67,
70,
50, 456, 78
But above written number show that is not a spreadsheet. However, if you bought Microsoft Excel 2010 and entered the same numbers into the software, you'd have a spreadsheet. The programme will add the numbers up for you as you wish
So a spreadsheet doesn't only add up, of course. It can do a whole lot more besides simple arithmetic. It can handle financial calculations, statistical information, and do complex trigonometry. And it can make a pretty graph for you.
At it's heart, though, a spreadsheet is just a glorified calculator. The main point of using a spreadsheet is do some number crunching. The software will puzzle out the answers to sums for you, and save you a lot of time and effort carrying sevens and trying to remember what eight multiplied by six is.
Why do you need a Spreadsheet?
There are many reasons why you might need a spreadsheet. Here are few reasons:
Reasons 1 - Personal Business
You have bought shares in a few different companies and want to keep track of how well, or badly, they are doing.
The spreadsheet would do all the sums for you. All you have to do is enter the correct formulas. In the spreadsheet above, if we changed the number in the "Value Now" box, the "Worth Now" box and the "Profit/Loss" box will automatically be updated. That way you could see at a glance how well your shares are doing.
Reasons 2 – For Your School
We only have amount of money coming into the school each month. The problem is that money seems to be disappearing pretty fast. If would be nice if we could keep track of where it's all going. A spreadsheet could help us. We could enter the data like this:
Of course, we could do all that on a piece of paper. But entering the data into a spreadsheet gives us better control. We could change one value, that massive food bill, and see how much we had left over if we didn't spend so much money on food. Once the formulas are entered, the other figures would be updated automatically.
So there we have two simple scenarios where a spreadsheet might come in handy. Of course, they can be used, and often are, in a business situation. If you want to keep track of things like stock and profit margins, then spreadsheets are very useful indeed. In fact, spreadsheets are useful in a wide range of situations, both business and non-business.
To create a new spreadsheet in Excel 2010, click one of the templates. For this course, we'll be using the Blank Workbook temple. Click on that option from the list available. You'll be taken to the main spreadsheet area.
If you've ever used a previous version of Excel then you'll notice that the new version looks quite different! Even if you have never used Excel, the software looks quite intimidating. But we'll make a gentle start, so that you can get used to the way everything works.
The first thing to notice is the Ribbon running right across the top. The Ribbon is supposed to be more intuitive than drop-down menus. Emphasis is placed on the tools and options appropriate to what you're doing. Here's a closer look at the Ribbon when Excel first starts (it's split in half, here):