ABZ Private School
British Curriculum
MS EXCEL: Functions and Formulas
Subject: ICT
Formulas in Microsoft Excel begin with
an equal sign. The equal sign tells Excel
that the succeeding characters
constitute a formula. If you don't enter
the equal sign, Excel will treat your
entry as text and the calculation will fail.
Entering Formulas
After the equal sign, a formula includes the addresses of the cells whose values will
be manipulated with appropriate operands placed in between. The operands are the
standard arithmetic operators:
Operator Meaning Example
(+) Addition =A7+A9
(-) Subtraction =A7-A9
(*) Multiplication =A7*A9
(/ ) Division =
A7/A9
(ˆ ) Exponents =A7ˆA9
You can also enter formulas by using the point mode, where you either
click on a cell with your left mouse button or you use the arrow keys.
□ To enter ’=B2+B3+B4+B5’ into cell B6 using the point:
– Left click on cell B6 to make it active.
– Type ’=’.
– Use the up arrow key to move to cell B5, or left click on cell B5.
– Type ’+’.
–Use the up arrow or mouse to add cells B4, B3, and B2 in the same
fashion.
– Press Enter when you are finished entering the formula.
Reference Operators
Reference operators refer to a cell or a group of cells. There are two main types of
reference operators:
1. Range:
□Refers to all of the cells between and including the reference.
□Consists of two cell addresses separated by a colon.
ˆ EXAMPLE: ’A1:A3’ includes cells A1, A2, and A3.
□EXAMPLE: ’A1:C3’ includes cells A1, A2, A3, B1, B2,
B3, C1, C2, and C3.
2. Union:
□Includes two or more references.
□Consists of two or more cell addresses separated by a comma.
ˆ EXAMPLE: ’A7, B8, C9’ refers to cells A7, B8, and C9.
□EXAMPLE: ’A7, B8:D9, E4’ refers to cells A7, B8, B9, C8, C9,
D8, D9 and E4.
Autosum
You can use the Autosum icon on the standard toolbar, which
automatically adds the contents of a cluster
of adjacent cells.
□ Select the cell that the sum will appear in that is outside
the cluster of
cells whose values will be added.
□Click the Autosum button (Greek letter sigma, Σ).
ˆ Highlight the group of cells that will be
summed.
□ Press the Enter key on the keyboard or click the
green check mark on the
formula bar.
A Function instead of a Formula
Functions can be a more efficient way of performing mathematical operations than formulas.
Specifically , in
many cases, a function will simplify formulas that you can type in manually, such as average or sum.
ˆ EXAMPLE: If you wanted to add the values of cells D1 through D10, you could type the formula
’=D1+D2+D3+D4+D5+D6+D7+D8+D9+D10’, or a shorter way would be to use the SUM function
and simply type ’=SUM(D1:D10)’.
The following table contains the definitions and examples of several other available functions:
Function Example Description
SUM =SUM(A1:A100) Finds the sum of cells A1 through A100.
AVERAG =AVERAGE(B1:B10) Finds the average of the cells B1 through B10.
E MAX =MAX(C1:C100) Returns the highest number from cells C1 through
C100.
MIN =MIN(D1:D100) Returns the lowest number from cells D1 through D100.
SQRT =SQRT(D10) Finds the square root of the value in D10.
TODAY =TODAY() Returns the current date (leave the parentheses empty).
Copying Formulas/Functions and Cell
References
As we’ve seen, the best way to construct a formula or a function is to use cell references (i.e., use the cell
addresses) instead of typing actual numbers. In turn, this enables Excel to automatically update the results
of the formulas and functions when you change the values in the cells referenced.
Using cell references in formulas and functions is also important when you copy a formula or function. When
you copy the formula or function, the cell addresses will be copied in a particular way depending on how
the cells are referenced. Specifically, Excel records cell addresses in formulas and functions in three different
ways:
□Relative cell reference.
□ Absolute cell reference.
□ Mixed cell reference.
There are several different ways
exist to copy and paste a formula or
a function:
□ Use Copy and Paste from the Edit drop menu.
□Use the Ctrl+C and Ctrl+P keyboard
shortcuts.
□ Use the Autofill feature – activate
the cell
containing the formula or function by selecting
it and drag
the Autofill handle down the column or across
the row to fill in the remaining cells.
