Rows, columns and cell names
A spreadsheet is a grid. Every cell is named by its column letter and its row number.
Sudhakar has too many numbers
Sudhakar has the mid-term marks of his students in six subjects. He must total the marks of every student and find the average of every subject. That is a lot of adding! A spreadsheet on a computer can do it. Here is part of his sheet.
Which name would you give the cell that holds Farooq's mark in Mathematics?
What this lesson covers
The idea
A spreadsheet is a digital notebook of rows and columns of cells holding text, numbers or formulae; each cell is named by its column header letter (A, B, C, …) and row header number (1, 2, 3, …).
Sudhakar has too many numbers
Sudhakar has the mid-term marks of his students in six subjects. He must total the marks of every student and find the average of every subject. That is a lot of adding! A spreadsheet on a computer can do it. Here is part of his sheet.
Which name would you give the cell that holds Farooq's mark in Mathematics?
- E5
- 5E
- Farooq-Maths
Tap the cells
A spreadsheet is like a digital notebook with rows and columns of small boxes called cells. Tap any cell to see its name. Then find the cells you are asked for.
Column letter, then row number
A spreadsheet is a digital notebook of rows and columns of cells holding text, numbers or formulae; each cell is named by its column header letter (A, B, C, …) and row header number (1, 2, 3, …).
The letters along the top name the columns: A, B, C, … The numbers down the side name the rows: 1, 2, 3, …
A cell is named by its column letter first, then its row number. Farooq's Mathematics mark is in column E (Mathematics) and row 5 (Farooq): the cell E5.
A cell can hold text (the names), numbers (the marks) or a formula. Formulae are what let Sudhakar total and average in one step.
Notes
A spreadsheet is a digital notebook of rows and columns of cells holding text, numbers or formulae; each cell is named by its column header letter (A, B, C, …) and row header number (1, 2, 3, …).
Check yourself
Look at the sheet. What mark is in cell D3?
Answer: 39
D3 is where column D (English) meets row 3 (Nagesh). The mark is 39.
Which cell holds Gowri's mark in Telugu?
What can a cell of a spreadsheet hold?
Farooq's Mathematics mark is in cell E5. What mark is in the cell directly to its right?
Answer: 42
The cell to the right of E5 is F5: column F (Science), row 5 (Farooq). The mark is 42.
- B7. B is the Odia column. Telugu is column C.
- C6. Row 6 is Suresh. Gowri is in row 7.
- C7 — correct. Yes! Telugu is column C and Gowri is in row 7: the cell C7.
- 7C. The column letter comes first, then the row number: C7.
- Only numbers.. Cells also hold text, like the names of the students, and formulae.
- Only text.. Cells hold numbers too, like the marks, and formulae.
- Text, numbers or formulae. — correct. Yes! Names are text, marks are numbers, and a formula can total or average other cells.
- Only formulae.. A formula is one thing a cell can hold, along with text and numbers.