Excel Lecture 2

Starting Excel

Excel is a spreadsheet program that can help you create worksheets and invoices and do simple and sophisticated number crunching; it is designed to help you calculate the results of formulas and help you organize and analyze numerical data.

To start Excel from the Windows desktop, follow these steps:

1.      Click the Start button, and the Start menu appears.

2.      Point at All Programs (in Windows XP; in Windows 2000 select Programs), and the Programs menu appears.

3.      Select the Microsoft Office program group and then Microsoft Office Excel 2003 to start the program.

Understanding the Excel Window

When you click the Microsoft Excel icon, the Excel application window appears, displaying a blank workbook labeled Book1 . On the right side of the Excel window is the Getting Started task pane. This task pane enables you to connect to Microsoft online. It also allows you to open existing Excel workbooks or create new workbooks. Close the Task Pane If you would like a little more room in the Excel window to work on the current workbook sheet, click the Close (X) button on the task pane.

When you work in Excel, you use workbook files to hold your numerical data, formulas, and other objects, such as Excel charts. Each Excel workbook can consist of several sheets; each sheet is called a worksheet. Workbook An Excel file is called a workbook. Each workbook consists of several worksheets made up of rows and columns of information.

You enter your numbers and formulas on one of the workbook’s worksheets. Each worksheet consists of 256 columns. The columns begin with column A and proceed through the alphabet. The 27th column is AA, followed by AB, AC, and this convention for naming subsequent columns continues through the entire alphabet until you end up with the last column (column 256), which is designated IV.

Each worksheet also consists of 65,536 rows. The intersection of a column and a row on the worksheet is called a cell. Each cell has an address that consists of the column and row that intersect to make the cell. For example, the very first cell on a worksheet is in column A and row 1, so the cell’s address is A1.

Elements of the Excel Window

Element	Description
Formula bar	When you enter information into a cell, it appears in the Formula bar. You can use the Formula bar to edit the data later. The cell’s location also appears in the Formula bar.
Column headings	The letters across the top of the worksheet, which identify the columns in the worksheet.
Row headings	The numbers down the side of the worksheet, which identify the rows in the worksheet.
Cell select	The dark outline that indicates the active cell. (It highlights the cell you are currently working in.)
Worksheet tabs	These tabs help you move from worksheet to worksheet within the workbook.

 

Advertisement