Study Guide: Spreadsheets - Create and enter all calculations, formulas, and functions

This spreadsheet has calculations that determine totals and percentages and also uses a function to display the date. When working with calculations, remember that all calculations must begin with the equal sign =. It is the equal sign that tells the spreadsheet the cell will be used to calculate a new value.

Click in cell B9 to make it the active cell. Cell B9 will contain the total for female entering freshmen. There are several methods to calculate totals or sums. The basic method is to manually include each cell in the formula. Type an equal sign followed by B4 + B5 + B6 + B7 + B8. Your formula should look like = B4 + B5 + B6 + B7 + B8. Press the Enter key and you should see 13521 as the result. While this method works well it is not efficient since many sums may involve 30, 40, 100 or more cells.

Click in cell C9 to make it the active cell. Cell C9 will contain the total for male entering freshmen. With C9 the active cell click the AutoSum button as shown below:

Press the Enter key and the sum will display in the cell. Repeat the AutoSum procedure for cells D9 and E9.

Remember to save your work.

Click in cell B10 to make it the active cell. B10 will display the date. We will use a function to display the system or computer’s date. A function is a predefined process that will return a value and spreadsheets treat the date as a value. We will use a function named ‘today’ to return today’s date. Enter the following into cell B10: = today( ) and press the Enter key.

Click in cell F4 to make it the active cell. F4 contains the percent difference between entering freshmen and the graduates for females. The formula is the difference between the number of graduates and entering freshmen divided by the number of entering freshmen. Use parentheses to ensure the subtraction occurs first. Type the formula =(D4-B4)/B4 and press the Enter key. The results will be formatted as a percentage later.

Click back in cell F4 to make it the active cell. Now that you have the correct formula in cell F4 you can take that formula and fill it into adjoining cells. Look closely at cell F4 and notice that there is a small box (handle) in the lower right corner of cell F4. If you place your mouse pointer on the handle, the pointer should appear as a small plus sign or crosshair. Press your mouse button and drag the crosshair to right over cell G4 and release the mouse. The difference percentage for males should now be displayed.

Select cells F4 and G4 by dragging from the center of one cell to the other. Do not use the fill handle to select. With these two cells selected, place your pointer on the fill handle in Cell G4 and drag the formulas down to G8. Release the mouse.

Remember to save your work. You have now completed all of the formulas. Compare your results to the sample below: