Lesson 8

Spreadsheet Shortcuts

Let's explore recursive formulas in spreadsheets.

Problem 1

Technology required. Open a blank spreadsheet. Use "fill down" to recreate this table of equivalent ratios. You should not need to type anything in rows 3–10. 

A spreadsheet with rows 1 to 10 and columns A to B. Column A contains numbers increasing by 3. 3, 6, 9, until 30. Column B contains numbers increasing by 7. 7, 14, 21, until 70.

Problem 2

A list of numbers is made with the pattern: Start with 11, and subtract 4 to find the next number.

Here is the beginning of the list: 11, 7, 3, . . .

Explain how you could use "fill down" in a spreadsheet to find the tenth number in this list. (You do not need to actually find this number.)

Problem 3

Here is a spreadsheet showing the computations for a different version of the birthday trick:

A spreadsheet.

Explain what formulas you would enter in cells B4 through B8 so that cell B8 shows a number representing the month and day. (In this example, cell B8 should show 704.) If you have access to a spreadsheet, try your formulas with a month and day to see whether it works.

Problem 4

Write a formula you could type into a spreadsheet to compute the value of each expression.

  1. \(\frac25\) of 35
  2. \(25 \div \frac53\)
  3. \(\left( \frac{1}{11} \right) ^ 4\)
  4. The average of 0, 3, and 17
(From Unit 1, Lesson 7.)

Problem 5

The data set represents the number of cars in a town given a speeding ticket each day for 10 days.

  • 2
  • 4
  • 5
  • 5
  • 7
  • 7
  • 8
  • 8
  • 8
  • 12
  1. What is the median? Interpret this value in the situation.
  2. What is the IQR?
(From Unit 1, Lesson 5.)

Problem 6

The data set represents the most recent sale price, in thousands of dollars, of ten homes on a street.

  • 85
  • 91
  • 93
  • 99
  • 99
  • 99
  • 102
  • 108
  • 110
  • 115
  1. What is the mean?
  2. What is the MAD?
(From Unit 1, Lesson 5.)