Introduction
Before spreadsheets became such a widespread and popular computer tool, calculations were done either laboriously by hand or by writing programs with a second or third generation language. This was time consuming and frequently lead to errors in the calculations.
Spreadsheets took over the tasks from the hand calculation method very quickly and as time goes on they have taken more and more of the calculations that used to require programming languages. Spreadsheets do both of these by using cell formulae.
The power of a spreadsheet lies in its ability to have formulae in cells. These formulae can consist of numbers plus simple arithmetic, mathematical functions and/or cell references. The real power is that the result of a calculation in one cell can be fed into a calculation in the next. Calculations can therefore be built up as they are cascaded from one cell into the next. The concept is simple, but it means that spreadsheets can perform very complicated analyses.
This set of exercises is designed to introduce you to the way Excel uses formulae and functions. The concepts learned in this document should enable you set up calculations in your own spreadsheets and use Excel formulae. The document is not intended to give you a comprehensive list of all the functions that Excel can perform as that can be obtained from the on-line Help. However, once you have completed these exercises you should be able to use and understand Excel functions in general.
It is assumed that you already know how to open, close, save and print an Excel spreadsheet and that you know how to enter data, edit data and create simple formulae. If you are new to Excel it will be necessary for you to read and work through at least one of the following documents before attempting these exercises:
Getting Started with Microsoft Excel
Introductory Exercises with Excel
Alternatively you are recommended to work through some of the Examples and Demos section of the Excel Help menu.
If you wish to investigate some of the other facilities in Excel then the following documents are also available:
Formatting Data in Microsoft Excel
Charting in Microsoft Excel
About Spreadsheet Software