|
|
- Have students investigate which
purchases are the best value for money, when products are
sold in varying quantities. eg pack of 2 paper towels
costs $1.50 and a pack of 6 costs $3.60.
- Agree on a formula for calculating
unit cost - eg cost divided by unit = cost per
unit.
- Collect data on a range of products
in varying quantities and find the unit cost.
- Check results by opening a
spreadsheet document.
- Type the headings in Row 1.
- In column A, record the names of the
items to be checked. In column B, record the unit in
which the item is sold.
- Column C will contain the cost of
each item. To make the numbers appear as money, highlight
the cells C2 to C7 and from the Format menu, select
Numbers. Click on the Currency button in the dialogue box
which appears.
- Now, when we add the cost of each
item it will be shown as a money value in dollars and
cents.
- In Column D, we want the spreadsheet
to calculate the unit cost using the formula agreed upon
earlier, Cost divided by unit = cost per unit.
Spreadsheets will give very accurate results when
calculating and the answers can be very long decimal
numbers which we don't need. So, highlight the cells D2
to D7 and from the Format menu, select Numbers and in the
dialogue box, click on the Fixed button and type 3 in the
Precision box at the bottom. We are telling the computer
to give us answers to 3 decimal places.
- Click in cell D2 and type =sum(
it will appear in the Entry bar
- Click on cell C2 (it will appear in
the entry box)
- Type / (which means divided by)
- Then click in cell B2 and close the
brackets with ).
- Click on the Accept button and the
answer will appear in cell D2.
- Highlight all the cells in column D
where answers are needed and select Fill Down from the
Calculate menu.
- The results of the calculations will
appear.
- Which product would you
buy!
Save the spreadsheet and try other
products. Highlight the cells in columns A,B and C to add
data and the different answers will appear in column D.
|
