▪ Excel Spreadsheet Formulas

Numbers and Mathematical Calculations

Microsoft Excel has many functions that you can use. Functions allow you to quickly and easily find an average, the highest number, the lowest number, a count of the number of items in a list, and make many other useful calculations.

Reference Operators

Reference operators refer to a cell or a group of cells. There are two types of reference operators, range and union.

A range reference refers to all the cells between and including the reference. A range reference consists of two cell addresses separated by a colon. The reference A1:A3 includes cells A1, A2, and A3. The reference A1:C3 includes A1, A2, A3, B1, B2, B3, C1, C2, and C3.

A union reference includes two or more references. A union reference consists of two or more cell addresses separated by a comma. The reference A7,B8,C9 refers to cells A7, B8, and C9.

Functions

Microsoft Excel has a set of prewritten formulas called functions. Functions differ from regular formulas in that you supply the value but not the operators, such as +, -, *, or /. For example, you can use the SUM function to add. When using a function, remember the following:

o Use an equal sign to begin a formula.

o Specify the function name.

o Enclose arguments within parentheses.

o Use a comma to separate arguments.

Here is an example of a function:

=SUM(2,13,A1,B27)

In this function:

o The equal sign begins the function.

o SUM is the name of the function.

o 2, 13, A1, and B27 are the arguments.

o Parentheses enclose the arguments.

o A comma separates the arguments.

The SUM function adds the arguments together. In the exercises that follow, we will look at various functions.

Typing a Function

1. Open Microsoft Excel.

2. Type 12 in cell B1.

3. Press Enter.

4. Type 27 in cell B2.