Excel For Beginners- Wk 4.pdf

EXCEL FOR BEGINNERS- WEEK 4 EXCEL 2019 Introducing Formulas and Functions In this week’s class we will cover the following:  Understanding formula basics  Entering formulas and functions into your worksheets  Understanding how to us...

EXCEL FOR BEGINNERS- WEEK 4 EXCEL 2019 Introducing Formulas and Functions In this week’s class we will cover the following:  Understanding formula basics  Entering formulas and functions into your worksheets  Understanding how to use cell references in formulas  Correcting common formula errors  Getting tips for working with formulas Formulas are what make a spreadsheet program so useful. If it weren’t for formulas, a spreadsheet would simply be a fancy word processing document that has great support for tabular information. You use formulas in your Excel worksheets to calculate results from the data stored in the worksheet. When data changes, the formulas calculate updated results with no extra effort on your part. This class introduces formulas and functions and helps you to get up to speed with this important element. Understanding Formula Basics A formula consists of special code entered into a cell. It performs a calculation of some type and returns a result that is displayed in the cell. Formulas use a variety of operators and worksheet functions to work with values and text. The values and text used in formulas can be located in other cells, which makes changing data easy and gives worksheets their dynamic nature. For example, you can see multiple scenarios quickly by changing the data in a worksheet and letting your formulas do the work. A formula always begins with an equal sign and can contain any of these elements:   Mathematical operators, such as + (for addition) and * (for multiplication)  Cell references (including named cells and ranges)  Values or text  Worksheet functions (such as SUM and AVERAGE) After you enter a formula, the cell displays the calculated result of the formula. The formula itself appears in the Formula bar when you select the cell, however. Here are a few examples of formulas:  =150*.05 Multiplies 150 times 0.05. This formula uses only values, and it always returns the same result. You could just enter the value 7.5 into the cell, but using a formula provides information on how the value was calculated.  =A3 Displays the value in cell A3. No calculation is performed on A3.  =A1+A2 Adds the values in cells A1 and A2.  =Income– Expenses  Subtracts the value in the cell named Expenses from the value in the cell named Income.  =SUM(A1:A12) Adds the values in the range A1:A12, using the SUM function.  =A1=C12 Compares cell A1 with cell C12. If the cells are the same, the formula returns TRUE; otherwise, it returns FALSE. Note that every formula begins with an equal sign (=). The initial equal sign allows Excel to distinguish a formula from plain text. Using operators in formulas Excel formulas support a variety of operators. Operators are symbols that indicate what mathematical (or logical) operation you want the formula to perform. Operator Name + Addition – Subtraction  * Multiplication / Division ^ Exponentiation & Concatenation = Logical comparison (equal to) > Logical comparison (greater than) < Logical comparison (less than) >= Logical comparison (greater than or equal to)