© 2004 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Lecture 15

Excel Basics (cont’d)

© 2004 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Objectives

• Type text, values, formulas, and function into worksheet cells

• Select a block of cells

• Use cell ranges in functions

• Edit and clear cell entries

© 2004 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

• Excel Data types– Text– Values– Formulas

• Text entries document and identify important elements in a worksheet

• Formulas compute and display numeric or text entries

• Functions are prerecorded formulas

Entering Text, Values, Formulas, and Functions

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• Text entries are also called labels• Text is a combination of characters not

interpreted as values• Text cannot be used for calculations

Text

Active cell, containing long label, is visually truncated at the cell border

Formula bar matches contents of cell B2, proving long label is complete

Cell adjacent to long label is occupied

Long label with empty neighboring cell

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• Values are numbers that represent a quantity, date, or time– Quantity: any numeric value

• 199, 1.5, 10%, -45, (80)

– Date: 12/11/2001, …– Time: 15:30:40, 7:30 am, …

• It can be used for calculations• The default setting is right justified in the

cell• Text vs. values

– Anything that can be used for calculation is considered as values by Excel

Values

© 2004 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

• A formula is an expression that begins with an equal (=) sign

• It contains cell references, arithmetic operators, values, and Excel built-in functions

Formulas

Formula bar reveals cell’s underlying formula

Value appears in cell as calculated result

© 2004 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Arithmetic Operator

Operator Name

Example Formula

Description

( ) Parentheses =(1+B4)/B52 Alters the way in which the expression is evaluated: Add 1 to the contents of cell B4 and divide the result by the value in cell B52

^ Exponentiation =E4^6 =17.4^B2

Raises the value stored in cell E4 to the 6th power Raises 17.4 to the value stored in cell B2

* Multiplication =B4*D4 =A21*B44*C55

Multiplies the value in cell B4 by the value in D4 Multiples the values of cells A21, B44, and C55

/ Division =D1/C42 =A53/365.24

Divides the value in cell D1 by the value in cell C42 Divides the value in cell A53 by the constant 365.24

+ Addition =A4 + B29 =10/17/46

Adds the contents of cell A4 and the contents of cell B29 Divides 10 by 17 and then divides that result by 46

- Subtraction =A2-A1 =100-A2

Subtract the value of cell A1 from the value of cell A2 Subtract the value of cell A2 from the constant, 100

Formulas

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• A function is a built-in or prerecorded formula• It provides a shortcut for complex calculations• It starts with the function's name and is followed by

parentheses• Depend on the function type, values or cell references

within the parentheses provide the function with the parameters on which the result is calculated

• Multiple parameters within the parentheses are separated by commas

• When we want to refer to a large number of neighboring cells in the parentheses, we may use the cell range

Functions

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• A group of neighboring cells can be represented as:– Starting cell : Ending cell

• Using the cell range, we do not need to enumerate every cells used in a function

Cell Range

Cell range C2:J2

Cell range B4:B4

Cell range B6:B17

Cell range D6:G12

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Entering Functions

The dashed line highlights the selected cell range

Excel automatically fills in cell names as you drag the mouse

Excel provides tips about a function and its arguments

• A SUM function can contain more than one cell range• Example: -

– Cell range – B4:B6 consists of cells B4, B5, and B6– Cell range B4, B6 consists of cells B4 and B6 only

© 2004 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

• If you type directly in a cell, the original content of the cell will be overwritten

• To edit/modify the content of a cell, you need to type in the formula bar or using the <F2> key

• The contents of a cell can be cleared by:• Clicking on the Clear button in the Editing

group on the Home tab and then select Clear Contents in the menu, or

• Pressing the <Delete> key

Editing Cell Entries

© 2004 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

• What-if Analysis involves modifying values and reviewing their effect on other values

• It helps to recalculate the entire workbook

Conducting What-If Analysis

New unit sales assumptions

New results