COMPUTER LITERACY NOTES MS-EXCEL

SPREADSHEETS A spreadsheet is a computer equivalent of a paper ledger sheet. Excel allows you to create spreadsheets much like paper ledgers that can perform automatic calculations. It consists of a grid made of columns and rows. The intersections of the rows and columns are called cells.

Introduction

Rows In a spreadsheet the ROW is defined as the horizontal space that is going across the window. Numbers are used to designate each row’s location.

Columns In a spreadsheet the COLUMN is defined as the vertical space going up and down the window. Letters are used to designate each COLUMN’s location

Cells The intersection of a column and a row is called a cell. Each cell on the spreadsheet has a cell address that is the column letter and the row number. Cells can contain either text, numbers, or mathematical formulas.

Microsoft Excel 2000 Screen Elements

Standard Toolbar This toolbar is located just below the menu bar at the top of the screen and allows you to quickly access basic Excel commands.

Formatting Toolbar The contents of a highlighted cell can be formatted in many ways. Font and cell attributes can be added from shortcut buttons on the formatting bar. If this toolbar is not already visible on the screen, select View|Toolbars|Formatting from the menu bar.

Worksheets Each Excel file is a workbook that can hold many worksheets Each worksheet contains columns and rows. The columns are lettered A to IV; the rows are numbered 1 to The combination of a column coordinate and a row coordinate make up a cell address. For example, the cell located in the upper left corner of the worksheet is cell A1, meaning column A, row 1. Cell E10 is located under column E on row 10.

Worksheet

Worksheets - Add a worksheet to a workbook by selecting Insert|Worksheet from the menu bar, or right-click on the sheet name and click on Insert worksheet Row - To add a row to a worksheet, select Insert|Rows from the menu bar, or highlight the row by clicking on the row label, right-click with the mouse, and choose Insert. Column - Add a column by selecting Insert|Columns from the menu bar, or highlight the column by click on the column label, right-click with the mouse, and choose Insert.

Renaming Worksheet Right click on the sheet name and then click on rename. Then type the new name of the worksheet.

Types of data In a spreadsheet there are three basic types of data that can be entered Labels- (text with no numerical value) Example is Name, Age Constants- (just a number which is a constant value) Example is 5 or 3.2 Formulas- (a mathematical equation used to calculate) Example is =5+3 All formulas MUST begin with an equal sign.

Example Given that the pay for an employee is 2000/= every hour. Tom has worked for 39 hours in a month. What is his monthly pay?

Answer

Data Answer can either be =(2000*39) or =(B1*B2) Both these answers will produce the same thing but it is more useful to reference as much data as possible.

Referencing If we reference the actual cells (instead of typing data in the equation), then we could update the entire spreadsheet by just typing the NEW hours worked. Lets change the hours worked to 29.

Symbols There are a number of symbols in Ms- Excel OperationSymbol Multiplication* Division/ Addition+ Subtraction-

Format Cells Choose Format then cells from the menu bar.

Format Cells Number tab - The data type can be selected from the options on this tab. Select General if the cell contains text and number, or another numerical category if the cell is a number that will be included in functions or formulas. Alignment tab - These options allow you to change the position and alignment of the data with the cell. Font tab - All of the font attributes are displayed in this tab including font face, size, style, and effects. Border and Pattern tabs - These tabs allow you to add borders, shading, and background colors to a cell.

Format cells Number Currency Date Time Percentage Alignment

Increasing column width You can also change the column width with the cursor. Place the cursor on the line between the B and C column headings. The cursor should look like the one displayed here, with two arrows. Move your mouse to the right while holding down the left mouse button. The width indicator appears on the screen.

Mathematical calculations

Numerical Entries In Microsoft Excel, you can enter numbers and mathematical formulas into cells. When a number is entered into a cell, you can perform mathematical calculations such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. When entering a mathematical formula, precede the formula with an equal sign. + Addition, - Subtraction, * Multiplication, / Division, ^ Exponential

Example Addition Subtraction Multiplication Division

AutoSum Icon The AutoSum icon on the Standard toolbar automatically adds a column of numbers. The following illustrates the SUM function: Go to cell F1. Type 3. Press Enter. Click the AutoSum button, which is located on the Standard toolbar. F1 to F3 should now be highlighted. Press Enter. Cells F1 through F3 are added

Cell addressing Calling cells by just their column and row labels (such as "A1") is called relative referencing. When a formula contains relative referencing and it is copied from one cell to another, Excel does not create an exact copy of the formula. It will change cell addresses relative to the row and column they are moved to. For example, if a simple addition formula in cell C1 "=(A1+B1)" is copied to cell C2, the formula would change to "=(A2+B2)" to reflect the new row.

Absolute referencing To prevent this change, cells must be called by absolute referencing and this is accomplished by placing dollar signs "$" within the cell addresses in the formula. Continuing the previous example, the formula in cell C1 would read "=($A$1+$B$1)" if the value of cell C2 should be the sum of cells A1 and B1. Both the column and row of both cells are absolute and will not change when copied.

Basic functions Functions can be a more efficient way of performing mathematical operations than formulas. For example, if you wanted to add the values of cells D1 through D10, you would type the formula "=D1+D2+D3+D4+D5+D6+D7+D8+D9+D1 0". A shorter way would be to use the SUM function and simply type "=SUM(D1:D10)".

Functions

Go to insert on the menu bar. Click on function Select the particular function needed.