What are absolute and relative cell references?
You can insert references into formulas that refer to values in other cells, enabling you to make calculations based on those values. There are two basic types of cell references: • Relative • Absolute The difference between the two reference types is in how Spreadsheet treats a formula when you copy it to another cell. An example of a relative reference is shown below. The formula in cell D2 is a relative reference to values in cells B2 and C2. Note the formula in D2, displayed in the formula input line above the columns. To copy the formula to cells D3 and D4 to calculate totals for rows 3 and 4, click and drag cell D2’s fill handle to select D3 and D4 and release the mouse button. When you copy the formula to these two cells, Spreadsheet changes the formula so it makes sense in the two new cell locations: D3: =B3*C3 D4: =B4*C4 This change is appropriate because you do not want to make an exact copy of the formula in D2 when you copy it to D3 and D4. An exact copy would only duplicat
