Introduction:

This first exercise will familiarize you with the basic uses of a spreadsheet, using Excel as an example. At this point, you will see a sample spreadsheet, and learn how to edit spreadsheets and use formulas.

Topics:

Hand In:

The completed basic spreadsheet found at the end of this exercise.

Instructions:

  1. Loading, Saving, and Printing: These options are all available under the File menu, and are similar to those found in Microsoft Word. Before you print, you may wish to use the Page Setup option under the File menu, to fit the worksheet to a single page for printing.

  2. Editing Cells: Select the cell that you wish to edit, using either the mouse or by typing the location into the current cell window.
  3. Changing Cell Formats: Select a range of cells with the mouse, by clicking and dragging over them. Then choose the option cell under the Format menu.

  4. Using Formulas: You can put a formula into a worksheet by either putting an = sign in the desired cell (for example, '=A1+B1' to sum what is in cells A1 and B1) or by using the built-in formulas available under the f- button.

  5. Copying Formulas: To copy a formula from one cell to a set of cells, first select the cell to copy from, and then choose Copy under the Edit menu. Then select the range of cells to copy to, and choose Paste under the Edit menu.

  6. Sorting: To sort your data, first select the fields to be sorted. Then choose the Sort option under Data .

  7. Miscellaneous: Note that practically any option available under MS Word is available in Excel. You can change the font, size, style, centering, borders, and more in every cell entry. You can change the width of columns, and the height of rows. Generally, these options are done in the same manner as in MS Word: select the text to be altered, and either click on the appropriate button format button, or go to Format Cell under the Format menu.

If you are having trouble with any of these things, you can go back to the Excel Intro page to catch up.

Exercise:

In this exercise you will be creating a spreadsheet for a (very) small business, which handles Toys of several varieties.

Your spreadsheet should have the following columns:

Cost: How much it costs to get the item.
Price: How much the item is sold for.
#Sold: How many of those items have been sold. This column should be centered.
Gross: The Gross profit. #Sold * Price.
Expenses: How much it costs to make everything. #Sold * Cost.
Net: The Net profit. #Sold * (Price - Cost).

Your spreadsheet should have the following rows:

The top row should be centered.
YoYo: Data for yo-yos.
Ball: Data for balls.
Bat: Data for bats.
Book: Data for books.
Banjo: Data for banjos.
Frog: Data for frogs.
Fish: Data for fish.
Puppy: Data for puppies.
Computer Games: Data for computer games.
Average: The average Net Profit. This row should be bold.
Total: Totals for Gross, Expenses, and Net. This row should be bold.

When you are done, save your spreadsheet on a disk, sort the data alphabetically, and print a copy for the TA.

Here is a sample spreadsheet from the above exercise.

Once you have completed this exercise, you can move on to Excel Excercise 2

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