Tutorials For OpenOffice: Spreadsheet Math - WissEl

Tutorials For OpenOffice: Spreadsheet Math

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http://www.tutorialsforopenoffice.org/tutorial/Spreadsheet_Math.html

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Spreadsheet Math Table of Contents Purpose Addition Subtraction Multiplication Division Exponentiation Enter Formulas Copy Formulas Copy The Formula Itself Copy The Answer of a Formul Tutorial donated by Wayne Tschirhard

Purpose The purpose of this tutorial is to explain how to use math in spreadsheets.

Addition The + sign is used for addition. To enter the + sign, press the Shift key and the +,

,key.

1. Click on A6. 2. Type the number 10, then press Enter. ("10" appears in "A6" and the active cell is "A7".) 3. Type the number 5, then press Enter. ("5" appears in "A7" and the active cell is "A8".) 4. Type =A6+A7 (Or click the “Function”, , icon. The “=” appears in “A8'. The “Function”, , icon changes to the “Accept”, , icon. Then type "A6+A7".). 5. Press Enter (or click the “Accept”,

, icon). The answer, 15, appears in A8.

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Tutorials For OpenOffice: Spreadsheet Math

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http://www.tutorialsforopenoffice.org/tutorial/Spreadsheet_Math.html

Subtraction The - sign is used for subtraction. To enter the – sign, press the

key.

1. Click on A8. To clear cell A8, press the Delete key. (The “Delete Contents” window appears.) Check the Delete all box and click OK. 2. Type =A6-A7 (Or click the “Function”, , icon. The “=” appears in “A8" The “Function”, , icon changes to the “Accept”, , icon. Then type "A6-A7".). 3. Press Enter (Or click the “Accept”,

, icon.) The answer, 5, appears in A8.

Multiplication The star ,*, sign is used for multiplication. To enter the * sign, press the Shift key and the number 8 key. 1. Click on A8. To clear cell A8, press the Delete key. (The “Delete Contents” window appears.) Check the Delete all box and click OK. 2. Type =A6*A7 (Or click the “Function”, , icon. The “=” appears in “A8”. The “Function”, , icon changes to the “Accept”, , icon. Then type "A6*A7"). 3. Press Enter (Or click the “Accept”,

, icon.) The answer, 50, appears in A8.

Division The slash, /, sign is used for division. To enter the slash, /, sign, press the

key [? And /].

1. Click on A8. To clear cell A8, press the Delete key. (The “Delete Contents” window appears.) Check the Delete all box and click OK. 2. Type =A6/A7 (Or click the “Function”, , icon. The “=” appears in “A8'. The “Function”, , icon changes to the “Accept”, , icon. Then type "A6/A7".). 3. Press Enter (Or click the “Accept”,

, icon.) The answer, 2, appears in A8.

Exponentiation The number 102 is written as 10^2. To enter the ^ sign, press the Shift key and the number 6, , key. 1. Click on A9. 2. Type =A6^A7 (Or click the “Function”,

, icon. The “=” appears in "A9". The

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Tutorials For OpenOffice: Spreadsheet Math

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“Function”,

http://www.tutorialsforopenoffice.org/tutorial/Spreadsheet_Math.html

, icon changes to the “Accept”,

3. Press Enter (Or click the “Accept”,

, icon. Then type "A6^A7".).

, icon.) The answer, 100000, appears in A8.

Enter Formulas When you type in formulas, the order of operations must be correct. The correct order is: exponentiation, multiplication, division, addition, then subtraction. Let's pretend we want to perform a calculation using the equation: x + 10 y + 20 and suppose we entered it into Calc as follows: 1. Select the A column. (Click on the letter "A." The whole "A "column is selected) 2. Press Delete. (Make sure the "Delete all" box is checked.) 3. Press OK. 4. Click on A1. 5. Type 20 in A1 and press Tab. 6. Type 10 in B1 and press Tab. (Cell C1 becomes active) 7. Type the formula =A1+10/B1 + 20.(Or click the “Function”, the “Accept”, , icon. Type "A1+10/B1+20"). 8. Press Enter (Or click the “Accept”,

, icon which changes to

, icon. The answer, 41, appears in C1.)

The answer should be 1, using x = 20 and y = 10, but we got 41 for an answer! Why? Because Calc interpreted the equation as: 20 + (10/10) + 20 which equals 41. If you use formulas with equations in the numerator and denominator, you need to use parenthesis () to force the spreadsheet to calculate them properly. Make the following changes: 1. Click on C1. 2. Click on the Input Line. 3. Edit the formula to read =(A1+10)/(B1+20). (Click just before the A, then Press the ( key [Shift-9]. Click after the 0 in 10, then press the ) key [Shift-0]. Click just before the B, then Press the ( key [Shift-9]. Click after the 0 in 20, then press the ) key [Shift-0]). 4. Click the Accept,

, icon (green check mark.) The correct answer, 1, appears in C1.

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http://www.tutorialsforopenoffice.org/tutorial/Spreadsheet_Math.html

Copy Formulas You can copy a formula so that the formula itself is copied or that the answer to the formula is copied.

Copy The Formula Itself 1. Select (click on) the cell(s) that is to be copied. 2. Right-click, then click Copy. (The material is copied to the clipboard) 3. Select (click on) the cell where the material is to appear. 4. Right-click, then click Paste.

Copy The Answer of a Formula 1. Select (click on) the cell(s) that has a formula. 2. Right-click, then click Copy. (The material is copied to the clipboard) 3. Select (click on) the cell where the material is to appear. 4. Right-click, then click Paste Special. (The “Paste Special” window appears) 5. Remove the check mark at Paste all. 6. Remove the check mark at Formulas and add a check mark at Numbers. Click OK. NOTE Tuorials are improved by input from users. We solicit your constructive criticism. Click here to E-mail your suggestions and comment Tutorial edited by Sue Barron Spreadsheet Math

06/14/07 Last modified: Thursday, 14-Jun-2007 11:47:25 EDT

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution2.5 License.

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