Information Processing
Notes for beginning our
Excel Unit
Vocabulary

Spreadsheet – A spreadsheet is a type of software for
organizing, analyzing, and presenting data in columns
and rows. It can also refer to the type of document that
you create with this software. It is most useful for
dealing with numerical data, and is one of the most
frequently used applications in business.
Microsoft Excel – Excel is the spreadsheet program that
is part of the Microsoft Office suite.
 Workbook – Every Microsoft Excel file is called a workbook.
 Worksheet – Within a workbook, there are one or more
worksheets. The user usually only sees and works on one
worksheet at a time.
 Cell – Each box within a spreadsheet is called a cell. A cell
can be identified by its column letter and row number.
 Column – Identified by a letter, this is a group of cells that
goes from top to bottom
 Row – Identified by a number, this is a group of cells that
goes from left to right
 Active Cell – The cell you currently have selected
 Range – A group of adjacent cells that can be selected or
referenced within a function
 Formula – A formula performs a mathematical calculation using
the data in one or more cells and displays the result in a
different cell.
 Function – A function performs special operations within a cell,
such as calculate the sum or average for a range of cells.
 Relative Addressing – A feature whereby copying and pasting a
formula or function from one cell to another will change the
formula and function to reflect data in the destination
columns/rows.
Entering and
Formatting Data

Sounds easy enough, but there are some techniques
and features you may need to utilize to get your data to
“look right.” For example, you might want your data
to be formatted as a number with a certain number of
decimal places. You might want all decimals to be
rounded to the nearest integer, or changed to a percent.
Or, you might want to set up borders and shading
around a cell or a range of cells. Excel gives you the
ability to do all of these.
Within the Home ribbon, there is a group called Cells.
Within that group, there is a button that says Format.
This is where you can adjust how a cell displays data
and looks visually. Some of the most commonly used
formats can also be set by using buttons in the Number
and Styles groups on the Home ribbon.
Inserting and deleting rows is also done via buttons in
the Cells group on the Home ribbon. Using relative
addressing, formulas and functions will automatically
adjust to account for the new row/column.
Formulas

A formula calculates data for a cell using mathematical
operations. It might add the data in two cells together.
It might multiply the data in one cell by 4.
All formulas begin with an equal sign (=).
Use the cell names (column letter and row number) to
reference cells within a formula.
Functions
A function can be used 
for more complex
calculations or to perform a specific logical or
mathematical operation. It also starts with an
equal sign. The variables for the function go inside
parentheses.
We will start by doing mathematical functions,
such as SUM and AVERAGE.
A range of cells can be selected with the mouse or
typed in manually after the parentheses.