Technology

ICTCore: Spreadsheets

Spreadsheets

A spreadsheet is a table consisting of Rows and ColumnsWhere a row and a column meet, the box is called a CellEach cell has an address consisting of the column name followed by the row name

In the image below, the highlighted cell is called B2

Spreadsheets

A cell can contain any of the following: 

• Alphanumeric text - a cell label, a date etc• A Numeric Value - a number, a currency value etc.

• A Formula - a calculation carried out on a range of cells with the result placed in the cell containing the formula

Alphanumeric Text

A Numeric Value

A Formula

Spreadsheets

The Interface Excel 2007 is very different than any previous versionThe Drop-Down menus and Toolbars are gone and are replaced by the RibbonAbove the ribbon you will find the TabsThese are the equivalent of the old Menu Bar

When a tab is chosen, Groups of commands associated with the tab are shown in the ribbon

Spreadsheets

A Dialog Launcher is included with most groupsThis is an Arrow at the bottom of the group and it is used to launch the dialog box associated with the group 

Spreadsheets

The Quick Access Toolbar (QAT) is the only toolbar in Excel 2007 This toolbar gives quick access to frequently used tools

Spreadsheets

It can be customised to display any group of commands by clicking More Commands in the drop down list and selecting the required commands

Spreadsheets

The Office Button contains most of the old File Menu commandsEach of the commands shows the available options when clicked

Spreadsheets

Selecting cells Cells in Excel are selected for a number of reasons: 

• Formatting - changing font size, colour, emphasis, typeface etc• Formula - selecting the range of cells to apply a formula • Printing - selecting a range of cells to print

  To select cells in Excel: 

• A Cell - click the cell• A Row - click the row heading• A Column - click the column heading• Adjacent rows - drag down the row headings• Adjacent columns - drag across the column headings• Entire Worksheet - click the select all button• A Range of Cells - click the first cell and drag to the last• Non Adjacent Ranges - hold down the Ctrl key while selecting

the ranges

Spreadsheets

Range

CellColumn

Row

Cell

Spreadsheets

Formulas Excel formulas are basically mathematical equationsWriting Excel formulas is done differently than formulas in mathsExcel formulas are carried out on cells and not on numbers as in maths In excel a cell’s location in the spreadsheet is referred to as its cell reference

In the example below, the contents of cell A1 and cell B1 are added (SUM) and as cellC1 is highlighted when the formula is entered, the result placed in cell C1

Spreadsheets

When you use cell references in Excel formulas, the formulas will automatically update when the data in the spreadsheet changes For example, if you realize that the data in cell A1 should have been 50 instead of 20, you only need to change the contents of cell A1 and the spreadsheet recalculates automatically

This is the power of a spreadsheet 

Spreadsheets

• In formulas, the following operators are used:       

 • The following functions are most commonly used:

  

Symbol Operation

+ Add

- Subtract

* Multiply

/ Divide

Function Use

Sum Add

Average Find average

Spreadsheets

Formula Examples: 

• The contents of cell B6 are multiplied by the contents of cell C6 and the answer is placed in cell D6

   

Spreadsheets

It would be very repetitive if this procedure was necessary to calculate each row individually, so excel has a replication feature

• Click the bottom right-hand corner of the cell containing the formula and drag down to include the other rows required

The formula is replicated

Spreadsheets

• The contents of cells D6 to cell D10 inclusive (D6:D10) are added (SUM). The colon means from the first cell reference to the second cell reference

Spreadsheets

• AutoSum is a feature that guesses the numbers you want to add and shown a formula in the answer cell. Simply select the cell you want the answer to appear in and click the AutoSum button

• A marquee (marching ants) is drawn around AutoSum’s guess

Spreadsheets

If the guess is correct, click the enter button

If it is wrong, click the cancel button 

EnterCancel

Spreadsheets

Charting Charting is used to graphically represent dataThe trick is to keep it simple and use a number of charts to instead on a single chart with too much data on it 

• Select the data to chart

Spreadsheets

• Click the Insert tab• Choose the Chart category in the Charts group• Select the Chart type in the drop-down list

The chart appears on the worksheet. The chart can be edited and the chart category or type changed. It can also be selected and copied and pasted to another application

Spreadsheets

Modifying Charts The Design tab: A chart can be moved by simply dragging it to another part of the worksheet. You can also click the Move Chart button in the Design tab to move a chart to another worksheet etc

• The Type layout in the Design tab allows a change from a bar to a pie chart etc

Spreadsheets

• The Data group allows you to switch which data should appear in the rows and which should be in the columns

• The Chart Layouts group and Chart Styles group allows the data to be represented in different styles within the same chart type

The Layout tab controls the insertion of objects and the positioning and formatting of chart titles, exes etc. It also controls the display of chart gridlines