Excel Formulas and Functions
Excel Formulas and Functions
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Formula Basics
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. To show how formulas work, we'll begin with a simple exercise by selecting blank cell A1. Then type =5+5, and press Enter. Excel performs the calculation and produces a result of 10 in cell A1. Notice the formula bar shows the formula you just typed. What appears in the cell is the result; what appears in the formula bar is the underlying value, which is a formula in this case.
Order of Operation
When performing calculations in a formula, Excel follows certain rules of precedence: Excel calculates expressions within parentheses first. Excel calculates multiplication and division before addition and subtraction. Excel calculates consecutive operators with the same level of precedence from left to right. For example, the formula = 10+10*2 gives a result of 30 as Excel multiplies 10 by 2 and then adds 10. However, the formula =(10+10)*2 produces a result of 40. This is because Excel calculates the expression (10+10) within the parentheses first. It then multiplies by 2. If you are unsure of the order in which Excel calculates, use parentheses - even if the parentheses aren't necessary. Parentheses also make your formulas easier to read.
Operations in Formulas
: , % ^ * / + & = < > >= <= <> Colon Single space Comma Negation (as in -1) Percent Exponentiation Multiplication Division Addition Subtraction Connects two strings of text Comparison (Equal to) Less Than Greater Than Greater Than or Equal to Less Than or Equal to Not Equal to
Conditional Formatting
Conditional Formats respond to the contents of cells. They are almost always applied to group of cells, often rows or columns of totals, if not entire tables. Click Home Tab, locate the Style group and click on the downward arrow of Conditional Formatting.
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When you click on Highlight Cell Rules this method will keep the cells inactive until the values (numeric or text) contain the specific rule you select. You have the option to select: Greater Than, Less Than Between, Equal To, Text that Contains, A Date Occurring, and Duplicate Values. Once you have selected a rule a dialog box will appear where you may specify the appropriate criteria. Note: Within the dialog box the dropdown arrow will display numerous options of how the information will appear. In addition to Highlighting Cell Rules there are four other options: 1. Top Bottom: Selected formatting applied to all cells in a range that are greater than or less than a given threshold. Click Top 10 Items, Top 10%, Botton 10 Items, Bottom 10%, Above Average, or Below Average to display a dialog box where you can specify the appropriate criteria. 2. Data Bars: Gradient fills of color within cells whose lengths indicate the values in the cells relative to all other adjacent cells formatted using the same conditions. Choose from a number of different colors, based on the current theme. Excel will automatically allow you to preview the proposed changes before actually clicking on the changes. 3. Color Scales: Two-color or three-color formats whose color indicates the values in the cells relative to all other adjacent cells formatted using the same conditions. Choose from a number of different color combinations, based on the current theme. 4. Icon Sets: Sets of three, four, or five tiny graphic images placed inside cells whose shape or color indicates the values in the cells relative to all other adjacent cells formatted using the same conditions. Choose from a number of different types of icons.
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Note: Before selecting Conditional Formatting, make sure the cells to be formatted have been selected. There are a few more options with how to format data. We can go again to the Conditional Formatting box in the Styles group. From there select New Rule. This will open a dialogue box where we are able to format how we want the formatting to appear. You can select color options, the maximum and minimum value and the format style. Tip: After adding rules they can easily be removed. Return to the Conditional Formatting box in the Styles group. Click on the downward arrow and select Clear Rules from Selected Cells.
Cell Styles
In addition to formatting the contents of the cells we can also format the appearance of the cells. Go to the Home Tab, and locate Cell Styles
Tip: Observe the numbers in the bordered cells have been altered to currency.
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With the new Excel Formula Bar the majority of all formulas you may need are at your fingertips. For example: a Math professor is interested in determining which formula would be best to convert radians to degrees. We will go to the Formula Tab, and select the Math & Trig downward arrow. Tip: When you scroll the mouse over a formula Excel will have a small dialog box that explains the purpose of each formula.
Basic Formulas
Add the Values in Rows or Columns
Use the SUM function, which is prewritten formula, to add all the values in a row or column: 1. 2. 3. 4. Click your mouse in the cell in which you wish your result to appear Click the AutoSum button on the Home Tab or the Formulas Tab Highlight the range of cells you wish to add Press Enter
To add some of the values in a column or row: 1. Type an equal sign, type SUM, then type an opening parenthesis. 2. Type or select the cell references you want to add. A comma (,) separates individual arguments that tell the function what to calculate 3. Type a closing parenthesis, and then press ENTER. For example: =SUM(B2:B4, B6) and =SUM(B2, B5, B7)
To see more functions, click More Functions on the AutoSum list to open the Insert Function dialog box OR go to the Formulas Tab and click on the More Functions orange textbook icon.
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Tip: You can also enter formulas and cell references by typing them in the formula bar after selecting a cell.
Nonadjacent cells can be listed in the formula by separating them with a comma rather than a colon. For example, =SUM(A2,A4) will add cells A2 and A4, but not A3.
Copy a Formula
Using the Fill Handle
1. Select the cell that contains the formula, then position the mouse pointer over the lower-right corner of the cell until the black cross (+) appears. 2. Drag the fill handle over the cell or cells to which you want to copy the formula, then release the mouse button.
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Pressing [F4] repeatedly over a reference (cell) will allow you to switch between making the column, the row, or nothing Absolute.
Relative References
By default Excel uses Relative Referencing. In relative reference, you actually refer to cell that is above or below or left or right to a number of rows or columns. For example, if you refer to cell D2 from F2, you are actually referring to a column that is two columns to the left of cell D2 and in the same row (the second 2row). When a formula that possesses a relative reference is copied from one cell to another cell, the value in the copied cell also changes. i.e., if you copy a formula =C2+D2 from E2 to the cell F2, the formula in F2 adjusts in such a way that when the cell F2 is dragged downwards by one row, the formula automatically changes to C3+D3 and places the resulting value of C3+D3 in cell F3.
Absolute References
In case, if you wish to maintain the original references as they were, then you should make use of the absolute references. If you want to make the above example retain the original reference when it is copied, then you should precede the columns A2 and B2 and the row number by a Dollar ($) symbol. i.e., you should use the formula as =$C$2+$B$2 so that when you copy the formula the original reference is retained. To make the cell appear in absolute format ($) click on the cell you would like to edit and press [F4] and press enter. You will observe the cell A1 turn into =$A$1. For example, if you copy or fill an absolute reference in cell B2 to cell B3, it stays the same in both cells =$A$1.
Mixed References
In some situations, you may need to make the cell reference as Mixed reference, so that you can lock either a column or a row by preceding it with a Dollar ($) symbol. For example, if you use a formula as =$D4+E4, then you are making the value that is present in cell D4 as absolute and the value in cell E4 as Relative.
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The exclamation point separates the worksheet portion of the reference from the cell portion.
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examples of some common ways Excel formulas may be applied into your daily activities. Additional formulas will be described in detail later on in the tutorial.
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Step 8: Now we want to have this formula we just created to be applied to the entire list of birthdays. To do this roll your mouse over C5 until you get the + symbol from the mouse. Once the mouse pointer looks like the +, drag all the way to the bottom of the column and release. Each column will now have a TRUE or FALSE in the box indicating that the birthday was between six months to five years ago, and will indicate FALSE if the birthday was within the last five years.
SUMIF Function
The SUMIF function is used to add up the values in cells in a selected range that meet certain criteria. The syntax for the SUMIF function is: = SUMIF (Range, Criteria, Sum Range) Range - the group of cells the function is to search. Criteria - determines whether the cell is to be counted or not. Sum Range - the data range that is summed if the first range meets the specified criteria. If this range is omitted, the first range is summed instead.
SUMIFS Function
The SUMIFS function adds up the data in selected cells when specific criteria are met in two or more ranges of data. The SUMIFS function works like the AND function in that it only sums the data if the criterion for each range is true. The syntax for the SUMIFS function is: =SUMIFS ( Sum_range, Criteria_range1, Criteria1, Criteria_range2, Criteria2, ...) Sum_range - the range of cells to be added. Criteria_range - the range of cells the function is to search.
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Criteria - determines whether a cell in the Sum_range is to be counted or not. Note: Up to 127 range/criteria pairs can be entered into the function.
ROUND Function
The ROUND function is used to reduce a given value to a specific number of decimal places. The syntax for the ROUND function is: = ROUND ( Number, Num_digits ) Number - the value to be rounded. Num_digits - the number of decimal places to reduce the above number to.
ROUNDOWN Function
The ROUNDDOWN function is used to round a number down towards the next lowest number. ROUNDDOWN is similar to the ROUND function except that it always rounds a number downward while the ROUND function will round up or down depending on whether the last digit is greater than or less than 5. For example, the ROUND function would round the number 34.567 up to 34.6 because the second decimal place (6) is greater than 5. Since ROUNDDOWN doesn't care whether the second digit is greater or less than 5 it rounds the answer down to 34.5. The syntax for the ROUNDDOWN function is: = ROUNDDOWN ( Number, Num_digits ) Number - the value to be rounded. Num_digits - the number of decimal places to reduce the above number to.
ROUNDUP Function
The ROUNDUP function is used to round a number upwards towards the next highest number. ROUNDUP is similar to the ROUND function except that it always rounds a number upward while the ROUND function will round up or down depending on whether the last digit is greater than or less than 5. For example, the ROUND function would round the number 34.231 down to 34.2 because the second decimal place (3) is less than 5. Since ROUNDUP doesn't care whether the second digit is greater or less than 5 it rounds the answer up to 34.3. The syntax for the ROUNDUP function is: = ROUNDUP ( Number, Num_digits ) Number - the value to be rounded. Num_digits - the number of decimal places to reduce the above number to.
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TRANSPOSE Function
The TRANSPOSE function, one of Excel's Lookup & Reference functions, is used to copy data located in a row into a column or copy data located in a column into a row. The syntax for the TRANSPOSE function is: { = TRANSPOSE ( Array )} Array - the range of cells to be copied from the horizontal to the vertical or vertical to the horizontal. The curly braces " { } " surrounding the function indicate that it is an array function.
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DATEDIF Function
The DATEDIF function can be used to calculate the number of days between two dates in versions of Excel from 97 to 2010. An interesting point about DATEDIF is that it is an "undocumented" function which means it is not listed with other functions under the Formulas tab in Excel 2010. To use the function you must type it manually into a cell on the worksheet rather than using the dialog box method available for other functions. The syntax for the DATEDIF function is: = DATEDIF ( start_date , end_date , unit ) The function has three arguments that need to be entered as part of the function: start_date - the first or starting date. end_date - the second or last date. unit - tells the function to find the number of days ("D"), complete months ("M"), or complete years ("Y") between the two dates. The unit argument can also be a combination of days, months, and years: "YM" - excludes years - calculates the number of months between two dates as if the dates were in the same year. "YD" - excludes years - calculates the number of days between two dates as if the dates were in the same year. "MD" - excludes months - calculates the number of days between two dates as if the dates were in the same month and year.
WORKDAY Function
The WORKDAY function can be used to calculate the end date or start date of a project for a given number of business days. The number of business days cannot include weekend days. Specific holidays can also be omitted. The syntax for the WORKDAY function is: = WORKDAY ( Start_date , Days , Holidays ) Start_date - the start date of the project or time period in question. Days - the number of days work on the project occurred after the Start_date. Holidays - can be used to exclude one or more dates from the total number of working days (optional).
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NOW Function
The NOW function, one of Excel's date and time functions, is used to add the current time and date to a spreadsheet. The syntax for the NOW function is: = NOW ( ) Note: The NOW function takes no arguments.
MAX Function
The MAX function, one of Excel's statistical functions, is used to find the largest or maximum number in a given list of values or arguments. The syntax for the MAX function is: =MAX( argument1, argument2, ... argument30 ) Argument1 ... argument 30: The arguments can be numbers, named ranges, arrays, or cell references. Up to 30 arguments can be entered.
MIN Function
The MIN function, one of Excel's statistical functions, is used to find the smallest or minimum value in a list of numbers or arguments. The syntax for the MIN function is: =MIN ( argument1, argument2, ... argument30 ) Argument1 ... argument 30: Arguments can be numbers, named ranges, arrays, or cell references. Up to 30 arguments can be entered.
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COUNTIF Function
The COUNTIF function, one of Excel's COUNT functions, is used to count up the number of cells in a selected range that meet specified criteria. The syntax for the COUNTIF function is: =COUNTIF ( Range, Criteria) Range - the group of cells the function is to search. Criteria - determines whether the cell is to be counted or not. This can be a number, expression, cell reference, or text string.
COUNTIFS Function
The COUNTIFS function, similar to Excel's COUNTIF function, counts up the number of times data in two or more ranges of cells meets multiple criterion. The syntax for the COUNTIFS function is: =COUNTIFS( Criteria_range-1, Criteria-1, Criteria_range-2, Criteria-2, ...) Criteria_range - the group of cells the function is to search. Criteria - determines whether the cell is to be counted or not. Note: Up to 127 range/criteria pairs can be entered into the function. The ranges must be of identical size, and the function only counts instances where the criterion for each range is met simultaneously - such as in the same row.
COUNT Function
Excel's COUNT function is one of a group of Count Functions that can be used when you need to total the number of cells in a selected range. The COUNT function's job is to only add up the cells in a selected range that contain numbers. It ignores empty cells or those contain text. If a number is later added to an empty cell the function will be automatically updated to include this new data. Be aware that dates, times, functions, and formulas are stored as numbers in Excel. The COUNT function will, therefore, include any cells containing these types of data in the total. The syntax for the COUNT function is: =COUNT( Range ) Range - the group of cells the function is to count.
COUNTA Function
Excels COUNTA function is one of a group of Count Functions that can be used when you need to total the number of cells in a selected range. The COUNTA function's job is to add up the cells in a selected range that contain numbers, dates, or text labels. It ignores empty cells. If data is later added to an empty cell the function will be automatically updated to include the addition. The syntax for the COUNTA function is: = COUNTA ( Value1, Value2, ... Value255 ) Tip: Up to 255 values can be entered into the function.
COUNTBLANK Function
The COUNTBLANK function, one of Excel's COUNT functions, is used to count up the number of blank cells in a selected range.
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The syntax for the COUNTBLANK function is: =COUNTBLANK( Range) Range - the group of cells the function is to search.
MEDIAN Function
The MEDIAN function, one of Excel's statistical functions, shows you the middle number in a data list. Middle, in this case, refers to arithmetic value rather than the location of the numbers in a list. If there is an even set of numbers, the median is the average of the middle two values. The syntax for the MEDIAN function is: = MEDIAN ( number1, number2, ... number255 ) number1, ... number255: means that up to 255 numbers can be entered into the function. These can be numbers or the cell references where the data is located.
MODE.SNGL Function
In Excel 2010, the MODE.SNGL function, has replaced the MODE function found in previous versions of Excel. Despite its new name, MODE.SNGL still does the same job which is to show you the most frequently occurring value in a list of numbers. The syntax for the MODE.SNGL function is: = MODE.SNGL ( number1, number2, ... number255 ) Note: Up to 255 numbers can be entered into the function.
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