ME 142 Engineering Computation I Excel Basics

Key Concepts Entering Data &Formulas Moving/Copying Data & Formulas Relative & Absolute Addressing Named Cells Conditional Formatting Formatting Numbers Row & Column Manipulation

Entering Data & Formulas

What is an Cell in a Spreadsheet?

Entering Data & Formulas: Cell  Each rectangle of the grid is called a cell  Each cell is identified by its cell address, made up of a column letter and row number

What is the Active Cell?

Entering Data & Formulas: Active Cell  The active cell is identified by: A heavy border Row/column headings highlighted Cell address shown in the name box  Information is entered through the active cell

How do I enter a Formula in Excel?

Entering Data & Formulas: Formula  Formula – equation Begin with equal sign (=) Formula shown in formula bar Results of calculation shown in the cell

Entering Data & Formulas: Entering/Editing Data & Formulas  Entering data similar to word processor  Mouse, arrow keys, enter, tab, …  May edit in formula bar  May use the mouse to select appropriate cells while entering formula

Entering Data & Formulas: Built-in Functions  Hundreds of built-in functions available  We will cover a number of those useful to engineers over the course of the semester  See Formulas ribbon  Formulas contain arguments in parenthesis

What types of Data are commonly used in Excel?

Entering Data & Formulas: Text, Numbers, & Formula  Numbers – numeric value May be integer or real numbers  Text – character, word, label By default Text is left justified  Formula – equation Begin with equal sign (=) Formula shown in formula bar Results of calculation shown in the cell

Can a number be entered as text?

Entering Data & Formulas: Text vs. Numbers  May use a single quote (‘) to force text

Entering Data & Formulas: Error Messages  Understanding excel error messages can be useful in finding spreadsheet errors: #DIV/0divide by zero #N/Aresult is not available #NAME?Function name not recognized #NUM!Not a valid number (too large…) #REF!Invalid cell referenced #VALUE!Wrong type of argument

Moving/Copying Data & Formulas

How do you move a formula? How do you copy a formula?

Moving/Copying Data & Formulas  Many methods to move/copy data Cut, copy, and paste to clipboard Move by dragging Copy/move single or multiple cells Try [Shift] and [End] keys Fill handles

What happens when a formula is copied? What happens to dependent cells when data is moved?

Relative & Absolute Addressing

What is relative and absolute addressing?

Relative & Absolute Addressing  Relative Addressing refers to the automatic incrementing of a cell address during the copying process It is an extremely important feature of spreadsheets Copying down increments row numbers Copying across increments column numbers

Relative & Absolute Addressing  Absolute Addresses are constant and do not change or increment when copied A dollar sign “$” in front of a row or column number denotes an absolute address

Relative & Absolute Addressing  Relative by default: (example D5) Copying down increments row numbers Copying across increments column letters  Use $ to change from relative to absolute Example $D$5  May use in combination Example $D5 or D$5 Use [F4] key

Relative & Absolute Addressing

Named Cells

What is a named cell?

Named Cells  Individual cells or ranges may be named  A cell name acts as an absolute address is not modified when a formula is copied  To remove a name use Ribbon commands Formulas/Name Manager

Named Cells  Using named cells in your formulas can make them easier to comprehend  Enter a cell name in the Name box

What happens when a named cell is moved?

Conditional Formatting

What is Conditional Formatting?

Conditional Formatting  With conditional formatting, particular format attributes are applied only if a certain condition is met  Makes it easy to spot extreme data values

Conditional Formatting  A variety of formatting options available:

Formatting Numbers

How do you format numbers? What common number formats are available?

Formatting Numbers  Variety of formats available within Excel, including Custom Formats

What is Engineering notation and how does it differ from Scientific notation?

Formatting Numbers  Engineering typically requires specific number of decimal places or significant digits Number and Scientific formats common Engineering notation available as Custom format

Row & Column Manipulation

How do you manipulate (move, copy, insert, hide, delete) entire rows or columns?

Row & Column Manipulation  Entire Rows and Columns may be moved, copied, inserted (added), hidden, and deleted  Columns/Row width/height may be resized

Application: Amortization Schedule  Develop a spreadsheet to calculate an amortization schedule for a home mortgage or car loan

Review Questions

Review Questions: Entering/Editing Data & Formulas The active cell on a spreadsheet is indicated by which of the following? A.A thick, dark border B.A dashed border C.A blinking border D.A blinking background in the cell

Review Questions: Moving & Copying Data/Formulas Suppose cell A4=2 and A5=4. If you select both cells and drag the fill handle down to cell A8, what are the contents of cells A6, A7, and A8 (respectively): A.5, 6, 7 B.6, 8, 10 C.8, 32, 256 D.8, 16, 32

Review Questions: Relative & Absolute Addressing Which key is the shortcut for toggling between relative and absolute addressing: A.F2 B.F4 C.F6 D.F8

Review Questions: Formatting Numbers If a cell displays ########, what is most like the problem: A.There is an error in the formula B.The column is too short to show all digits C.The row is too short for the text size D.None of the above

Review Questions: Row & Column Manipulation The easiest method to select an entire column in a spreadsheet is: A.Double –click any cell in the column B.Type in the label of the column C.Click on the column heading D.None of the above

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