Computer Literacy

Module 3: Spreadsheets

With Microsoft Excel

Module 3 is comprised of five units:
• Unit 1:
Introduction to Spreadsheets. What is a Spreadsheet? Starting with
Excel. The Excel Window. Working with Workbooks. Navigating
Worksheets. Find and Replace. Sorting.
• Unit 2:
Entering data on a worksheet. Editing Cell Contents. Copying and
Moving Cell Contents. Using the Autofill tool. Selecting a range of
cells. Formatting Cell Content. Changing the font style and size.
Applying Bold, Underline and Italics. Changing the text color. Changing
cell background color. Applying cell border. Aligning cell contents.
Adjusting Rows and Columns.
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• Unit 3:
Entering Formulas. Copying Formulas. Common Errors when using
Formulas. Using Functions.
• Unit 4:
Introduction. Types of charts . Column charts. Line charts. Pie charts. Bar
charts. Creating a chart. Selecting a different chart type. Editing the Chart.
Changing the display of chart axes. Adding titles, axis and data labels to a
chart. Fill chart elements. Change the format of chart elements. Moving or
resizing a chart. Reusing charts by creating chart templates

• Unit 5:
Introduction. Printing a worksheet or workbook. Defining a print area

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 Unit 1
Introduction to Excel
Topics:
1.1 What is a Spreadsheet?

1.2 Starting with Excel

1.3 Excel Window

1.4 Working with Workbooks

1.5 Navigating Worksheets

1.6 Find and Replace

1.7 Sorting

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Exit Learning Outcomes:
Create different types of spreadsheets
Manipulate data stored in a spreadsheet
Create and use appropriate mathematical formulas to achieve the
desired goals
Create different types of charts for presenting information in more
meaningful ways
 Adjust spreadsheet page and printing settings
Use the help function to look for directions on achieving desired
goals.
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Upon completion of this unit you should be
able to:
• Start, Save and Close Microsoft Excel spreadsheets
• List and identify the different parts of the Microsoft Excel
• Window.
• Use the tabs and buttons found on the Ribbon
• Add, delete, rename and copy worksheets.
• Use the office assistant to resolve problems and find solutions to
• common issues in Microsoft Excel or the office suite.

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Terminology
• Ribbon: An area at the top of the Excel window that houses
menus for commonly used functions in word
• Workbook: A workbook is a file in Excel that contains one or
more worksheets
• Worksheet: A spreadsheet a page in a file that holds and stores
all the data that you use in Excel. It consists of cells
organized as rows and columns.
• Column: Columns are on top of the spreadsheet screen and
are alphabetically numbered.
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Terminology (Cont.)
• Row : Rows run vertically and are numbered.
• Cell: An intersection of a Column and a row. The
intersection of column A, and row 1 is cell A1.
• Active cell: A range is a selected group of cells within a
spreadsheet.

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1.1 What is a spreadsheet?

A spreadsheet is a tool used to organize and store data in a tabular form.

Spreadsheets were originally used to present bookkeeping ledgers, but are
now widely used for a variety of purposes including performing
calculations on data, storing and displaying financial and statistical
information, processing payroll, build models that enable data analysis
and present data in a variety of professional looking ways.

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1.2 Starting with Excel: Creating a new Workbook

Steps to create a new workbook:

• Click on the Start button, then
• Select All Programs, Microsoft Office, and Microsoft Excel A new
blank workbook will be displayed with the default settings.

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1.3 The Excel Window:
As discussed already in the previous section, creating a new
spreadsheet with Excel gives the default window shown below.

Column Heading
Row Heading

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Let us look at the different parts of the Excel window:
The Title Bar

The Title Bar is found at the top of the workbook window. On its left hand side is a Quick Access
Toolbar, that contains shortcuts to Save, Undo as well as the Redo icons. In the middle, the name of
the workbook (e.g. Book 1) and the name of the application used to create the spreadsheet (i.e.
Microsoft Excel) is displayed. The close, maximize and minimize buttons are also found on the right-
hand side of title bar.

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The Ribbon

• The Ribbon contains shortcuts to commonly used features in Excel. It is located below the title
bar, and consists of Menu tabs that include Home, Insert, Page Layout, Formulas, Data, Review
and View tabs. Each menu tab contains task-oriented tabs, arranged according to the tasks they
perform. In the Home tab, shown in the figure above, you find: Clipboard (with icons for copying
and pasting), Font (with icons for character formatting), Alignment (for arranging your text in
different orientations), Number (for formatting numerical values), Styles (for formatting the text
in cells), Cells (for adding, deleting and formatting Cells) and Editing.

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The Status Bar
The status bar is found in the bottom left hand corner of the workbook. It displays information
about the active cell, ready, enter, or edit.

The view buttons are located on the right-hand side of the Status bar shown above. These buttons
are used to change the view of the worksheet. There are three main views, namely: Normal, Page
Layout, and Page Break Preview. It also has the Zoom Control button, described.

• The zoom control buttons are used to increase the size of the worksheet area. This can be done
by clicking on the plus or minus button or alternatively by clicking and dragging the slider to the
left to decrease the size of the worksheet area or to the right to increase the size of the
worksheet area.

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1.4 Working with Workbooks

Opening an existing Workbook:

If you have already saved a workbook, you can open it using the following steps:
• Click on the File Tab, Click Open
• Browse to the desired workbook, and click on the file name to open, the click the Open
button.
Adding and Deleting Worksheets
By default, the new workbook you created will have three worksheets,
named Sheet1, Sheet2, and Sheet3. These sheets are visible in the bar
above the status bar, on the left side of the scroll bar. You can however
change the number of worksheets that you want a new workbook to
contain.
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• Opening an existing Workbook:
If you have already saved a workbook, you can open it using the following
steps:
• Click on the File Tab, Click Open
• Browse to the desired workbook, and click on the file name to open, the click the
Open button.
• Adding and Deleting Worksheets
By default, the new workbook you created will have three worksheets,
named Sheet1, Sheet2, and Sheet3. These sheets are visible in the bar
above the status bar, on the left side of the scroll bar. You can however
change the number of worksheets that you want a new workbook to
contain.
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To add a new worksheet:
• Click on the Insert New Worksheet button ( ) next to the
• last sheet in your workbook, or
• Press Shift + F11 keys
To remove a worksheet:
You can also remove worksheets as needed. To remove a worksheet:
• Right click on the Worksheet (e.g. Sheet5 ) you would
like to remove from your workbook, and select Delete

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Saving a workbook
As you learned in the previous module, it is important to save our
documents to enable us to access them again in future. When saving a
file, you need to identify the location, such as a folder on your hard
drive or outside your computer (e.g. a flash drive).

Steps to save the workbook:

• Click on the Save button ( ) on the Quick
Access Tool bar OR click the File tab, and
then select Save or Save As, or Click Ctrl + S.
This will open a Dialog Box shown below:
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 Location to save the worksheet

Enter the
file name
here..

Choose
the file
format
here…

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• Browse to the desired location on your hard drive or external drives

• In the file name box, type in the name of your workbook. If there is a
need to save the file with as another type (for example to save enable
you to access the file on older versions of Excel), Choose the required
file type from the Save as type list (e.g. Excel 97-2003 Workbook
(*.xls)).

• Click Save.
• Remember to save your workbook every time you make new changes
on it.

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Closing a workbook:
• Once you have successfully saved your workbook, and you do not wish
to continue working on it at that time, you can close it. To close your
spreadsheet, do one of the following:
• Click on the Close Window button at
the top right of the window or Click the
File tab, then select Close.

• When prompted to Save Changes, choose Save or Don’t Save

depending on your preferred option.

• As you can see, the top of this window looks similar to the Microsoft
Word window that you saw in the previous module. Let us look at the
different parts of this window and identify its constituent sections or
parts.
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Adding a color worksheet tab
To easily recognize and separate worksheets, you may want to add colour
to their tabs.
To add a color to a worksheet tab:
- Right click on the worksheet whose color must
change. A menu similar to the one below will pop up:
- Select Tab Color and click on the desired color.
The color of the tab will change.

• Deleting a worksheet:
To delete a worksheet select the Delete option from the same shortcut shown
above

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Move a worksheet:
Click on the Move or Copy. The Move and Copy dialog box shown below will
appear:

• If you want to move the worksheet to a different or a new

workbook, Click on the arrow next to the To Book, and select the
desired workbook, OR
• If you want to move the worksheet to the same workbook, in the
Before Sheet, select the worksheet that the new worksheet must
precede.
• Click on Ok.
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Renaming a worksheet
To change name of the worksheet:
• Right click on the worksheet that you want to rename.
A menu similar to the one below will pop up:
• Click on Rename. The name of the worksheet will be
highlighted; enter the desired name of the worksheet and press Enter

Alternatively, the above steps could also be performed simply by:

Double clicking on the name of the worksheet, type in the new name and press
Enter

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1.5 Navigating a Worksheet:
Press Motion
LEFT ARROW Moves one column to the left

RIGHT ARROW Moves one column to the right

UP ARROW Moves one row up

DOWN ARROW Moves one row down

CTRL+ HOME worksheet (to cell A1)

HOME Moves to the first column in a row

CTRL + END Moves to the last cell used in a
PAGE DOWN Move one screen down

PAGE UP Moves one screen up

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Navigating a Worksheet (Cont.):
ALT+PAGE DOWN Moves one screen to the right

ALT+PAGE UP Moves one screen to the left

CTRL+PAGE DOWN Moves to the beginning of the worksheet

CTRL+PAGE UP Moves to the last cell used in the worksheet

CTRL+ DOWN ARROW Goes to last row in column in the worksheet

CTRL +UP ARROW Goes to first row in column in the worksheet

CTRL +RIGHT ARROW Goes to last column in row in the

CTRL +LEFT ARROW Goes to first column in row in the worksheet

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1.6 Find and Replace
When working with large worksheets, you can use the Find and Replace function to
search the worksheet for data.

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To Use Find:

• Click any cell in your worksheet.

•  On the Home tab, in the Editing group, click Find & Select.
• Click Find. The following Find and Replace dialog box will appear:
• In the Find what box, type the value you are searching for
• Click Options button to further define your search specifications
• Click Find Next and the first occurrence of your search term will be displayed.
• Click Find Next continuously to get to the next occurrence.

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To Use Replace:

• Click any cell in your worksheet.

• On the Home tab, in the Editing group, click Find & Select.
• Click Replace. The following Find and Replace dialog box will appear:
• In the Find what box, type the value you would like to replace
• In the Replace with box, type the value you would like to use as a replacement
• Click Options button to further define your search specifications
• Click Find Next and the first occurrence of your search term will be displayed. If you
would like to replace that entry, click the Replace button.
• Click Find Next continuously to get to the next occurrence.
• Click Replace All to replace all entries at once.
• Once done, click Close.

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1.7 Sorting
The Sort and Filter feature allows you to organize text and numeric values in descending or
ascending order. Sort Ascending sorts data from A to Z for alphabetical order and lowest to highest
for numeric values. Sort descending on the other hand sorts data from Z to A for alphabetical order,
and highest to lowest for numeric values. To better demonstrate understand this, consider the
following example:

Original List Sorted List

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To Sort Data according to Column A:

• To Sort Data according to Column A, we:

• Select a range of data to sort (A2:D15)
• On the Home tab, in the Editing group, click Sort & Filter.
• Click Sort A to Z to short in alphabetical order. The selected
• range is now sorted according to the selected column of the
• range.

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To Sort Data according to Column C, we:

• Select a range of data to sort (A2:D15)

• On the Home tab, in the Editing group,
click Sort & Filter.
• Click Custom Sort. The Sort dialog box will
open.
• Choose which column to sort by (e.g. Column C)
and choose
• whether to sort in ascending or descending
order.
• Click OK. Data sorted according to
column C

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 Unit 2
Working with Worksheets
Topics
2.1 Entering data on a worksheet.
2.2 Editing Cell Contents.
2.3 Copying and Moving Cell Contents.
2.4 Using the Autofill tool.
2.5 Selecting a range of cells.
2.6 Formatting Cell Content. Changing the font style and size.

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2.7 Applying cell borders
2.8 Changing the text color.
2.9 Changing cell background color. Aligning cell contents
2.10 Adjusting Rows and Columns.

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Upon completion of this unit you should be
able to:
• Use the Microsoft Excel 2010 to model a spreadsheet
• Enter and edit data on your spreadsheet.
• Copy and move data within the same worksheet and between
• worksheets
• Format cell contents.

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Terminology
• adjacent cells: A contiguous block of cells
• Non-adjacent cells A non-contiguous block of cells
• Column: A vertical sequence of cells that have a
heading (e.g. A, B, C, etc.)
• Row : The horizontal sequence of cells that have a
heading (e.g. 1, 2, 3, etc.)

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• Cell: The intersection between a row and a column in the
worksheet

• Range: Two or more cells on a sheet. The cells in a range

can be adjacent or nonadjacent.

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2.1 Entering data on a worksheet:

Name Box Formula Bar

Column A

Row 2

Cell C4

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A cell can contain any of the following:
• Text which is used for labelling or describing data
•  Numerical values that can be used in calculations
•  Formulas and Functions that are used to perform calculations

To enter the data in a cell, do the following:

• Click on the cell where data should be entered
• Enter the data in a cell.
• Press enter to move to the next cell

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Entering data in a cell:

As you enter the data, notice all characters you are typing are also displayed on the
formula bar.
Data can still entered column B without
any hassles. Upon clicking on cell A1 however,
the Formula bar displays all the text
that is typed in cell A1.

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2.2 Editing Cell Contents:
You may want to edit data that you entered in a cell. Let us say for example, that you
would like to correct the heading “Average” in cell B1 above to “Averages”. To edit the
data in a cell, do the following:
• Click on the cell that contains the data to be edited. This causes
• the cursor to be displayed in the cell.
• Use the arrow keys to locate the position where you want to edit
• text and make the required changes
• Once you are done, click Enter
Deleting Contents from a Cell or Range of cells
If you would like to delete cell contents do the following:
• Select the cell that you want to delete
• Click Delete on the keyboard.

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2.3 Copying and Moving Cell Contents:
To copy or move data:
• Select the cells that you want to copy or move
• On the Home tab, in the Clipboard group, click Copy or Cut
• Select the upper-left cell of the area you want to paste the contents
• On the Home tab, in the Clipboard group, click Paste

In the snapshots above contents from cell C2 and C3 were moved to second snapshot in C2 and C3
respectively.

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2.4 Using the Autofill tool:
To fill a series using autofill with the names
of the months:
• Enter the first month (January) or the start of any other
recognizable series (e.g. days of the week) in the cell
where you want the list to start and press enter.
• Click on the cell that contains the value to start with
(i.e. the cell with the content January). The fill handle
will appear at the bottom right corner of the selected
cell.
• Move your mouse pointer over the handle,
and the pointer will change into a black plus.
• Click and drag the handle to the right or down to fill
the desired range
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2.5 Selecting a range of cells:
• Select the first cell in the desired range with the mouse pointer.
• Click and drag the mouse pointer through the range of cells to be selected
Note:
If the cells you are selecting are not contiguous (i.e. they are not adjacent or next to
each other, you will have to select the first cell or range), and the press and hold
the CTRL key instead of the shift key. You can then click on the next cell or range,
and release the CTRL key only when you are done.
To select the entire row, do the following:
• Click on the desired row header number. Note that the selected row will change
color as shown in Row 2 below:

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To select the entire column, do the following:
• Click on the column header letter. Note that the selected column will change
color as shown in Column B below:

To select a range of adjacent cells,

do the following:
• Select the first cell in the desired range with
the mouse pointer.
• Click and drag the mouse pointer through the
range of cells to be selected.
In the snapshot in the right the range B1:D5
have been selected

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2.6 Formatting Cell Content. Changing the font style
and size
You can also apply other formatting styles
such as Bold, Italics underline, subscript
or superscript the contents of your cells.
We will now look at Microsoft Excel’s Font
group, which is on the Home Tab.

Formatting in Excel is not much different from what we have learnt in Microsoft
Word.
It is just about selecting the object and then using the appropriate tool. In Excel
most of times it is to select a single cell or range of cells, or an entire worksheet.

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2.7 Applying cell borders:
In the snapshot below the All Borders option
of the Borders tool was used to apply that
format the selected range of cells.
The Borders tool is found in the font group,
on the Ribbon

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2.8 Changing cell
background color,
aligning cell contents:

To change a cell (or range of

cells) background color:
• Click on the Fill Color tool, then
on the drop down color
palate, choose the color of
choice.
• The Alignment group of the Home tab
provides you with the buttons that
allow you to reposition data in your
cells

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Change Text Orientation:
• Select the cell or range of cells that
contains the data that you want to align.
• Click the arrow next to the Orientation
button in the Alignment group of the
Home tab. The drop down menu shown
below will appear:
• Select the rotation option that you
want, apart from the last one, Format Cell
Alignment. The output of each of the alignment styles is shown below:

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• If you repeat the instructions above and
choose Format Cell Alignment, the Format Cells
dialog box will open. In the orientation area show below:
• Enter the degrees or use the dial to select the
degree of rotation
• Select Ok. The output of rotating the
same text above by 45 degrees

Using Wrap Text

The Wrap Text feature is used to ensure that long text that would normally spill to
the next column stays in the same column, but in a different row. The effect of
Wrap Text therefore changes the width of the row, but the width of the column
stays the same.

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The wrapped text output:

Using Merge and Center

Merge and Center is used to combine two or more cells together, and
enable the content of a cell to span several cells instead of just one cell.
Once the cells are merged, its cell reference is simply the upper-left cell
in the original selected range. Merged cells are especially useful for
creating Spreadsheet labels.
• To center or align data that spans several columns or rows:
• First select the selected range of cells that you want to merge
• Click the Merge and Center Button to merge.
• To reverse the action of Merge and Centre, simply:
• Click the Merge and Center Button again to unmerge

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2.10 Adjusting Rows and Columns
Inserting Rows and Columns
• Select either the row or click in a cell where the new row should be inserted. For
example, to insert a new row above row 2, click a cell in row 2.
• On the Home tab, in the Cells group, click the arrow next to Insert, and then click
Insert Sheet Rows.
To insert a new column:
• Select either the column or click in a cell where the new column should be
inserted. For example, to insert a new column to the right of column A, click a cell
in column A.
• On the Home tab, in the Cells group, click the arrow next to Insert, and then click
Insert Sheet Columns.

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Deleting Rows and Columns:
To delete a row or column (or a range of them):
• Select the range of rows, or columns that you want to delete.
• On the Home tab, in the Cells group, click the arrow next to
• Delete, and then do one of the following:
• Click Delete Sheet Rows to delete selected rows
• Click Delete Sheet Columns to delete selected columns

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Changing Row Height:
• Select the range of rows whose height you want to
change.
• On the Home tab, in the Cells group, click the
arrow next to Format, and then do one of the
following:
• Click Row Height and a box with the current row
height will appear. Click on the box, specify the desired
row height and click Ok.
• Click Autofit Row Height to adjust the row height
to the contents of the cells.

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Changing Column Width:
• Select the range of columns whose width
you want to change.
• On the Home tab, in the Cells group,
click the arrow next to Format, and then
do one of the following:
• Click Column Width and a box with the current
column width will appear. Click on the box, specify
the desired column width and click Ok.
• Click Autofit Column Width to adjust the column
width to the contents of the cells.

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Hide Row or Column:
• Select the range of columns or rows that you
want to hide
• Right click on one of the Column or Row headings
of the selected range. The drop-down menu shown
below will popup.

To unhide hidden cells:

• Select the range of columns or rows next to the
hidden cells.
• Right click on one of the Column or Row headings
of the selected range. The drop-down menu shown below will popup.
• Click Unhide

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Working with Freeze Panes:
To create a top row or first row freeze pane:
• On the View tab, in the Window group, click the
arrow next to Freeze panes. The drop-down menu
shown below will appear
• Select Freeze Top Row or Freeze First Column
depending on your desired choice.

To create a freeze pane on any other section:

• Select the cell below the row or to the right of the column where you want the
frozen cells to end.

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• On the View tab, in the Window group, click the arrow next to Freeze panes. The
drop-down menu shown below will appear.
• Select Freeze Panes.

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 Unit 3:
Formulas and Functions
Topics
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Entering Formulas
3.3 Copying Formulas
3.4 Common Errors when using Formulas
3.5 Using Functions

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Upon completion of this unit you should be
able to:
• Differentiate between formulae and functions.
• Enter simple formulae and functions.
• Use basic conditional formatting.
• Use the copy handle to enter multiple formulae.
• Use absolute and relative cell references.

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Terminology
• Formula Formulas are equations that can perform
calculations. In Excel, formulas always start with equal
sign(=).
• Function: A library of built-in formulas that take values,
perform operations and return other values.
• Operator A sign or symbol that specifies the type of
calculation to perform within an expression
• Constant A value that does not change

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Terminology (Cont.)
• Cell reference Indicates the location of a cell in a spreadsheet. It is
specified using the column and row number of a cell (e.g. B3)
• Relative cell reference: Relative position of a cell that contains the
formula in relation to the cell that it refers to
• Absolute cell reference :
• Formula bar: A bar at the top of the Excel window that you use to
enter, edit values or display constant values and formulas in cells or
charts.
• invalid cell reference: An error that appears when a cell contains a
values in the formula that can no longer be referenced

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3.1 Introduction
In this unit, you will learn how to use Formulas and
Functions in Excel. Formulas are equations that you can use to perform
calculations, return information, manipulate the contents of other cells,
test conditions, etc. The mathematical operators that you use when doing
calculations
include: addition (+), subtraction (-), multiplication (*), division (/),
exponentiation, greater than (>) , less than (<), greater than or equal to
(>=) and less than or equal to (<=). Mathematical rules on the specific
sequence that calculations are carried (order of precedence) also apply in
Excel
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Excel order of precedence:
• Calculations in brackets
• Percentage
• Exponentiation
• Multiplication
• Division
• Addition and Subtraction

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3.2 Entering Formulas:
To enter a formula, you must first select the cell where the results of a calculation
must appear. All formulas must be preceded by the equal to (=) sign, followed by
the appropriate operands and operators. Once the formula is entered, you press
Enter to see the result.
Formula that uses actual
s values in the cells

Formula that uses cell

references

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It is advisable to use as much as possible cell references in formulas, for it facilitates
worksheet update when values in cells change.
A formula can also contain any or all of the following: functions, references,
operators, and constants.
An example that uses all this the formula below that calculates an area of a circle,
whose radius is given in cell A2:
=PI( ) * A2 ^ 2
In this formula:
• PI is a function returns the value of pi: 3.142...
• A2 is a reference that returns the value in cell A2.
• ^ (caret) operator raises a number to a power, and the * (asterisk) operator multiplies
two or more numbers.
• The number 2 is a constant

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How to enter formulas using actual values:

• Select a cell where the formula should be entered (e.g. D1)

• Type an equal sign (=) to start the formula in the selected cells
• Type a combination of operands and operators; for example, 30+40 – 10
• Press enter. The values should appear as shown below. Note that when you click
on cell D1, the formula bar shows the actual values that were used in the
calculation.

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How to enter formulas using cell references:

• Select a cell where the formula should be entered (e.g. D1)

• Type an equal sign (=) to start the formula in the selected cells
• Use the mouse to select cells that should be used in the formula, inserting the required
operator between them. For example, select A1 and then type a plus sign (+), select B1
and type -, and then select C1.
• Press enter. The values should appear as shown below. Note that when you click on cell
D1, the formula bar shows the references of the cells that are used in the calculation.

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3.3 Copying Formulas
When you use the Clipboard group to copy your cell content, a popup menu similar to the one
below is usually launched, to enable you choose how you want your content to be pasted.

The menu gives you the option to copy values only, formulas
only, formulas and formatting, a picture of the copied values, a
linked picture of the copied values that automatically updates
itself when the original values change, etc.

If you copy a formula with a reference across rows or down the

columns, there reference is usually adjusted automatically. e.g.
if you had =A5+B5 in C5 and you copy it to C6, it automatically
changes the formula to = A6+B6. If you put it in C7, it changes it
to = A7+B7, etc. If you would like some data is a specific
column to remain a constant, you must use absolute values.

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Relative cell reference Vs. Absolute
A relative cell reference in a formula points to the position the cell in relation to cell where the
formula is being entered. The cell reference adjust automatically when the formula is being copied
to the other cell. The value of an absolute cell reference in a formula doesn’t change when is being
copied.
Steps to perform the calculation

In cell C18 type =C18*D16

Press F4 key then press Enter

Pressing F4 transform the relative

reference D16 into an absolute

In the example above, an absolute reference is used to calculate the amount due to the workers.
The formula bar display the formula entered in cell C18 as =B18*$D$16 ($ is the dollar sign)
The cell reference $D$16 is an absolute cell reference, while B18 is a relative cell reference

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3.4 Common Errors when using Formulas
Sometimes, after entering a formula, you may get different results from what you expected. This is
often a result of errors made when entering formulas. Forgetting to precede a formula with the
equal sign (=) for example results in the display of the actual formula in the a cell, rather than the
results of the computation, as shown below:

The = sign is omitted and a result, Excel considers it just as a normal data entry.

In example above, there was an attempt to divide a value by zero (the value in C1)… Excel displays
an error message in D1 where the formula was entered.

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Other error messages when entering formula and its meaning:

Message Significance
#DIV/0! A number is divided by zero or the cell reference is empty

#Name! Excel does not recognize text in a formula

#N/A! A value is not available for a formula or function

Specifying an intersection of two areas that do not intersect. A comma or semi-colon must
#NULL! separate a list

#NUM! Invalid numeric value are used in formula or function

#REF! An invalid cell reference is used

#VALUE! The formula include cell that contain different data types

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Using Functions
A function is a built-in formula that takes a value or values, performs an operation, and returns a
value or values. We use functions to simplify and shorten formulas on a worksheet, especially those
that perform lengthy or complex calculations. Microsoft Excel comes with a lot of built-in functions.
Some of the categories of functionality include: Date and time functions, Engineering functions,
Financial functions, Information functions, Logical functions, Math and trigonometry functions, and
Statistical functions. Let us now look at some of the commonly used functions.
The Sum function:
The SUM function adds the values in the
stated argument (the range in the
brackets).

In the example on the right, the

formula bar displays the formula
entered in cell C22: =SUM(C18:C20)

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The Average Function
The function finds the average value of the values in the function argument
In the previous slide example, to find the average value of the workers amount, the formula to enter
in cell C22 is: =AVERAGE(C18:C20) [the result should reads 1552.5]
The Maximum and Minimum Functions
These functions are used to find the highest and the lowest value in a given range of values

The function Minimum is used here:

The function is Maximum used here:
=MIN(C18:C22)
=MAX(C18:C22)

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The Round Function
The function rounds a value, e.g. to the nearest hundred
In the previous slide example, if the formula =ROUND(1345.5,0) is entered in a
blank cell it will display 1346. The formula =ROUND(1345.5,1) will display 1345.5

The Count Function

The function will count the entries in the range that are numbers. Text entries are
ignored.
Still in the previous example if the formula =COUNT(A16:D22) is entered in blank
cell, it displays 8.

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The IF Function
It used to perform conditional tests on values and formulas in a worksheet. One answer is given if
the condition is true and another, if the condition is false
In the example below, a student obtains the status of Pass if a mark of 90 or greater is obtained,
otherwise fails
The formula entered in cell F2 is: =IF(E2>=90,”pass”,”fail”)
The condition is that in order to pass, a student must obtain a total marks greater or equal to 90
(the first student total marks is in cell E2, a relative cell reference, to allow to copy the formula
down); If the condition is true, the student obtain the status of pass; if not, the status is fail

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Unit 4
Charts
Topics

4.1 Types of charts 4.7 Selecting a different chart

4.8 Editing the chart

4.2 Column charts
4.9 Changing the display of chart axes
4.3 Line charts
4.10 Fill chart elements
4.4 Pie charts
4.11 Moving or resizing a chart
4.5 Bar charts
4.12 Reusing charts by creating
4.6 Creating a chart templates
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Upon completion of this unit you should be
able to:
• Identify different types of charts
• Create charts from spreadsheet data using adjacent and non-adjacent
cells
• Apply predefined chart layout and chart style to your charts
• Format chart layouts and data labels
• Set headers and footers
• Print professional looking spreadsheets

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Terminology
• Chart: A visual representation of data
• Chart area: The entire chart and all its elements
• Plot area: The area bounded by the axes, including all
data series, category names, tick-mark labels, and
axis
• Data point: Individual values plotted in a chart
• Data Series: Related data points that are plotted in a chart.
• Horizontal Axis: The x axis of the chart, which usually contains
categories
Vertical Axis: The y axis of the chart, which usually contains data
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Terminology (Cont.)

• Legend: A legend is an identifier which specifies which

patterns or colors are assigned to the data series or
categories in a chart.
• Title: A descriptive text that is aligned to an axis of a
chart.
• Data Label: Descriptive text that is used to use to identify the
details of a data point in a data series.

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What is a Chart?
A chart is a visual representation of your data. It is simply another way
of displaying series of numeric data, but using a graphical format.

4.1 Types of Charts

• column chart, bar chart, line chart, pie chart, area chart and surface
chart
• Common elements of all charts:
• Chart Title, Axes and Grid

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Chart Elements
• Every chart has the following basic elements:
• Chart area
• which refers to the entire area that the chart and its components cover
• Plot area
• which refers to the area bounded by the x and y axis
• Data points
• of the data series that are plotted in the chart.
• Horizontal (category) and vertical (value) axis
• along which the data is plotted in the chart
• Legend
• which describes the data items plotted on a chart
• Labels
• to indicate the title of the charts, as well as the different axis

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4.2 Column Chart

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4.3 Line Charts

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4.4 Pie Charts

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4.5 Bar Charts

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4.5 Creating a chart

• To create a chart in Excel

1. Arrange the data that you want to plot in a chart.
2. Select the range of cells to be included in the chart.
3. Click on the Charts group of the Insert tab to choose the desired
chart type.

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Creating a Chart Cont..

• Select your desired chart.

• For the purposes of this example, select the 2D Clustered Column
type.

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The Chart Tools Tab
• The Chart Tools tabs, which allows you to make changes to the
Design, Layout and Format of the chart is also displayed until the
time that you click away from (or deselect) the chart as shown below:

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4.7 Select a different chart type

To change to a different type of chart:

1. Click on the chart that you want to format. Once the chart is
selected, the Chart Tools, and the Design, Layout, and Format tabs
will be displayed.
2. Click on the Design tab, under Chart Tools
3. Click on the Change Chart Type in the Type group as shown below:

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Selecting a different Chart type (Cont…)

4. From the Change Chart Type dialog box that is launched as shown
below:
5. select the desired type chart

6. Click OK
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4.8 Editing the Chart

To hide the chart axes use the • Hidden chart axes

following steps:
1. Click on the chart for which you
want to display or hide axes.
2. The Chart Tools tabs will appear.
3. On the Layout tab, in the Axes
group, click Axes.
4. Click the type of axis (e.g. Primary
Horizontal or Primary Vertical) that
you want to display or hide, and
then click none.
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Adding titles, axis and data labels to a
chart
To add the Chart Title, use the
following steps:
1. Click on the chart for which you
want to add a title. The Chart
Tools tabs will appear.
2. On the Layout tab, in the Labels
group, click Chart Title.
3. Click the display area, e.g. Above
the Chart. Double click on the
inserted Chart Title label, and edit
it as required.
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Editing the Chart (Cont.)
To link your title to a worksheet cell so that it To add the axis labels:
changes when the cell is modified:
1. Click on the chart for which you want to
1. Click on the chart for which you want to link to a add a title. The Chart Tools tabs will appear.
worksheet cell. The Chart Tools tabs will appear.
2. On the Layout tab, in the Labels group, click
2. On the Layout tab, in the Labels group, click
Chart Title. Axis Titles.
3. Click the display area, e.g. Above the Chart. 3. Select the type of axis (e.g. Primary
Double click on the Horizontal or Primary Vertical) for which
4. inserted Chart Title label you want to add the Titles
5. On the worksheet, click in the Formula bar, and 4. Select the desired location where the title
then type an equal sign (=). will appear (e.g. Below axis for Horizontal
6. Select the worksheet cell that contains the data or Rotated for Vertical)
or text that you want to display in your chart. 5. Double click on the inserted label, and edit
7. Press ENTER. it as required.

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Editing the Chart (Cont…)

To display data labels:

1. Click on the chart for which you
want to add data labels. The Chart
Tools tabs will appear.
2. On the Layout tab, in the Labels
group, click Data Labels.
3. Click the display option that you
want (e.g. Outside end).
4. Note that you will have different
data label options depending on
the chart type that you used.
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Editing the Chart (Cont…)

To remove titles or data labels from a chart

1. Click the chart.
2. On the Layout tab, in the Labels group, do one of the following:
3. To remove a chart title, click Chart Title, and then click None.
4. To remove an axis title, click Axis Title, click the type of axis title
that you want to remove, and then click None.
5. To remove, click Data Labels, and then click None.

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4.10 Fill chart elements

To change the colour of any of your

series on a chart:
1. On your chart, click and select the
data series for which you want to
change the colour
2. Select the Fill Colour button of
the Font group from your Home
Tab
3. Select the desired colour. Your
series will now have the selected
colour.
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Fill chart elements (Cont…)

To change the colour of any text labels

on your chart:
1. On your chart, click and select the
text for which you want to
2. change the colour. If you want to
change the text colour for the entire
chart, click on the chart.
3. Select the Font Colour button of the
Font group from your Home Tab.
4. Select the desired colour. Your text
will now have the selected colour.

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Change the format of chart elements
To change the format of any of your elements 4. You could also click Format
on a chart:
1. Click on your chart. Once the chart is
Selection, and then select the
selected, the Chart Tools, and the Design, formatting options that you
Layout, and Format tabs will be displayed. want
2. Click on the Format tab, under Chart Tools
5. Under the Shape Styles group,
3. Under the current selection tab, Click on the
Chart Element arrow to select the element select the desired style or
for which you want to change the outline.
6. Click Shape Fill, Shape Outline,
4. Hgjhffgfhfdfgdfggfmnfgfhjdffgdhdfgxgxv
or Shape Effects, and then
5. Gfncbvcmbcnmvbncbvc
6. Gfkhcghcghcghkcghkchc
select the formatting options
7. hvjvhgvhkvh
that you want.

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Formatting chart elements with WordArt
• In the chart shown on the right, I
used the WordArt Styles group to
format the title and some of the
text.
• You can use different WordArt
Styles to format different sections
of your chart.
• You can also click Text Fill, Text
Outline, or Text Effects, and select
the formatting options that you
want
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4.11 Moving or resizing a chart

To move a chart To resize a chart

1. Use your mouse to drag it to 1. Click on the chart
the location that you want. 2. Using the mouse, drag the
sizing handles to the size that
you want.

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4.12 Reusing charts by creating chart templates

To save a chart as a template

1. Click the chart that you want
to save as a template.
2. On the Design tab, in the Type
group, click Save as Template.
3. In the File name box, type a
name for the template.
You can reuse your chart template
next time you create a new chart.

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Unit 5
Printing
Topics
5.1 Introduction
5.2 Printing a worksheet or workbook
5.3 Defining a print area

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Upon completion of this unit you should be
able to:
• Manipulate inserted auto shapes and word art.
• Change default word options for documents and individual pages
within a document.
• Apply password protection options to documents.
• Apply formatting options such as indentation, tabs and special
characters to a document.
• Produce professional templates.
• Use styles effectively to change the appearance of text in a document.

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Terminology
• adjacent cells: A contiguous block of cells
• Non-adjacent cells: A non-contiguous block of cells
• Column: A window that presents the user with additional options for a
specific menu.
• Row: An area at the bottom of the word window that shows statistical
information such as the number of pages in a active document, the number
of words as well as the default language for the active document.
• Cell: An electronic virtual locations that stores copied items.
• Range: Two or more cells on a sheet. The cells in a range can be adjacent
or nonadjacent.

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5.2 Printing a worksheet or workbook

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Printing a worksheet or workbook (Cont…)

To print a part of a worksheet: To print a chart only:

1. Click on the worksheet 1. Click on the Chart.
2. Select the range of data that 2. Click on the File Tab, Select
you want to print. Print and select the correct
3. Click on the File Tab, Select printer.
Print and go ahead and select 3. Click on Print.
the correct printer.
4. Click on print.

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Printing a worksheet or workbook Cont.
To print the entire worksheet, including
the charts that may be on the page:
1. Click on the worksheet
2. Click on any cell in the worksheet
3. Click on the File Tab, Select Print
and select the correct printer.
4. In the print dialog box, under
Setting, select Print Active
Worksheets
5. Click on Print.

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Printing a worksheet or workbook Cont.
To print the entire workbook,
including the charts that may be on
the page:
1. Click on any of the worksheets in
the workbook
2. Click on the File Tab, Select Print.
3. In the print dialog box, under
Setting, select Print the Entire
Workbook
4. Click on Print.

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Printing a worksheet or workbook Cont.
To Print several worksheets at once: Once the desired sheets are selected:
• First need to select all the worksheets that
you want to print.
1. Click on the File Tab, Select Print and
• To select multiple worksheets, you need to select the correct printer.
use the mouse pointer.
• For two or more adjacent sheets: 2. In the print dialog box, under Setting,
• click the tab for the first sheet. Then hold down select Print Active Worksheets
SHIFT while you click the tab of the next sheet
until all the sheets that you want to select are
selected.
• To select two or more nonadjacent sheets:
• click the tab for the first sheet, and hold down
CTRL while you click the tabs of the other sheets
that you want to select. 3. Click on Print.
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5.3 Defining a print area
To set a print area: To add cells to an existing print area
1. Select the cells that you want to add to
1. Select the cells that you want to the existing print area.
define as the print area. 2. If the cells that you want to add are not
2. You can create multiple print adjacent to the existing print area:
areas by holding down CTRL and an additional print area is created.
clicking the areas that you want NB: Each print area in a worksheet
to print. is printed as a separate page.
Only adjacent cells can be added
3. On the Page Layout tab, in the to an existing print area.
Page Setup group, click Print 3. On the Page Layout tab, in the Page Setup
Area, and then click Set Print group, click Print Area, and then click Add
Area. to Print Area.

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Deleting a print area
To delete a print area:
• Click anywhere on the worksheet for which you want to clear the
print area.
• On the Page Layout tab, in the Page Setup group, click Clear Print
Area.

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 END

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