Spreadsheet Terms

 

Spreadsheet - Rows and columns of data on which calculations can be performed.

Row - horizontal line of cells, identified by a number

Column - vertical line of cells, identified by a letter

Cell - intersection of a row and a column

Cell C2

 
Cell address - location of a cell; column letter and row number

 

 

A

B

C

1

 

COLUMN

 

2

 

 

 

Cell B4

 
3

 

CELL
ROW

4

 

 

 

Label – data that cannot be used in a calculation: Name, 4 degrees, Fiat X19

Must start with =

 
 


Value – data that can be used in a calculation

 

Formula - math statement used to calculate new figures such as =A2+A3

 

Formula line - line at top of screen where contents of cell is displayed

 

Math operations:  Addition +     Subtraction -     Multiplication *     Division /

Order of operations:  ^ * / + -

 

Function - used in a formula to perform a calculation on a range of cells:

=sum(A2:a24)          Sum     Average     Min     Max     Count

 

Range - a series of connected cells; (a1:a20)

 

 

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

1

My Friends’ CD Collections

2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3

Name

Estimate

Actual

Difference

 

 

Totals

4

Amy

10

12

-2

 

Girls

27

5

Brian

50

32

18

 

Boys

44

6

Charlie

15

12

-3

 

 

 

=C5+C6

 
7

Elaine

8

15

-7

 

 

 

8

Totals

83

71

 

 

 

 

=B7-C7

 
9

Averages

20.75

17.75

 

 

 

 

=C4+C5+C6+C7)/4 or

=sum(C4:C7)/4 or

=average(C4:C7)

 

=B4+B5+B6+B7 or

=SUM(B4:B7)

 

 

 

 


 

 

More on Spreadsheets

 

 

Column width - the width of a column can be made wider or more narrow.  If too narrow, a label will get cut off, a value will turn to #### signs.  Widen the cell to correct this.

 

Fill  - You can copy a label or value to a range of cells using the fill command and choosing the direction to fill.  You can copy a formula this way also.  It works because of something called relative copying.  It copies relative to the new row or column and changes the formula appropriately.

 

Fill Series - You can start with the number 1 in a cell and use fill series to fill a range of cells to continue the series:  2, 3, 4, 5, etc.; a variety of series are possible.

 

Alignment - Labels are defaulted to the left, values are defaulted to the right.  You can change the alignment to be one of several choices.  Sometimes it makes a spreadsheet easier to read if the column heading is aligned the same way the rest of the column is aligned.  You can center a title across a spreadsheet by using the Center Across Columns. 

 

Format - You can change the format of a value to display as a number, currency, or percentage, as well as round it to a specific number of decimal places.  The content of a cell does not change even though you format it to appear in a specific way.  For example, 5 could also look like 5.000, $5, $5.00 or .05%, but 5 is still the contents of that cell.  You can also change the format as in Word to different font, size, color, etc.

 

Insert, Delete, and Clear - It's possible to add or erase an entire row or column o to clear the contents.

 

Sort - This command will allow you to sort or arrange a spreadsheet in a particular order according to a specified column.  For example, you could sort a spreadsheet to show student's heights in alphabetical order by name, or you could sort from tallest to shortest by height.

 

What If Question - Spreadsheets are great for showing new information determined by a predicted change made in the spreadsheet.   For example you could show your grade average and then show the predicted average if you get a 100 on the next test.