How spreadsheets work The most popular spreadsheet program is

Microsoft Office Excel. Free alternatives include OpenOffice Calc and Google Docs, which runs in a web browser.

Workbooks and worksheets A spreadsheet file is made up of one workbook

and multiple worksheets. Worksheets appear as tabs at the bottom of a workbook. They can be reordered and renamed.

Columns, rows and cells Every cell in a spreadsheet or worksheet

has a unique cell reference, which consists of a letter and a number. The letter refers to the column and the number refers to the row.

To select a cell, left click on it. To enter data, double-click it. To select multiple cells, click and hold the left mouse button and drag it in the direction of the cells you want to select.

Entering data into a cell Data can be typed directly into a cell or into the

formula bar. To the left of the formula bar you will find the name box. It shows the selected cell.

The three types of data you can enter into a cell are data, labels and formulas.

Data – values, usually numbers but can be letters or a combination of both.

Labels – headings and descriptions to make the spreadsheet easier to understand.

Formulas – calculations that update automatically if referenced data changes.

Sorting cell data The A-Z feature automatically orders data in ascending/descendingorder

or alphabetically. Duplicating cell content or filling a series The fill handle duplicates a cell’s contents or fills a series. Click and drag

the fill handle over the cells you want the duplicate data or series to fill. Numbers 1 to 10 is an example of a series.

Data – values, usually numbers but can be letters or a combination of both. Labels – headings and descriptions to make the spreadsheet easier to

understand. Formulas – calculations that update automatically if referenced data

changes. Sorting cell data The A-Z feature automatically orders data in ascending/descendingorder

or alphabetically. Duplicating cell content or filling a series The fill handle duplicates a cell’s contents or fills a series. Click and drag

the fill handle over the cells you want the duplicate data or series to fill. Numbers 1 to 10 is an example of a series.

Making a basic spreadsheet Paul uses a spreadsheet to keep track of

his money. He does a paper round and gets paid £15

for it every Monday. He receives a £7 allowance on Tuesday. He pays £3 for his weekly magazine

subscription on Wednesday.

Making his spreadsheet He labels column A 'Day', column B 'Description', column C

'Incoming' and column D 'Outgoing'. He types 'Monday' into the cell beneath the row labeled

'Day'. He selects the cell’s fill handle and drags it down two cells. The spreadsheet completes the series and enters 'Tuesday' and 'Wednesday' for him.

In the three cells beneath the label 'Description' he writes 'Paper round', 'Allowance' and 'Magazine subscription'.

To the right of 'Paper round' and 'Allowance' he types the amount into the column labeled 'Incoming'.

To the right of 'Magazine subscription' he types the amount into the column labeled 'Outgoing'.

It isn’t perfect, but it helps him keep track of his money. Next he needs to format it so it’s easier to read.

Assignment

Create Paul’s spreadsheet

Paul’s Spreadsheet

Formatting A well-formatted spreadsheet is easy to read.

Spreadsheet programs have plenty of formatting features.

Adjusting column width and row height To adjust a column’s width or a row’s height,

move your mouse cursorbetween two columns or rows. Click and drag to resize.

To automatically resize a row to fit the data entered in a cell,double-click between the current row and the row after it.

Cell formatting To access a cell’s formatting options, right-click on the

cell and click 'Formatting options'. A dialogue box with the following tabs will appear:

number – tell the spreadsheet what type of data the cell contains, eg currency, percentage, date, time, etc

alignment – align the text in the cell vertically (top, bottom or middle), horizontally (left or right) or at an angle

font – change the font used, text size and colour border – add a solid, dotted, dashed or coloured border

to the cell fill – choose what colour or pattern the cell is filled with

The name of these tabs may differ slightly between spreadsheet programs.

Wrap text If the text in a cell exceeds the space

available, wrap text will resize the cell so it fits.

Merge cells It is also possible to join two or more

cells together to make one single cell.

Adding formatting Paul’s spreadsheet is messy and needs some formatting

applied to make it more presentable and easier to read. He centres 'Day', 'Description', 'Incoming' and 'Outgoing', bolds

them and fills the cells with light grey to make them stand out. He also resizes the cells so the labels fit and increases the

height of his rows to space them out. He changes the type of data in the cells beneath 'Incoming'

and 'Outgoing' to ‘Currency’. He applies borders to all of the cells. He changes the vertical alignment of the cells in columns C and

D to ‘Center’. It looks much better now but it needs a formula to work out

how much money he’s left with at the end of the week.

Assignment Add the new instructions to your

spreadsheet .

Formulas and functions Formulas and functions are extremely useful

features. They make automatic calculations that update when the data does.

Formulas Formulas are usually simple calculations, eg

adding two or more numbers together. They always start with an equals sign (=).

Symbols used in formulas There are a number of symbols used in formulas

or calculations. These are the most common ones:

‘+’ add ‘-’ subtract ‘*’ multiply ‘/’ divide

Functions

FunctionsFunctions make more complex calculations. Simple and regularly used functions include:SUM – adds values in selected cellsMIN – finds smallest valueMAX – finds largest valueAVERAGE – finds the average valueCOUNT – counts how many of the selected cells have numbers in themLike formulas, all functions start with an equals sign (=) followed by the function’s name, eg SUM, MIN, MAX, etc.

AutoSum This feature writes a SUM function for you. Highlight or select

the cells you want to add together then click the AutoSum button.

Advanced functions IF – change the value of a cell if something is true, eg if a

customer’s total bill is over £100, deduct 10% from their bill. COUNTIF – adds up cells that meet a certain rule, eg count

the number of students that achieved level 6. VLOOKUP – matches contents of a cell with an answer, eg how

much is a pepperoni pizza?<

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ADDING FORMULAS AND FUNCTIONS

Leaving a blank row, Paul adds the label ‘Money left’ in cell C6.

He bolds the text, aligns it to the right and fills the cell in light grey.

He uses AutoSum to calculate the total for Incoming and Outgoing in cells C5 and D5 respectively. The functions look like this: ‘=SUM(C2:C4)’ and ‘=SUM(D2:D4)’. He colours the totals white so they are hidden.

In cell D6, to the right of the label 'Money left' he writes a formula: =C5-D5. This subtracts his outgoings from his incomings and shows him how much money he has left.

If his pay, allowance or cost of magazine subscription increases, the ‘Money left’ value will automatically update.