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Computer Applications - Lecture 2 (Chapter 10)

Transportation and computer

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Samkelo Fakudze
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16 views

Computer Applications - Lecture 2 (Chapter 10)

Transportation and computer

Uploaded by

Samkelo Fakudze
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 18

COMPUTER APPLICATIONS II (DCC206)

WEEK 2
EXCEL LECTURE 2

BY: MR F. NDLANGAMANDLA
E C O T: C I V I L E N G I N E E R I N G D E PA R T M E N T
Chapter 10: introducing formulas and functions
Formulas are what make a spreadsheet program so useful, formulas calculate results from the data
stored in the worksheet. Calculated results update whenever the data changes with no extra effort
from the user.
A formula is entered in a cell, it uses a variety of operators and worksheet functions to work with
values/text and return the results in the cell (see next slide)
The values and text used in formulas can be located in other cells, this makes changing data easy
and makes a spreadsheet dynamic
A formula always begins with an equal sign and can contain any of these elements:
a. Mathematical operators- addition(+), subtraction (-), etc.
b. Cell references- including named cells and ranges
c. Values or text
d. Worksheet functions- such as SUM, AVERAGE, etc.
Understanding formula basics
Using operators in formulas
Excel formulas support a number of operators, these are symbols that indicate what
mathematical operation you want the formula to perform (see next slide)
Excel has many built in functions that you can readily use
You can use a combination of operators to perform a desired calculation
Excel operators
Understanding operator precedence
When excel performs a calculation, it uses rules to determine the order in which the various
parts of the formula are calculated (e.g. BODMAS)
(see next slide)
Excel users must understand these rules for accurate results (GIGO applies)
You can use parentheses () to override Excel’s built in order of precedence, expressions within
parentheses are always evaluated first (e.g. (2+3)*3= 5*3=15), without parentheses
(2+3*3=2+9=11)
Understanding operator precedence
Using functions in formulas
Many formulas in excel use worksheet functions, these enable users to enhance the power of
their formulas and perform calculations that would be impossible with operators only (e.g. TAN
function)
Worksheet functions also simplify a formula significantly (e.g. to calculate the average,
operator formula is ((A1+A2+A3)/3), function formula is (AVERAGE(A1:A3)), this may seem
insignificant until you need the average of hundreds of entries
A function may contain arguments, the list of information inside a function parentheses (e.g.
say I want to add 5% to students who got less than 50, =if(A1<50, A1+5, A1), there are three
arguments, the test, value for if test is true and value for if test is false, each argument is
separated by a comma
Entering formulas into your worksheets
Every formula must begin with an equal sign to inform excel that the cell contains a formula
rather than text
There are two ways to enter a formula in a cell:
a) Manually- all entries in the formula are typed
b) Pointing to a cell reference- involves some manual typing but you can point to the cell
reference instead of typing
Cell references in formulas
When designing formulas for use in a spreadsheet one usually needs to refer to numerical
values contained in one or more other cells (range) in the sheet
Referring to another cell in the sheet is called a cell reference
References enable formulas to work dynamically with data contained in the cells or ranges, this
means that when the values contained in the referenced cells change, the formula will be
recalculated based on the new values in those cells
Spreadsheets allow for three types of cell referencing:
a) Relative referencing
b) Absolute referencing
c) Mixed referencing
Relative referencing
This type of referencing describe a referenced cell in terms of its spatial position in relation to
the cell containing the formula, the row and column references can change when you copy the
formula to another cell because the references are actually offsets from the current row and
column
This is the default type of reference in a spreadsheet, be aware that when you move or make
copies of a formula that most likely your cell references will be relative and will change during
your copy or move
The reference to cell A1 means look at a cell 2 columns to the LEFT and 2 rows UP from the cell
containing the formula (see next slide)
The reference to cell B1 means look a cell 1 column to the LEFT and 2 rows UP from the cell
containing the formula (see next slide)
Relative referencing
Relative referencing
If you copy and paste the previous formula from its original cell C3 to a new position at cell F8,
the relative references will update as shown in the figure
It can be seen that the references update to maintain the spatial relationship relative to the
new cell the formula resides in
Absolute referencing
This type of referencing is used to refer to specific fixed cell locations, the row and column
references do not change when you copy the formula because the reference is to an actual cell
address
They are for creating a solid unchanging reference to a cell or range of cells that must not
update when the formula is copied or moved
Absolute references are indicated using the $ symbol (e.g. $A$1 is an absolute reference to cell
A1)
Mixed referencing
This type of referencing is used to refer to either the row or column, either row or column
reference is relative and the other is absolute
$A1 means the column is absolute/ fixed but the row is not
A$1 means the row is absolute/ fixed but the column is not
With references, you can use data contained in different parts of a worksheet in one formula or
use he value from one cell in several formulas
References can also refer to ranges of cells by using the colon operator (e.g. SUM(A1:A5)
Helpful cell referencing
Exercise 2: to demonstrate relative references
Make a spreadsheet that contains 2 marks for a set of 4 students and calculates the average
mark for each student (hint: use random student numbers and marks, you will have 4 column
headings (student no:, mark 1, mark 2, average)
Only type the average formula for the first student and take advantage of the relative
references for the average of the other students
Exercise 3: to demonstrate absolute references
Expand the spreadsheet in exercise 2 by adding in a row which describes the weighting of each
mark, mark 1 contribute 40% to the average mark and mark 2 contributes 60% to the average
mark
hint: use absolute referencing when referencing the weighting for each mark
Only type the new weighted average formula for the first student and take advantage of the
relative and absolute references for the weighted average of the other students

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