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← Level 1 – Cell kid

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Cell, row, column

A cell address is like a cinema seat: column + row.

A cinema seat

Every cell has an address. The column is a letter (A, B, C…), the row is a number (1, 2, 3…).

A1 is the first seat — column A, row 1.
C4 is two columns to the right and three rows down. Not “three down and two right from A1” on your fingers: C is the third letter, 4 is the fourth row.

The order is always letter, then number. B2 is right. The spreadsheet does not know 2B. When someone says “bee two”, they mean B2.

When you click a cell, at the top in the formula bar you see what is in it. And in the left corner its address lights up. In Excel on a computer it is the same: a small field left of the formula bar. It is called name or 姓名 Box.

Try it now, so it is not just a word.

  1. Open workbook Tables with Martin, sheet Grades.

  2. Click A1. Top left A1 must light up.

  3. With the right arrow jump to B1. The address changes to B1. With the down arrow to B2. Now B2.

  4. Click D10 with the mouse. Address D10. The cell can be empty — an empty seat still has an address.

💡

The arrows on the keyboard move you around cells. Tab jumps one column right. Enter one row down. Shift+Tab left. A mouse is not required. When you fill five subjects under each other, Enter is faster than clicking.

What a row is and what a column is

A row goes across. Like a row in a cinema. The whole of row 1 is cells A1, B1, C1, D1…

A column goes down. Like an aisle of seats with the same letter. The whole of column B is B1, B2, B3…

When you click the letter B at the top, the whole of column B is selected. When you click the number 3 on the left, the whole of row 3 is selected. You do not need to delete that now — just know what happened if you clicked by mistake. Click one cell and the column selection disappears.

In a cinema: column = seat letter (A by the aisle, F in the middle). Row = the row from the screen. Cell = one seat. F12 is a specific place. Same F12 in a spreadsheet.

Headings belong at the top

The first row is a sign, not data. Into it we write what the column means. If you do not, in a week you do not know if B is a grade, points, or a count of mistakes.

Make a mini grade table. Take the numbers as practice — then you can rewrite them to yours.

  1. Open sheet Grades. If A1 is full from 准备课 (Subject), great. If there is a name, delete it.

  2. In A1 type Subject. Tab. The cursor jumps to B1.

  3. In B1 type Grade. Enter. You are in B2. Left arrow to A2.

  4. In A2 Maths, Tab, in B2 the number 2. Enter.
    In A3 Czech, in B3 1.
    In A4 English, in B4 3.

  5. Click B3. Address B3. In the formula bar there must be 1, not the word “one”.

Now you have a mini table. Row 1 = headings. Rows 2–4 = data. Column A = words, column B = numbers.

On the screen it should look like this:

When you click C4, it is empty. That is right. An empty seat is not a mistake.

⚠️

Do not write the grade into the same cell as the subject. Maths 2 in A2 is text. The spreadsheet will not make an average from that later. Subject into A, number into B. Two boxes, not one sentence.

🏫 Grade average — start

Add two more subjects you really have. For example:

  • A5 Science, B5 2
  • A6 History, B6 1

Write grades as a number, not “two” and not 2-. Do not count the average yet — Formula kid can do that. Today it is enough that each grade sits in its own cell and you can say its address.

If you have more subjects, keep going to A7, A8. Row 1 should stay headings only.

Second exercise: find a cell without a mouse

Now we check that an address is not only a label you look at.

  1. Click into the address field top left (where for example A1 lights up). The text is selected.

  2. Type B4 and press Enter. The spreadsheet takes you to B4. In the formula bar you will see 3.

  3. Click the address field again. Type A1. Enter. You are at the heading Subject.

That helps when the table is long. Instead of scrolling you type an address and you are there.

In Excel on a computer the same works. In Sheets too. If you type nonsense (BB) and Enter, the spreadsheet often leaves you where you were — or says that address does not exist. Try B2.

Now you 💪

Go through the checks one by one. Font colour does not matter. Address and content do.

  1. Click B3. In the address B3 lights up. In the formula bar is 1.
  2. Click A1. In the formula bar is Subject.
  3. Click A4. There is English (or your fourth subject).
  4. Say out loud the address of the Czech grade. It must be B3, not “that one in the middle”.
  5. You have at least three data rows under the headings. Row 1 is not data.

If in the formula bar at B3 you see empty, you are clicking another cell. Look at the top-left field. If you see 1.0 or 1,0, it is still the number one — fine.

✅

Check: You can say the address of any cell. The grade table has headings in row 1 and at least three data rows. Subject and grade are in two columns, not in one sentence.

What to take from this lesson

© 2026 Ing. Martin Polak / AlgoRhino · 内容使用条款