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Excel Formulae

In excel the equation must start with an equals sign. That is because you want that cell to be the value stated by your equation.

The mathematical operators for addition, subtraction and division ( + - /) are the same in Excel - but the multiplication operator is * in Excel not 'x' - you soon get used to using the asterix.

You can put simple sums in a cell like:

= 100+3+56

If you do that the cell will display the answer to your calculation: 159. Try it out!

You can use brackets - just like in ordinary maths...

=(8+1)*(3-1)

will give you 18.

The BODMAS rule applies in Excel...

Mainly you will want it to calculate the outcome of adding or multiplying the values in cells. If you want it to do that you type in the cell address instead of a number - or simply click on the cell you wish to be in your calculation after you have entered '=' into the equation cell box - the program will then enter the cell name for you.

Addition = Cell1 + Cell2
Division = Cell1 / Cell2
Multiplication = Cell1 * Cell2
Subtraction = Cell1 - Cell2
Raising the value of a cell to a power 'n' = Cell1 ^n
Square root of n = SQRT(n)
Log of n = LOG(n)
Natural log of n = LN(n)

The other thing you will need to do is to get the program to look at a group of cells and return a value to you that relates to all of those highlighted cells. The formulae below need to have Cell1 and Cell2 replaced by the address of the cells at the start and end of the grouping.

Averaging
= AVERAGE(Cell1:Cell2)
Finding the Maximum Value
= MAX(Cell1:Cell2)
Finding the Minimum Value
= Min(Cell1:Cell2)
Adding a column or row
= SUM(Cell1:Cell2)

 

See the Autosum function.