Section: Discussion
...Subsection: `What if...' questions

Spreadsheets are most powerful when we're using them to answer "what if" questions. Since we're setting up relationships between numbers, we can change a single number and see what it does to all the other numbers.

Before spreadsheets, when all this sort of information was kept on paper, you couldn't change things around or answer questions without an enormous amount of work. Now, a couple keystrokes can give you an answer in less than a second.

For example:

• The Fed is hinting that they'll raise interest rates 0.5%. What will that do to our investments?

• How many more fish will survive next year if we cut toxic dumping in the lake by 5%?

• The minimum wage is going up $0.75/hour next year. How will that effect our salary payments, and what do we need to do to offset the change?