Objectives

• Explain the importance of isolating assumptions.
• Define a cell range, select and deselect ranges.
• Copy and or move cells within a worksheet.
• Discuss the difference between relative, absolute and mixed addresses.
• Format a worksheet with various font and alignment styles.
• Change column widths.
• Insert a hyperlink into a worksheet.

Copying Formulas

• A rectangular group of cells in known as a range
• You can perform calculations on ranges, or operations on ranges
• As we have seen in the previous section, a range can be specified to a function a3:a5
• The copy command allows us to copy values from one range to another.
• Source - the place something comes from.
• Destination - the place things go to.
• References
  • When we move formulas, it seems reasonable that the cells they reference change as well.
  • =a1+b1 is an example of a formula with a relative reference
    • If this formula is stored in c1, and we copy it to c2, the formula will change to =a2+b2
    • If we copy it to f1 the formula will change to =d2+e2
    • 
  • =$a$1+$b$1 is an absolute reference. No matter where I copy it to, it stays the same.
  • =a1+b$1 is a mixed reference. a1 and b will change, but the 1 associated with b will not.
  • 
• Finally, there is a box on page 52 that discusses Isolating Assumptions.
  • It is good to not put numbers in your formulas, only refer to a cell.
  • This allows you to experiment and see what happens if I change the values.
  • Some very simple examples:
    • Principal, interest rate and term in a loan
    • Weights in a gradebook.
  • We will talk more about this later, but it is a good idea to keep this in mind now.

Formatting

• Formatting is fairly simple, the concepts are mostly the same as word.
• There are a few more options since we are dealing with numbers.