Unit 5 Spreadsheets 5.01 Introduction to Spreadsheets

Introduction When you want to analyze business, personal, or financial data, use a spreadsheet application. This analysis can be as simple as a formula to add a column of numbers or as involved as calculating a monthly loan payment amount using the PMT function. But wait, what is the difference between a formula and a function?

Introduction Businesses often use spreadsheets for budgets, forecasts, and financial analysis; and they can be extremely large. Often, a number in a cell in one location of the spreadsheet is referred to in other locations of the spreadsheet. Oh my, what if that original number is changed — do you then have to change all of the formulas in which that number is used?

Introduction One other question, Why do the numbers on a phone go down while the numbers on a calculator go up? You’ll find the answers to two of these three questions in the lesson that follows.

Introduction At the end of this lesson, you will be able to: 1. Utilize spreadsheet features, including formulas and functions, in creating, editing, and printing workbooks (ACOS 6) 2. Define workbook, worksheet, sheet tab, active cell, formula bar, and cell reference 3. Describe the advantages of spreadsheets 4. Describe the difference between a formula and a function 5. Create a spreadsheet to add up total costs

Lesson The spreadsheet app in Microsoft Office is Excel. To create your first worksheet, you begin by entering the column and row titles (the labels or words that appear to the right of each row of data above each data column). Next, you enter numbers into the cells.

Lesson Here are some of the advantages of using a spreadsheet – (See if you can find the answer to the second Introduction question): Labor saving from having to calculate large amounts of data by hand Automatic recalculation — when one value (number) in the spreadsheet changes all dependent values (numbers) on the spreadsheet are automatically recalculated to reflect the change. What-If Analysis — used to analyze worksheet data to see how changes affect the results. When new data is entered, Excel not only recalculates all formulas in the worksheet but also redraws any associated charts

Lesson Now, let’s discuss the first Introduction question: What is the difference between a formula and a function? A formula is a simple math equation, such as =E4 + E5. That means that the number in Cell E4 will be added to the number in Cell E5. But why is the equal sign (=) at the beginning of the equation? By first keying an equal sign, you are telling the spreadsheet program that what follows will require a calculation. Functions are preset formulas that are included in the application. Many times a function will simply the formulas that you could otherwise enter manually. For example, you can use the SUM function to add the values in a group, called a range, of cells. The function would be similar to the following =SUM(E4:E15). If you were to manually enter a formula to perform this same calculation, you would have to type =E4+E5+E6+E7+E8+E9+E10+E11+E12+E13+E14+E15.

Lesson A group of cells is called a range. It is important to understand the concept of ranges because formulas and functions are applied to ranges. The most common method is to click and drag the mouse pointer across the desired cells. When you release the mouse button, the selected area will be in gray. When a range of cells is highlighted/selected, that range has a range address just as an individual cell has a cell address. A range address is the first cell in the selection (the upper left of the selection) and the last cell in the selection (the lower right corner of the block) separated by a colon (:). For example, the range address A1:A10 means all the cells from A1 through A10.

Task Set up a worksheet to add estimated start-up costs for a pretend business in which you created a registration form in the last unit. You can pick the names of the costs and estimate an amount for each. – Here are some examples: Equipment $150.00, Printing $20.00, Supplies $85.00, Advertising $50.00, etc., (Include at least six costs/expenses and get a Total ).

Task Look at 5.01 Rubric to see how it will be graded.5.01 Rubric Save it to your F Drive in your Unit 5 Folder as 5.01 Intro to Spreadsheets Dropbox.

Unit 5 Folder Remember to set up your Unit 5 folder and to save all of your work for this unit to that folder!

Are you finished? You should have – 1 file Saved to your F Drive – in your Unit 5 Folder. » 5.01 Introduction to Spreadsheets Dropbox