APPLICATIONS OF EXCEL

IN STATISTICS

ASSIGNMENT – 1
SANDHYA R (23PCA016)
II – MCA

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WHAT IS EXCEL SPREADSHEET

A Spreadsheet is a computer application that is designed to add, display, analyze,

organize, and manipulate data arranged in rows and columns. It is the most popular
application for accounting, analytics, data presentation, etc. In other words, spreadsheets are
scalable grid-based files that are used to organize data and perform calculations. People all
across the world use spreadsheets to create tables for personal and business usage.

You can also use the tool’s features and formulas to help you make sense of your data.

For example – You may track data in a spreadsheet and see sums, differences,
multiplication, division, and fill dates automatically, among other things. Microsoft Excel,
Google Sheets, Apache Open Office, LibreOffice, etc. are some spreadsheet
software. Among all these software, Microsoft Excel is the most commonly used spreadsheet
tool and it is available for Windows, macOS, Android, etc.

Excel offers a variety of functionalities, including Excel sheet unprotect options for
safeguarding and managing data. You can start with Excel spreadsheet templates to simplify
your work, whether you’re creating an Excel spreadsheet for project management or an
Excel spreadsheet for budgeting. The standard file format for Excel is the Excel file
extension .xlsx, which ensures compatibility and ease of use across different platforms.

Excel Spreadsheet

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TABLE OF CONTENT

 What is an Excel Spreadsheet

 Features of Spreadsheet

 Components of Spreadsheets

 How to Create a New Spreadsheet or Workbook

 How to Save the Workbook

 Inserting text in Excel Spreadsheet

 How to Edit/ Delete Cell Contents in the Excel Spreadsheet

 Best Spreadsheet Applications

 Read More

WHAT IS AN EXCEL SPREADSHEET

A collection of spreadsheets is known as a workbook. Every Excel file is called a workbook.

Every time you start a new project in Excel, you’ll need to create a new workbook.

There are several methods for getting started with an Excel workbook. To create a new
worksheet or access an existing one, you can either start from scratch or utilize a pre-
designed template. A single Excel worksheet is a tabular spreadsheet that consists of a matrix
of rectangular cells grouped in rows and columns. It has a total of 1,048,576 rows and
16,384 columns, resulting in 17,179,869,184 cells on a single page of a Microsoft Excel
spreadsheet where you may write, modify, and manage your data.

In the same way as a file or a book is made up of one or more worksheets that contain various
types of related data, an Excel workbook is made up of one or more worksheets. You can also
create and save an endless number of worksheets. The major purpose is to collect all relevant
data in one place but in many categories (worksheet).

FEATURES OF SPREADSHEET

As we know that there are so many spreadsheet applications available in the market. So these
applications provide the following basic features:

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ROWS AND COLUMNS

Rows and columns are two distinct features in a spreadsheet that come together to
make a cell, a range, or a table. In general, columns are the vertical portion of an excel
worksheet, and there can be 256 of them in a worksheet, whereas rows are the horizontal
portion, and there can be 1048576 of them.

The color light green is used to highlight Row 3 while the color green is used to highlight
Column B. Each column has 1048576 rows and each row has 256 columns.

CELL FORMATTING

Cell formatting in Microsoft Excel refers to the process of changing the appearance of
cells in a worksheet to improve readability, highlight important information, and make data
presentation more visually appealing. Formatting can include changes to the font, color,
borders, alignment, and number formats of the cells.

To know about Excel Formatting Cells Click here

FORMULAS

In spreadsheets, formulas process data automatically. It takes data from the specified
area of the spreadsheet as input then processes that data, and then displays the output into the
new area of the spreadsheet according to where the formula is written. In Excel, we can use
formulas simply by typing “=Formula Name(Arguments)” to use predefined Excel formulas.

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When you write the first few characters of any formula, Excel displays a drop-down menu of
formulas that match that character sequence. Some of the commonly used formulas are:

 =SUM(Arg1: Arg2): It is used to find the sum of all the numeric data specified in the
given range of numbers.

 =COUNT(Arg1: Arg2): It is used to count all the number of cells(it will count only
number) specified in the given range of numbers.

 =MAX(Arg1: Arg2): It is used to find the maximum number from the given range of
numbers.

 =MIN(Arg1: Arg2): It is used to find the minimum number from the given range of
numbers.

 =TODAY(): It is used to find today’s date.

 =SQRT(Arg1): It is used to find the square root of the specified cell.

For example, you can use the formula to find the average of the integers in column C from
row 2 to row 7:

= AVERAGE(D2:D7)

The range of values on which you want to average is defined by D2:D6. The formula is
located near the name field on the formula tab.

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We wrote =AVERAGE(D2:D6) in cell D9, therefore the average becomes (2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6
+ 7)/6 = 27/6 = 4.5. So you can quickly create a workbook, work on it, browse through it, and
save it in this manner.

PIVOT TABLE

The Pivot Table feature in Microsoft Excel is a powerful tool for data analysis and
reporting. It allows users to quickly summarize, analyze, and explore large sets of data by
creating dynamic, interactive tables. With Pivot Tables, you can easily reorganize and
aggregate data to gain insights and present information in a meaningful way.

FUNCTIONS OF SPREAD SHEET

In spreadsheets, the function uses a specified formula on the input and generates
output. Or in other words, functions are created to perform complicated math problems in
spreadsheets without using actual formulas. For example, if you want to find the total of the
numeric data present in the column then use the SUM function instead of adding all the
values present in the column.

TEXT MANIPULATION

The spreadsheet provides various types of commands to manipulate the data present in it.

Pivot Tables: It is the most commonly used feature of the spreadsheet. Using this table users
can organize, group, total, or sort data using the toolbar. Or in other words, pivot tables are
used to summarize lots of data. It converts tons of data into a few rows and columns.

USES OF SPREADSHEETS

The use of Spreadsheets is endless. It is generally used with anything that contains numbers.
Some of the common use of spreadsheets are:

 Finance: Spreadsheets are used for financial data like it is used for checking account
information, taxes, transaction, billing, budgets, etc.

 Forms: A spreadsheet is used to create form templates to manage performance

review, timesheets, surveys, etc.

 School and colleges: Spreadsheets are most commonly used in schools and colleges
to manage student’s data like their attendance, grades, etc.

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  Lists: Spreadsheets are also used to create lists like grocery lists, to-do lists, contact
detail, etc.

 Hotels: Spreadsheets are also used in hotels to manage the data of their customers like
their personal information, room numbers, check-in date, check-out date, etc.

COMPONENTS OF SPREADSHEETS

The basic components of spreadsheets are:

1. Title Bar:

The title bar displays the name of the spreadsheet and application.

2. Tool Bar:

It displays all the options or commands available in Excel for use.

3. Name Box:

It displays the address of the current or active cell.

4. Formula Bar:

It is used to display the data entered by us in the active cell. Also, this bar is used to apply
formulas to the data of the spreadsheet.

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5. Column Headings:

Every Excel spreadsheet contains 256 columns and each column present in the spreadsheet is
named by letters or a combination of letters.

6. Row Headings:

Every Excel spreadsheet contains 65,536 rows and each row present in the spreadsheet is
named by a number.

7. Cell:

In a spreadsheet, everything like a numeric value, functions, expressions, etc., is recorded in

the cell. Or we can say that an intersection of rows and columns is known as a cell. Every cell
has its own name or address according to its column and rows and when the cursor is present
on the first cell then that cell is known as an active cell.

8. Cell referring:

A cell reference, also known as a cell address, is a way for describing a cell on a worksheet
that combines a column letter and a row number. We can refer to any cell on the worksheet
using cell references (in excel formulae). As shown in the above image the cell in column A
and row 1 is referred to as A1. Such notations can be used in any formula or to duplicate the
value of one cell to another (by using = A1).

9. Navigation buttons:

A spreadsheet contains first, previous, next, and last navigation buttons. These buttons are
used to move from one worksheet to another workbook.

10. Sheet tabs:

As we know that a workbook is a collection of worksheets. So this tab contains all the
worksheets present in the workbook, by default it contains three worksheets but you can add
more according to your requirement.

HOW TO CREATE A NEW SPREADSHEET OR WORKBOOK

To create a new spreadsheet follow the following steps:

Step 1: Click on the top-left, Microsoft Office button and a drop-down menu appear.

Step 2: Now select New from the menu.

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Step 3: After selecting the New option a New Workbook dialogue box will appear and then
in Create tab, click on the blank Document.

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A new blank worksheet is created and is shown on your screen.

Note: When you open MS Excel on your computer, it creates a new Workbook for you.

HOW TO SAVE THE WORKBOOK

In Excel we can save a workbook using the following steps:

Step 1: Click on the top-left, Microsoft office button and we get a drop-down menu:

Step 2: Now Save or Save As are the options to save the workbook, so choose one.

 Save As: To name the spreadsheet and then save it to a specific location. Select Save
As if you wish to save the file for the first time, or if you want to save it with a new
name.

 Save: To save your work, select Save/ click ctrl + S if the file has already been
named.

So this is how you can save a workbook in Excel.

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INSERTING TEXT IN EXCEL SPREADSHEET

Excel consists of many rows and columns, each rectangular box in a row or column is
referred to as a Cell. So, the combination of a column letter and a row number can be used to
find a cell address on a worksheet or spreadsheet. We can refer to any cell in the worksheet
using these addresses (in excel formulas). The name box on the top left(below the Home tab)
displays the cell’s address whenever you click the cell.

To insert the data into the cell follow the following steps:

Step 1: Go to a cell and click on it

Step 2: By typing something on the keyboard, you can insert your data (In that selected cell).

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Whatever text you type displays in the formula bar as well (for that cell).

HOW TO EDIT/ DELETE CELL CONTENTS IN THE EXCEL SPREADSHEET

To delete cell content follow the following steps:

Step 1: To alter or delete the text in a cell, first select it.

Step 2: Press the Backspace key on your keyboard to delete and correct text. Alternatively,
hit the Delete key to delete the whole contents of a cell. You can also edit and delete text
using the formula bar. Simply select the cell and move the pointer to the formula bar.

Best Spreadhseet Applications

Below are some common spreadsheet application in excel

Microsoft Excel

As a component of the Microsoft Office suite and the cloud-based Microsoft 365 subscription
service (formerly known as Office 365), it is accessible on Windows, macOS, Android, and
iOS platforms.

Google Sheet

Google Sheets is free and also available as a desktop application for Google Chrome OS and
assorted mobile OSes, such as Android and iOS.

READING AN EXCEL FILE USING PYTHON

One can retrieve information from a spreadsheet. Reading, writing, or modifying the data can
be done in Python can be done in using different methods. Also, the user might have to go
through various sheets and retrieve data based on some criteria or modify some rows and
columns and do a lot of work. Here, we will see the different methods to read our excel file.

Required Module

pip install xlrd

Input File:

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Method 1: Reading an excel file using Python using Pandas

In this method, We will first import the Pandas module then we will use Pandas to read our
excel file. You can read more operations using the excel file using Pandas in this article.
Click here

Python

# import pandas lib as pd

import pandas as pd

# read by default 1st sheet of an excel file

dataframe1 = pd.read_excel('book2.xlsx')

print(dataframe1)

Output:

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