Need help in doing a spreadsheet

[KatieO]

My daughter has to do a spreadsheet for some speed and velocity problems in her physics book. While we both understand the questions, I have absolutely no knowledge regarding spreadsheets and can't help her out in that department. Any links to websites or books detailing how to set up these sheets would be greatly appreciated.

[MyThreeSons]

http://www.usd.edu/trio/tut/excel/

 

and here's another one:

 

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

 

I did a search for "spreadsheet basics". Your particular spreadsheet may have a tutorial built in.

 

There may be some subtle differences depending on which spreadsheet program you're using, but the basics are pretty much the same:

 

you put data into cells, which help to keep things organized. The data is generally one of three types:

 

a label, which tells you about the items in that row or column (you simply type these in)

 

a piece of data (sometimes a number, sometimes text -- again, you type these in)

 

a formula, which takes data from other cells and performs a calculation on them and puts the result of the calculation into the cell you've specified

 

You can format the cells' width and heighth, as well as the appearance of the text, just as you would with a word processor.

 

Once you understand about the cells, it's really pretty intuitive to work with a simple spreadsheet. There are lots of cool things you can do with formatting and presentation if you want to get carried away. Oh, and you can use the data to create several different graphs as well.

 

HTH

[KatieO]

Thank you so very much!!! This is a HUGE help.

[MyThreeSons]

I could help with that aspect too if you need it.

[KatieO]

That would be terrific. We'll see how far we get (or don't) with the physics and the spreadsheet before we impose on you. Thanks again!!!