OpenOffice Tutorial 1 - What is Spreadsheet?

A spreadsheet is the computer equivalent of a paper ledger sheet. It consists of a grid made from columns and rows. It is an environment that can make number manipulation easy and somewhat painless.

The math that goes on behind the scenes on the paper ledger can be overwhelming. If you change the loan amount, you will have to start the math all over again (from scratch). The nice thing about using a computer and spreadsheet is that you can experiment with numbers without having to redo all the calculations.

OpenOffice Calc

Let the COMPUTER do the calculations for you! Once you have the formulas set up, you can change the variables that are called from the formula and watch the answers change. Spreadsheets are instantly updated if one of the entries is changed. NO erasers! NO new formulas! NO calculators!

Spreadsheets are made up of columns, rows, and cells (intersection of a column and row. A cell can contain data including text (strings or labels), numeric data, and formulas (mathematical equations).