The Mathematics of Money

210 Chapter 5 Spreadsheets

Now that we have discussed some of the basics behind this spreadsheet example, let’s

start off by recreating it. Open Excel on a computer, and follow the instructions spelled out

below to recreate this spreadsheet yourself.

Creating a Basic Spreadsheet

When you open up Excel, the program will start you out with a blank spreadsheet, which

should look something like the one shown here.

1

2

3

4

5

A B C D E

The number of columns and rows that you’ll see, the specifi c colors that show up, and

other such details may vary depending on the version of the program you are using. How-

ever, your starting point will most likely be in cell A1, and this will be apparent by that cell

being highlighted in some way. If you begin typing, what you type will appear in that cell.

We want cell A1 to contain the word “Product” so let’s type that now, and then hit Enter.

The result should look like this.

1

2

3

4

5

A B C D E

Product

You can move to other cells either by using the arrow keys on the keyboard, or by mov-

ing the cursor with your mouse and clicking on the cells you want to go to next. Now, let’s

move to each of the remaining cells in row A and column 1 and type in the text for each.

The result will probably look similar to this.

1

2

3

4

5

A B C D

Product Unit Price

E

Units Sold

Solar Singing Fish Gutter

Home Crash Test Kit

Twelve Tone Door Chime

Totals

Product Sales

This is a bit of a mess, because the text is too long to fi t in some of the cells. The text

in A2, for example, in addition to looking sloppy as it overruns its cell, will cause prob-

lems when we put the items sold information into B2, since both the text from A2 and the

numerical value from B2 will be trying to show up in the same place on the screen. To fi x

this, we need to adjust the width of the cells to fi t their contents.