Guided Notes
Introduction to Excel
Formulas, cell references, and how a spreadsheet actually works.
A spreadsheet is a grid where most of the value comes from formulas, not typed-in numbers. A cell like C7 doesn't hold '217000' — it holds a formula, =SUM(C2,C4,C6), that recomputes automatically whenever the underlying data changes.
Cell references (A1, B2, ...) let a formula point at data instead of repeating it. A range (A1:A3) is shorthand for 'every cell from A1 through A3'.
The same question can usually be answered by more than one correct formula — =AVERAGE(C2,C4,C6) and =(C2+C4+C6)/3 give the same number. What matters is the result.