Be able to explain the difference between absolute and relative cell addresses in formulas, and how these make a difference when formulas are copied. With a typical problem-solving spreadsheet, text is used to label and explain the various inputs and outputs in the spreadsheet. Input values are entered as numeric values. These formulas provide the mechanism for us to tell the computer exactly what kind of calculation to make. If you were going to give instructions to a friend as to how to find your home, you would want to be very careful so that your friend would not get lost.
Formulas contain our instructions to the computer as to how to perform a calculation.
Computers cannot see our body language, they do not notice the inflection of our voices or pick up the meaning of our words based on the context of the situation. Hence, we must give instructions to the computer in explicit terms with no ambiguity. If you really want to get the correct result from a computer formula, then you must take responsibility to be sure that your formulas are entered correctly. You could get an answer of 5.5 or 9. It makes a difference.