MICROSOFT EXCEL—TUTORIAL #1

Excel, a spreadsheet application in Microsoft Office, is used to analyze and attractively present data, such as a personal or business budget.

GETTING STARTED

Load Microsoft Excel. When you start Excel, a blank workbook should appear on your screen. A workbook is an Excel

file with one or more worksheets. A worksheet (Sheet 1) is your work area. Notice the default filename in Excel. When you save a file, the file extension .xlsx will

automatically be added to the end of the filename to indicate that it is an Excel file. Along the top of the work area, there are letters starting at A. These letters are headings for the columns. Along the left side, there are numbers starting at 1. These numbers are headings for the rows. The intersection of a row and column is called a cell. The active cell right now is A1. The line below the ribbon contains the name box and the formula bar. They tell you what cell

you are in and the contents of that cell. Each cell is 8.43 characters wide (or 64 pixels) (8.43 is the default column width). Press the right arrow key 30 times. Note the columns that come after Z. Move to cell A1 (beginning of file) quickly (Ctrl + Home). Press F5 In the “Reference” box, type L150. Click OK. Press F5 again. Type G66. Press the Enter key. NOTE : This can also be done by clicking the Name Box, typing the cell reference and then

pressing Enter. NOTE : There are 256 columns and 65,536 rows available in a worksheet.

Now, answer questions 1 to 10 on your question sheet.

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CELL CONTENTS

The first character entered into a cell determines the “status” of the cell.

LABELS

Labels are text entries that are used to make the spreadsheet easier to read and understand. An example would be titles for your spreadsheet, titles for your columns, or titles for your rows.

Move to cell A1. Type the word Test. Press the Enter key. To enter information into a cell, press the enter key, an arrow key, the Tab key, click on another

cell or click the enter box (check mark) on the formula bar. NOTE : Press the Escape key or click the Cancel box (X) on the formula bar to erase an entry

before entering it into the cell. Notice how Text is aligned in the cell. Now enter the following:

B1: MarkC1: Out OfD1: Percent

Move to cell A2 Type the word Test 1. Now enter the following:

A3: Test 2A4: Test 3A5: Test 4

VALUES AND FORMULAS

Values and Formulas are the other types of cell content. Values are numbers that are used in calculations (formulas).

Move to cell B2. Type 23. Notice how 23 is aligned in the cell. Now enter the following:

B3: 25B4: 44B5: 22

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Move to cell C2. Type 30. Now enter the following:

C3: 45C4: 50C5: 25

Move to cell D2. Spreadsheets are great because you can use formulas that save a lot of time. We have to create a formula to calculate the percent. These numbers could change at any given time, so we have to refer to them by their cell

location, rather than the actual numbers. Type the formula: =b2/c2. Press the Enter key. The slash (/) means division in a formula. NOTE : The asterisk (*) means multiplication; (+) means addition; (-) means subtraction; and (^)

means exponentiation. Excel follows BEDMAS for the order of operations. We wanted to make this cell equal to something, so that is why an equal sign was used. Always

use an equal sign to start a formula. NOTE : If you want a value entry to be treated like a label, begin the entry with an apostrophe.

Now, answer questions 11-17 on your question sheet.

COPYING A FORMULA

We really need this formula filled in from D2 down to D5. Make sure that you are in cell D2 (the cell with the formula in it). Use your mouse to highlight cells D2 to D5. From the Home Ribbon, select the Fill option. Select Down. Notice that the formulas are relative to the cell you are calculating. This is called a relative reference. Move to cell D3. Look at the formula on the formula bar (=B3/C3). Move to cell D4. The formula used here was =B4/C4 (not =B3/C3 like in cell D3). Now delete (I know you just filled them in) D3 – D5 A formula can also be filled by dragging the fill handle (small square located

in the lower right corner of the active cell) across or down the cells to fill. This uses Excel’s Autofill feature.

Click on the fill handle and drag it down to D5.

Now, answer questions 18 and 19 on your question sheet.

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SORTING ROWS

Highlight cells A2 to D5 (all rows except the headings). NOTE : Do not highlight the title, or summary rows unless you want these sorted too. From the Home Ribbon, select the Sort & Filter and then choose Custom Sort. For Sort by, select Percent and under order select Largest to Smallest. NOTE : This is the first sort. Now click “Add Level” and in the “Then by” field select mark. Then select smallest to largest

under order. Click OK. NOTE : This is the second sort. It is only used when there is a tie in the first sort. Notice that percent is sorted highest to lowest. When the percent is the same (0.88), then the

rows are sorted by mark lowest to highest (22 then 44). SAVE YOUR SPREADSHEET as TUTORIAL.XLSX

Now, answer questions the remaining questions on your question sheet.