A5:A10)
A5
A6
A7
A8
A9
A10

or (A5:F5)
A5 B5 C5 D5 E5 F5

Pre Defined System Functions

Excel as we have seen, have a number of built in functions. We will examine some of the
common functions:
Sum - Syantax
= SUM (value to be added seperated by commas /cell range/ addresses)
This is used to give a total for some values entered

Average
= AVERAGE (value to be averaged seperated by commas /cell range/ addresses)
This is used to give an average of the values entered

Date
= DATE (YYYY,MM,DD)
Used for enterign dates or date ranges

Max
= MAX (value to be compared seperated by commas /cell range/ addresses)
Returns the largest value found in the range, ignores logical errors

Min
= MIN (value to be compared seperated by commas /cell range/ addresses)
Returns the smallest value found in the range, ignores logical errors
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Count
= COUNT (values to be counted seperated by commas /cell range/ addresses)
Counts the number of cells in a range or numbers contained in its brackets

vlookup
=VLOOKUP(Lookup Value, Table Array, Column to be returned if a value is found, Range)
Used to retrieve information in an excel spreadsheet based on some criteria
http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/13780/using-vlookup-in-excel/

rank
= RANK (Number, Reference/Range, Order of sort)
Returns the size of a number reklative to a set of numbers specified in the range

if
= IF (Logical test, Value if True, Value if False)
Used to give a cell a result based on some condition existing

Advanced Arithmetic Formulas

Addition
Cell A1 + Cell B1 + Cell C1 is entered into Excel as
=A1+B1+C1

Subtraction
Cell A1 - Cell B1 is entered into Excel as
=A1-B1

Multiplication
Cell A1 x Cell B1 x Cell C1 is entered into Excel as
=A1*B1*C1

Division
Cell A1 ÷ Cell B1 is entered into Excel as
=A1/B1
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Brackets
Brackets are used for using multiple arithmetic operators in the same cell. Brackets are
always resolved first, then the rest of the calculation.
Cell [A3 x Cell A1] ÷ [Cell B1+Cell C1] is entered into Excel as
=(A3*A1) / (B1+C1)

Square Root
Used to find the root of a number
=SQRT(number)

Power
=POWER (Number, Power)

e.g. = POWER (5,2) is the equivalent of 52

Excel Features

Row/Column locking

To keep an area of a worksheet visible while you scroll to another area of the worksheet, you can
lock specific rows or columns in one area by freezing or splitting panes.

When you freeze panes, you keep specific rows or columns visible when you scroll in the
worksheet. For example, you might want to keep row and column labels visible as you scroll.

A solid line indicates that row 1 is frozen to keep column labels in place when you scroll.

When you split panes, you create separate worksheet areas that you can scroll within, while rows
or columns in the non-scrolled area remain visible.
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Relative & Absolute Addressing

Relative Cell References

This is the most widely used type of cell reference in formulas. Relative cell references are basic
cell references that adjust and change when copied or when using AutoFill.

Example:

=SUM(B5:B8), as shown below, changes to =SUM(C5:C8) when copied across to the next cell.

Absolute Cell References

Situations arise in which the cell reference must remain the same when copied or when using
AutoFill. Dollar signs are used to hold a column and/or row reference constant.

Example:

In the example below, when calculating commissions for sales staff, you would not want cell
B10 to change when copying the formula down. You want both the column and the row to
remain the same to refer to that exact cell. By using $B$10 in the formula, neither changes when
copied.
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A more complicated example:

Let's pretend that you need to calculate the prices of items in stock with two different price
discounts. Take a look at the worksheet below.

Examine the formula in cell E4. By making the first cell reference $C4, you keep the column
from changing when copied across, but allow the row to change when copying down to
accommodate the prices of the different items going down. By making the last cell reference
A$12, you keep the row number from changing when copied down, but allow the column to
change and reflect discount B when copied across. Confused? Check out the graphics below
and the cell results.
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Copied Across

Copied Down

Now, you might be thinking, why not just use 10% and 15% in the actual formulas? Wouldn't
that be easier? Yes, if you are sure the discount percentages will never change - which is highly
unlikely. It's more likely that eventually those percentages will need to be adjusted. By
referencing the cells containing 10% and 15% and not the actual numbers, when the percentage
changes all you need to do is change the percentage one time in cell A12 and/or B12 instead of
rebuilding all of your formulas. Excel would automatically update the discount prices to reflect
your discount percentage change.

Summary of absolute cell reference uses:

Allows the row reference to change,

$A1
but not the column reference.
Allows the column reference to
A$1
change, but not the row reference.
Allows neither the column nor the row
$A$1
reference to change.

There is a shortcut for placing absolute cell references in your formulas!

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When you are typing your formula, after you type a cell reference - press the F4 key. Excel
automatically makes the cell reference absolute! By continuing to press F4, Excel will cycle
through all of the absolute reference possibilities. For example, in the first absolute cell
reference formula in this tutorial, =B4*$B$10, I could have typed, =B4*B10, then pressed
the F4 key to change B10 to $B$10. Continuing to press F4 would have resulted in B$10, then
$B10, and finally B10. Pressing F4 changes only the cell reference directly to the left of your
insertion point.

Referencing taken from http://web.pdx.edu/~stipakb/CellRefs.htm