Spreadsheets

The purpose of a spreadsheet is to make models of real life situations. We can

ask what if questions or test hypothesis by manipulating the inputs and
observing the outputs.
A spreadsheet consists of a large table. Each cell contains ONE piece of
information
A row is a horizontal collection of cells and is represented by a NUMBER
A column is a vertical collection of cells and is represented by a LETTER

Formulae
To get in to formula view press CTRL +
A formula is a simple calculation in a spreadsheet. Formulae begin with an = sign
and consist of cell references and make use of () + - * /
Formulae in excel are automatically recalculated every time the input values are
changed.
B4
input

Simple
Formula
e

C4 input

Column
letter

Row number

Simple
Formulae

H9 cell
reference

Rules when working with spreadsheets

ALWAYS resize all columns when opening or changing the view

1. Click to
highlight ALL
cells
2. Double click
between any
column
headings.

Always make
sure you
change a CSV
file to an
excel
workbook.
This will
ensure that
your work is
saved and
wont delete
when you try
to re-open it.

Functions
Functions are used to form complex calculations which refer to ranges of
cells.
All functions have the same form:
=FUNCTIONNAME (RANGE)
Some functions may contain more attributes. For example:
ROUND(M, 6)

To use most functions you must understand the ranges. A range is simply
the start and end cell reference of a group of cells.
Functions VLOOKUP
VLOOKUP is used to find a piece of data in a table.
We know the cell reference of the first tutor group, and the table of tutors
is stored separately, so we can lookup the tutor by finding the form in this
table and looking one column to the right.

VLOOKUP takes the form:

=VLOOKUP(what you are trying to find?, where you are going to find it?
,how many columns across is the data? FALSE)
Max and min functions
MAX and MIN functions will find the largest/ highest or smallest/lowest
number given in a range.

SUMIF functions

SUMIF functions will add up all the numbers in a given range if they match
a given criteria.
SUMIF takes the form:
=SUMIF (range of cells to look in, what your looking for, range to add
numbers up in)
This version will allow you to look for a value in one column and then jump
across to another column and add up the values there instead.
NOTE: criteria must be in speech marks unless its a single number on its
own!

COUNTIF
COUNTIF will keep a tally of how many times a given criteria appears in a
list. In this example, we want to
count how many times the text
ABS appears in the range 16:M6
Note: all text must go in quotes

Nested Functions (using Round and Average in this example)

A nested function is simply where one function is used inside another. In

this example we calculate the average and then the answer to this
calculation is rounded- because it is inside a ROUND function!
ROUND simply rounds a number to a certain number of decimal places
and takes the form:
=ROUND(NUMBER, Amount of decimal places)
AVERAGE does exactly what it says find the average of a range of
numbers.

IF
The if function allows TWO different outcomes, based on a rule. An If
function takes the form:
=IF(RULE, what do/display if true, what to do/ Display if false)
In the example above the value P6 (their score) must be higher than the
same as the value in B3(the score needed for a certificate). IF the value in
P6 is higher or the same, then the word YES will appear in the cell. IF the
value in P6 is NOT higher or the same, then the word NO will be
displayed.
It is often a help to remember that you write an IF statement ecxactly as
you would say it in words:
If their test score is higher or the same as the pass mark, THEN say yes,
OTHERWISE say no
Note the key words IF, THEN, OTHERWISE.

Nested IF

Sometimes, we need to test more than one rule! The giveaway in the
question is AND
The question here was a student is awarded a prize IF they had a
previous certificate AND they require a certificate
There are clearly two things to check here:
1. DO they require a certificate ? =IF(S6=yes, , )
2. Did they have a previous certificate? =IF(H6 =yes, , )
Then we need to put them together:
=IF(S6=YES, IF( H6=yes , ,), )
This means if S6 is YES then check if H6 is yes. What do we do if
S6 = NO( they do not require a certificate?) We say NO because
they will NOT get a prize. So we have this:
=IF(S6=YES ,if(h6=yes, yes, ), NO)
Now all that if left to do is fill in the remaining bits. What do we do IF
they had a previous certificate AND require a certificate? Then they
get a prize, so we say yes here:
=IF( S6 =yes, if (H6=YES, yes, ) , NO)
Finally we will fill in what happens if they DO require a certificate but
did not get a previous one:
=IF(s6=yes, if (h6 = YES, YES, no), NO)
In words this is: IF they require a certificate, Then if they had a
previous certificate THEN yes they get a certificate, OTHERWISE no
they dont. if they do not require then NO they do not get a prize.