Unit 4: Software Applications
61
Learning Activity: Spreadsheet
Introduction
A spreadsheet consists of cells made of rows and columns. Each cell can hold a text,
a number,
or a mathematical formula[2]. A cell is referred to by column and row, e.g., the upper left cell is
cell A1. The cell right below A1 is A2, etc.
Column width and row height can be adjusted by dragging the separation line between
columns (or rows) to the desired size. See between column B and C below.
Figure 1- Spreadsheet Screenshot( taken from http://www.mech.
utah.edu/~rusmeeha/references/SpreadSheetBasic.pdf )
A spreadsheet allows one to:
• Enter text/number/formula
in a cell
• Edit text/number/formula in a cell
– Insert
– Delete
– Copy
– Move
• Save and Open spreadsheet – Format text/number/formula
Entering data
Before carrying out most commands, you must first select the part of the worksheet you want
to work with. You may select a single cell or a range of cells, but a formula will only be applied
to one cell at a time. When you click
the cell you want to select, it will be surrounded by a
rectangular border. To select a range of cells, click at the first cell and drag the mouse pointer
to the rest of the cells. Alternatively,
click at the first cell, hold down the shift key, and click at
the last cell. All the cells between the two clicks will be selected.