Exercises Module 2 – Basic Calculations in Excel

Module 2.1 Exercises 1-2 Module 2.5 Exercises 12-15

Module 2.2 Exercises 3-5 Module 2.6 Exercises 16-19
Module 2.3 Exercises 6-8 Module 2.7 Exercises 20-24
Module 2.4 Exercises 9-11 Module 2.8 Exercises 25-30

1. Using a spreadsheet, evaluate the following equations:

a. 3 × 4 + 6
b. 62 – 30
c. 4 × (2 + 23 + 18 – 5)
d. (9 × 10 + 6 × 4)2 – 1002
1000
e. × ((1 + 0.05)25 – 1) (include your answer in two decimals)
0.05
155 + 3
f. – 12
2
310
g. 100 × (1 + 5 × e4) (include your answer in two decimals)
h. e4.7 (include your answer in two decimals)

2. Basir is building a picnic table. He needs to calculate the length of the cross braces that will support the
table’s legs. Basir remembers Pythagorean’s theorem: H2 = A2 + B2. Basir has measured the length of side
A to be 30 cm and the length of side B to be 80 cm. Find the length of board Basir needs to cut (i.e., the
length of side H).

3. Reconsider Naveed as the payroll manager at a local construction company (see Question 1 of Exercises
for Module 1). He needs to report the total wages to the company owner.
a. Calculate the total wages for each employee.
b. Calculate the total wages for all employees combined using the SUMPRODUCT function. Check your
work by summing up your answers to part (b).

4. Allison needs to order building products for the last house her construction company is building. She has
the cost per case and the number of cases for each product that she wants to buy. What is the total
payment Allison will have to make? Use the SUMPRODUCT function to answer this question.

5. Endel wants to calculate his final grade in chemistry. The course had seven lab assignments. The first four
lab assignments were each worth 10% and the last three were each worth 20% of the assignment grade.
In total, the lab assignments were worth 40% of the final grade, the mid-term test was worth 25%, and
the final exam was worth 35%. Endel earned grades of 78%, 82%, 84%, and 72% on the first four lab
1
 assignments, and he earned grades of 86%, 83%, and 77% on the last three. Endel earned a grade of 82%
on the mid-term test and 80% on the final exam.
a. Calculate Endel’s grade for the lab assignments component of the course.
b. Calculate Endel’s overall course grade.

6. Fatima wants to begin planning for her retirement. She wants to determine how much she will have saved
for retirements by depositing $1,000 per month, every month for the next 30 years, at a monthly interest
rate of 0.6%.
(1 + Monthly Interest Rate)Months Until Retirement − 1
Savings at Retirement = Monthly Deposit × ( )
Monthly Interest Rate
Build a spreadsheet model that Fatima could use to calculate her retirement savings in 30 years with
inputs that include Monthly Deposit, Monthly Interest Rate, and Months Until Retirement.

7. Hameed owns a woodworking shop where he builds picnic tables and Muskoka chairs. He charges $250
for picnic tables and $80 each for Muskoka chairs. It costs him $105 in materials and $50 in labour to build
a picnic table. It costs $30 in materials and $30 in labour to build a Muskoka chair. Demand for picnic
tables is relatively constant at 30 tables per summer season. Demand for Muskoka chairs increases with
his investment in advertising. Based on his past experience, he believes that the relationship between
advertising and demand for Muskoka chairs is as follows:
125
Demand = ( -0.005 × Adversiting Spend
)
1 + 5e
Build a spreadsheet model that can assist Hameed in making a decision about how much to invest in
advertising, where he wants to calculate the total profit for a given decision. Test your spreadsheet model
for an advertising spend of $1,000.

8. Riina owns a teak furniture shop. She is considering three promotional strategies for September. Option A
is not to invest in any new promotional activities. Option B is newspaper advertisements for a “blow-out
sale” in which everything in the store is 15% off. Option C is a promotional spot on the local television
network, The Home and Style Network, focused on restyling your dining space. With no investment in
promotional activities, Riina expects to sell five bedroom sets, three dining room sets, four China cabinets,
and eight patio sets. Riina sells bedroom sets for $4,500, dining room sets for $3,500, China cabinets for
$4,000, and patio sets for $1,500. The furniture sold and Riina’s store is top quality. She purchases
bedroom sets for $2,500, dining room sets for $2,000, China cabinets for $2,000, and patio sets for $750.
Her business has monthly fixed costs of Operations and Salaries totalling $20,000. Advertising in the
newspaper costs $3,000, but two years ago when she used this strategy, she sold one more bedroom set,
two more dining room sets, no extra China cabinets, and six more patio sets than she had expected. A
promotional spot on The Home and Style Network costs $4,000 and Riina expects it would result in the
sale of four additional dining room sets and three additional China cabinets. Develop a spreadsheet model
that can assist Riina in making a decision.

2
9. TransVerde Inc. had first year sales of $50,000 and is predicting a 5% growth year-over-year. Calculate the
estimated sales for each of the next 10 years.

10. Penelope needs to make 27% of sales commission payments to each of her sales staff at the end of each
week. This week, Abra’s sales were 360 units, Brenda’s sales were 280 units, and Carol’s sales were 340
units. Each unit is sold for $100. Calculate the total revenue for each sales agent and the commission
Penelope must pay each agent.

11. Genevieve, Harold, Isla, and Janice are at the farmers market buying different quantities of citrus fruits.
Oranges cost $0.79 each, lemons cost $0.39 each, and grapefruit costs $1.29 each.
a. Calculate the amount each person spent on each fruit.
b. Calculate each person’s total bill.

12. Rebecca’s car insurance has a $500 deductible. If the total damage is less than $500, she personally pays
for the entire repair bill. Otherwise, the insurance company pays the amount greater than $500. Create an
Excel model for Rebecca, that will calculate the amount Rebecca owes for a given damage amount.
a. Create the model with the use of an IF function.
b. Create the model without the use of an IF function.

13. Dave runs a pizza shop on Main Street. His employees earn $12 per hour for regular time and $18 per
hour for overtime. The overtime rate must be applied for any hours worked that exceed 44 hours per
week. Create an Excel model that informs Dave how much he owes an employee, where you use an IF
function to help Dave for this task given the amount of hours that each employee has worked.

14. Vladimir owns a store that sells rare and exotic lizards to reptile pet owners. He usually sells each lizard for
$25. Due to the amount of time required for lizard breeding and the uncertainty of demand, he has two
suppliers who offer different prices. The low-cost supplier can supply a maximum of 50 lizards per month
at $5 per lizard. Beyond this demand, Vladimir must go to his second supplier who can provide a
seemingly unlimited number of lizards for $10 per lizard. Build an Excel model to calculate Vladimir’s
monthly profit. Test your model when Vladimir sells 30 lizards, and when he sells 70 lizards.

15. Sabina owns the dog-walking business Pooch Patrol. She charges $20 to walk one dog for 30 minutes, and
$30 to walk one dog for an hour. She charges $30 to walk two dogs for 30 minutes, and $45 to walk two
dogs for an hour. Build an Excel model to calculate her daily revenue for her regular schedule (see
accompanying Excel spreadsheet for the schedule).

16. The Nightfall, a popular bar in downtown Calgary, has collected a sample of 10 receipts from last Friday
night. Using the data in the accompanying spreadsheet,
a. Estimate the proportion of customers who are students.
b. Estimate the proportion of total revenue made from students.
3
 c. Estimate the average bill for student customers and for non-student customers.

17. Haskayne Rail has obtained passenger information for a representative day. The data include passenger
ages and prices for commuter trips in Alberta (see accompanying spreadsheet). Haskayne Rail is
considering a new policy allowing anyone 12 years or younger to ride for free.
a. What percentage of customers are 12 years or younger?
b. What is the average fare per customer for customers 12 years or younger?
c. Estimate the total daily revenue loss from the proposed policy.

18. Widget Co. offers a bonus to its top-selling sales staff. The amount of the bonus is determined as $500 for
each Product A sale over $2,000, and $250 for each Product B sales over $1,000. Widget Co. sales
representative Richard is looking over his past month’s sales. The data include purchase amounts and
item types for all sales (see the accompanying spreadsheet). Calculate Richard’s bonus.

19. In April 2022, many Alberta cities reported unusual amounts of snowfall. In Calgary, more snow fell in
April than in each of the season’s preceding winter months. Use the monthly snowfall data for Calgary,
Alberta from July, 1884, to July, 2023, to answer the following questions (data are provided in the
accompanying spreadsheet).
a. Create a table reporting the monthly snowfall from 1885 to 2022. In other words, fill out the values in
the table covering cell range H7:S144. HINT: Use the SUMIFS function.
b. Over the past 138 years, how many times did Calgary have more snow (in cm) in April than in April
2022? HINT: First include comparisons with logic functions in cell range U7:X144 to determine for each
year whether there was more in April than any of the previous three months.
c. Over the past 138 years, how many time has Calgary received more snow in April than in January,
February, or March? HINT: Use the intermediate results from part (b) (i.e., the results in column X).
d. Was the monthly snowfall in April 2022 greater than in a typical April?

20. Peter is a paramedic student. When he measures pulse rate, he counts the number of heartbeats for 15
seconds and then needs to multiply by 4 to report the number of heartbeats per minute. An upper-year
student advises him to save time by taping a copy of the 4 times table to his clipboard.
a. Build a spreadsheet model to calculate the heartbeats per minute based on the heartbeat in 15
seconds and the number of 15-second intervals in one minute.
b. Using a Data Table, create a times table for Peter to tape to his clipboard, so that he can quickly
identify the heart rate per minute, given the number of heartbeats in 15 seconds. Use a range from 10
to 35 heartbeats for 15 seconds (with steps of 1 heartbeat).

4
21. Nelson works at an old gas station. The part of the screen showing the total cost is in need of repair. Until
it is repaired, Nelson must calculate the total cost for each customer by multiplying the number of litres
purchased by the price per litre.
a. Build a spreadsheet model to calculate the total cost of gas purchased based on the volume of gas
purchased in litres and the price per litre.

Using Data Tables, answer the following questions:

b. The price of gas is currently $1.10 per litre and typical gas purchases range from 4 litres to 60 litres.
Create a table for Nelson to use so that he can quickly identify the total cost for customers.
c. On a given day, the price of gas can increase or decrease by up to $0.10. Create a table for Nelson to
use that varies gas prices (from $1.00/litre to $1.20/litre in steps of $0.02) and the volume of gas
purchased (use the same range as part (b)).

22. Reconsider Fatima’s retirement plan (see Question 6).

a. Build a one-way Data Table to evaluate the amount Fatima will have saved for retirement if she is able
to deposit the following monthly months: $600, $800, $1,000, $1,200, $1,400 and $1,600.
b. Build a one-way Data Table to evaluate the amount Fatima will have saved for retirement if she
deposits $1,000 per month, but with the savings interest rate being uncertain, with the following
possible values: 0.4%, 0.5%, 0.6%, 0.7% and 0.8%.
c. Build a two-way Data Table to evaluate the amount Fatima will have saved for retirement in 30 years
at the varies monthly deposits from part (a) and the interest rate levels of part (b).

23. Adrienne is starting a new business distributing organic, free-range, farm-fresh eggs to local grocery
stores. She sales the eggs for a wholesale price that varies between $3.00 and $4.50 (per dozen)
depending on the overall availability of organic eggs in the market. Her fixed costs include monthly
expenses of $500 for her truck, gas, and insurance. She buys eggs from local farmers at a guaranteed price
of $1.95 per dozen.
a. Build a spreadsheet model that Adrienne can use to calculate her monthly profit.
b. Build a two-way Data Table for Adrienne to evaluate her profit at various wholesale egg prices
(ranging from $3.00 and $4.50 per dozen in steps of $0.25) and various quantities of sales (ranging
from 100 to 700 dozen eggs per month in steps of 100 dozen eggs).

24. Reconsider Hameed’s woodworking shop (see Question 7). Build a one-way Data Table for Hameed to
evaluate both the number of Muskoka chairs sold and the total profit for various invests in advertising
(between $0 and $2,500 in steps of $250). Use these results to determine at what level of investment in
advertising the maximum level of profit to achieved?

25. Last week, a local beekeeper earned revenue of $408.57 for selling 25 jars of honey. Small jars sell for
$6.99 and large jars sell for $19.98. How many large jars of honey did the beekeeper sell? Use Goal Seek
to answer this question.
5
26. Brandon wants to buy coffee and doughnuts for his project team. Coffee costs $1.71 and doughnuts cost
$1.12. His project team has eight members (including himself). Brandon has $20. If he buys everyone a
coffee, how many doughnuts can he also buy? Use Goal Seek to answer this question.

27. Petrov is stressed out studying for his final exam. The course has three graded components: homework
assignments (30%), mid-term exam (30%), and the final exam (40%). In the five equally weighted
homework assignments, Petrov earned grades of 65%, 83%, 85%, 78%, and 82%. Petrov also earned a
mark of 76% on the mid-term exam. What is the minimum grade he needs on the final exam to earn an
overall grade of 80% in the course? Use Goal Seek to answer this question.

28. Joachim is paid $14 per hour if he works 40 hours or less per week. When he works overtime, he is paid
$21 per hour. Joachim would like to earn at least $2,700 this month. So far this month, Joachim has
worked 46 hours in the first week, 40 hours in the second week, and 50 hours in the third week. How
many hours does Joachim need to work in the last week of the month to meet his goal of earning $2,700
this month? Use Goal Seek to answer this question.

29. Reconsider Adrienne’s new business of distributing organic, free-range, farm-fresh eggs (see Question 23).
Use Goal Seek to answer the following questions.
a. How many eggs does Adrienne need to sell to break even (when the wholesale is $3.75 per dozen
eggs)?
b. How many eggs does Adrienne need to sell to earn a monthly profit of $400?

30. Reconsider Fatima’s retirement plan (see Question 6). Using a target retirement date of 30 years and a
monthly interest rate of 0.6%, use Goal Seek to find the monthly savings deposit that Fatima needs to
make to save $2 million for her retirement.