EXCEL
Spreadsheet application software
OVERVIEW
• What is a Spreadsheet?
• Functions of a Spreadsheet
• Examples of spreadsheet
packages
• Terminology used in Excel
• Types of data
What is a Spreadsheet?
• An application software that helps
manipulate and analyze numerical data
• An electronic grid made up of rows and
columns.
• Allow users to enter data, make
calculations and make representation of
that data into charts and graphs
• It can also be sorted and filtered to
find specific information
• Designed to use numbers and formulas to
do calculations with ease
EXCEL window showing grid
with rows and columns
Functions of a Spreadsheet
• Spreadsheet software allows users to
– create simple lists and tables of
alphabetic or numerical data
– apply arithmetic, mathematical or
statistical functions to numerical
datasets
– represent datasets in graphical or chart
form
– establish relationships between sets of
numerical data
Applications that utilises
spreadsheets packages
• This includes
– Budgets
– Payrolls
– Grade Calculations
• The most commonly used spreadsheet
programs are Microsoft Excel and
Lotus 123.
• GEC122 course covers EXCEL only
Basic terminology used in
Excel
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Rows
Columns
Cells
Cell Referencing
Active Cell
Formula bar
Name box
Worksheet
Workbook
ROWS
•The horizontal space that
goes across the window.
Numbers are used to
designate each ROW'S
location.
•In the above diagram the
ROW labelled 4 is
highlighted.
•Older versions of Excel
had a limitation of 65, 536
rows but Excel 2007 has
1,048,576 rows in a
worksheet.
Columns
The vertical space
that is going up and
down the window.
Letters are used to
designate each
COLUMN'S location.
In the diagram the
COLUMN labeled C is
highlighted.
Older versions of
Excel had a limitation
of 256 columns
CELLS
•The space where a
specified row and
column intersect.
•Each CELL is assigned
a name according to
its COLUMN letter
and ROW number.
•In the above diagram
the CELL labeled B6 is
highlighted.
•When referencing a
cell, you should put
the column first and
the row second.
Cell Referencing
• A cell reference identifies the location a
cell or group of cells in the spreadsheet.
Sometimes referred to as a cell address
• a cell reference consists of the column
letter and row number that intersect at
the cell's location.
• Cell references are used in formulas,
functions, charts , and other Excel
commands.
CELL REFERENCING cont..
• While references often refer to individual cells
such as A1, B38, or Z345, they can also refer to
a group or range of cells.
• Ranges are identified by the cell references of the
cells in the upper left and lower right corners of
the range.
• The two cell references used for a range are
separated by a colon ( : ) which tells Excel to
include all the cells between these start and end
points.
• An example of a range of adjacent cells would be
B5:D10
Active Cell
The active cell or
current cell is the cell
with the black border
around it.
Data can only be
entered into the
active cell.
Even if more than one
cell is selected, there
is still only one active
cell.
The mouse pointer or
the arrow keys are
used to change the
location of the active
cell.
Formula bar
Located above the work area
of the spreadsheet.
Displays the data or formula
stored in the active cell.
Can be used to enter or edit
a formula, a function, or
data in a cell.
Namebox
Located next to the
formula bar.
Displays the cell
reference of the
active cell.
It also shows the
name assigned to a
cell or range of cells.
Can also be used to
assign names to cells
or ranges of cells.
Worksheet
A worksheet is a
single page or sheet
in an Excel.
Users switch
between worksheets
by clicking on the
sheet tab at the
bottom of the
screen.
Workbook
• A workbook is an Excel file.
• By default, each workbook in Excel
contains three pages or worksheets.
• So, when users open the Excel
spreadsheet program it loads an
empty workbook file consisting of
three blank worksheets for you to
use.
Excel file
• Workbook
• Logo
• .xls file extension
Excel file
•Workbook
•Logo
•.xls file
extension
Types of data
• Labels
• Values
• Formulas
LABELS
• an entry used as headings or
names
• identifies data found in columns.
• Can contain letters and numbers.
• By default, labels are left aligned
in a cell.
VALUES or CONSTANTS
• contains numbers
• used in calculations.
• By default, values are right
aligned in a cell.
• Dates and times are considered
to be values but are sometimes
identified as a separate type of
data.
Formulas
• is a mathematical equation such as
adding or subtracting two values.
• Formulas always begin with an equal
( = ) sign.
• For example: If you work for 23 hours
and make $5.36 an hour, how much do you
make?
= 23 * 5.36
• Excel contains a number of built in
formulas called functions.
Example of Excel data types
FUNCTIONS
• A function is a preset formula in Excel. Like
formulas, functions begin with the equal sign
( = ) followed by the function's name and its
arguments. The function name tells Excel
what calculation to perform. The arguments
are contained inside round brackets.
• For example, the most used function in Excel
is the SUM function, which is used to add
together the data in selected cells. The
SUM function is written as • = SUM ( D1 : D6 )
EXAMPLES of Functions
– SUM, AVERAGE, MAX, MIN, COUNT, IF SIN, etc
Categories of Functions in Excel
• Spreadsheets generally have a large number of
integrated functions for processing data. There
are hundreds, categorised as follows:
• Arithmetic functions that offer basic tools to
process numerical data
• Statistical functions that have analysis tools,
averaging tools
• Date functions that process and convert dates
• Logic functions that process logic data (AND,
OR, etc)
• Financial functions that process monetary data
Exercise
• Name at least two functions under
each of the categories of functions
discussed in the previous slide.