What is Microsoft Excel

Introduction of Microsoft Excel

Microsoft Excel is a member of the spreadsheet family of software. Spreadsheets allow you to keep track of data, create charts based from data, and perform complex calculations. Just like a book ledger, spreadsheets store information in columns and rows. You can have up to 256 columns and 65,536 rows per worksheet. 

Some of the projects that can be done in a spreadsheet include:

·         budgeting displays

·         checkbook registers

·         enrollment records

·         inventories

·         coded surveys

·         field and laboratory research data

·         financial and accounting applications.

Some basic concepts and terminology

A Cell is an individual data box which will have a corresponding Column and Row heading. This gives

the cell a name, referred to as the Cell Reference. When referencing a cell, the column heading

comes before the row heading. For instance, the first cell is A1 (Column A, Row 1).

The data in a spreadsheet are often referred to as Values. 

Excel refers to each file as a Workbook. There can be multiple pages in each workbook. Each page, or sheet, is called a Worksheet. When you open a new Excel file, it automatically starts you with three worksheets, but you can add more.

  

Formula & Function Management 

Formulas enable you to enter calculations in a worksheet. Using Excel for calculations gives you the

ability to change the data (or values) of the cells, and have the program automatically update the

recalculate the value of the output based on the new numbers.

To enter a formula, type the formula directly in the cell starting with a = (an equal sign tells Excel that

you are not entering data). For instance, to add the value in cell A1 with the value in B1, you could

click in cell C1 (where you want your calculated result to appear) and type =A1+B1. Press the Enter

key to see the result.

Functions are predefined formulas that perform a specific operation, such as determining loan

payments or calculating investment returns. Functions accept information, called arguments, and

return a result. In most cases, the result is a calculation, but functions also return results that are text,

references, logical values, arrays, or information about the worksheet.