Lab 4: Basic Spreadsheet

For this lab, you'll work on some basic concepts and function in spreadsheets. It is a pretty straightforward lab and it is fun to play with spreadsheet charts.

1. What are spreadsheets?

• A spreadsheet is a table of values arranged in rows and columns. Each value may have a predefined relationship to the other values. If you change one value, therefore, you may need to change other values as well.
• Spreadsheet applications (sometimes referred to simply as spreadsheets) are computer programs that let you create and manipulate spreadsheets electronically.
• One of the most widely used Spreadsheet application is, Microsoft Excel.

2. Some basic elements of spreadsheet:

Formula Bar
 In addition to the Ribbon Excel also has a Formula Bar. The Formula Bar is located above of the workbook window and allows you to enter or edit values or formulas in cells or charts. The Formula Bar also displays the value or formula used in the active cell.

3. Learn about various formatting you can do in Excel: http://www.excel-easy.com/basics/format-cells.html

4. Learn about various function/formula which can be used for easy calculation and results. Below are some helpful links about SUM formula. Figure out, how to use AVERAGE formula.

• http://www.wikihow.com/Use-the-Sum-Function-in-Microsoft-Excel
• http://www.excel-easy.com/functions.html
• http://www.excel-easy.com/introduction/formulas-functions.html

5. Some helpful links to learn about creating charts using Excel. Learn about various chart elements like Legends, Chart Title, Data Label,

• http://www.excel-easy.com/data-analysis/charts.html
• http://www.excel-easy.com/examples/pie-chart.html
• http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/excel-help/create-a-chart-HP001233728.aspx#BM5

6. Try it yourself: Sort the columns in your Excel.

7. In the end, you should have a spreadsheet, that looks like this:

Note: The SUM formula is used to calculate the 'Total'. 

8. Submit the Excel file you created in the dropbox.