Excel Top 10 Terms
Excel Top 10 Terms
Excel is a spreadsheet program in the Microsoft Office system. You can use Excel to create and format
workbooks (a collection of spreadsheets) in order to analyze data and make more informed business
decisions. Specifically, you can use Excel to track data, build models for analyzing data, write formulas to
perform calculations on that data, organize the data in numerous ways, and present data in a variety of
professional looking charts. Below are the top 10 terms used when discussing Excel.
A workbook is a spreadsheet program file that you create in Excel. A workbook contains one or
more worksheets.
A worksheet (also known as a spreadsheet) consists of cells in which you can enter and
calculate data. The cells are organized into columns and rows. A worksheet is always stored in
a workbook.
A workbook can contain many worksheeks. Think of it as a book. The book (workbook) usually
has a single topic, such as your budget. Each page (worksheet) within the book contains part of
that topic, such as the budget broken down into months.
Tabs at the bottom of the window allow you to flip between worksheets in a workbook or
insert a new worksheet in a workbook.
2. ACTIVE CELL
Excel spreadsheets are divided into cells. The cells are organized into vertical columns and
horizontal rows.
Columns are labeled with letters. The column headings are lettered in the gray
area at the top of each column. Click the column heading to select an entire
column. To increase or decrease the width of a column, drag the line to the right of
the column heading.
Columns A & B
4. CELL REFERENCE
5. RANGE
A range is a group of two or more cells in a worksheet. The cells in a range can be adjacent or
nonadjacent. Commands executed by Excel will affect the entire range.
A range is identified by the cell references of the cells in the upper left and lower right corners
of the range. These two references are separated by a colon ( : ) which tells Excel to include all
the cells between these start and end points.
6. NAME BOX
The name box is the box at left end of the formula bar that
identifies the selected cell, chart item, or drawing object. The
Name Box displays the cell reference of the active cell.
7. DATA
Data is information that is stored in a spreadsheet. Data is stored in the individual cells of a
worksheet. Only one piece of data is stored in each cell. In addition to being stored in the
spreadsheet, the data can be used in calculations, displayed in graphs, or sorted and filtered to
find specific information. The three types of data in Excel are numbers, text, and dates/times.
8. FORMULA BAR
9. FORMULA
A spreadsheet formula is a mathematical equation that will calculate a result. Formulas are
typed into the formula bar.
A formula always begins with an equal sign (=). For example the formula =1+1 will result in 2
being displayed.
In spreadsheet formulas, normally we use the cell reference of the data rather than the data
itself. For example:
=A1*B1
=(A1+A2)/B1
10. FUNCTION
A function is a prewritten formula. A function takes a value (or values), performs an operation,
and returns a new value (or values.) Use functions to simplify and shorten formulas on a
worksheet, especially those that perform lengthy or complex calculations.
Like formulas, functions always begin with an equal sign (=). The equal sign is followed by the
function’s name and its arguments. The function name tells Excel what calculation to perform.
The arguments are contained inside round brackets and tell Excel what data or other
information to use in the calculation.
For example, the SUM function is one of the most commonly used functions
in Excel. It is used to add together the data in selected cells.
= SUM (D1:D6)
Here the function is typed into cell D7. It adds the values of cells D1 to D6
and stores the answer in cell D7.
Sum Function
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