Spreadsheets

Spreadsheets

1. Formulaes

   • =A1+B1 The plus sign here ADDS UP cells A1+B1
   • =A2-B2 This minus sign TAKES AWAY B2 from A2
   • =A3*B3 the asterisk sign MULTIPLIES A3 by B3
   • =A4/B4 the forward slash sign DIVIDES A4 by B4
   • When you replicate (drag) a formula down a spread sheet, the cells in the formula will change depending on what row the formula is in. This is called a relative cell reference. If we need to, we can stop this from happening by placing a dollar ($) signs before each letter and number of the cell reference. Now when we replicate the formula, we will have fixed,absoloute cell referances

2. Formatting

   • Coloured borders, or lines, can be added to the edge of each cell.
   • Cells can be formatted according to their data type, e.g cells with money can automatically have a pound sing placed in front
   • Cells can be merged or combined together, e.g cells A1:C1 can merge together to make one big cell of A1
   • The font can be changed, e.g font style, colour, bold or italics
   • the background fill tool can change the colour of the cells

3. Benefits

   • When data changes, formulas automatically recalculate
   • Computers do not make mathematical errors like humans, but GIGO (Garbage In Garbage Out) still applies
   • Charts and graphs can be produced and customized very easily
   • You can change information in a spread sheet model to make and test predictions (What If Investigation)