Ch.

1 Introduction to Formulas
Arithmetic & Comparison Operators

Arithmetic & Comparison Operators

Operator Meaning Example Result

+ Addition A1+B1 Numeric Value

‐ Subtraction or Negative A1‐B1 Numeric Value

* Multiplication A1*B1 Numeric Value

/ Division A1/B1 Numeric Value

= Equal to A1=B1 Logical Value (TRUE or FALSE)

> Greater than A1>B1 Logical Value (TRUE or FALSE)

< Less than A1<B1 Logical Value (TRUE or FALSE)

>= Greater than or equal to A1>=B1 Logical Value (TRUE or FALSE)

<= Less than or equal to A1<=B1 Logical Value (TRUE or FALSE)

<> Not equal to A1<>B1 Logical Value (TRUE or FALSE)

Text Concatenation Operators

Text Concatenation Operators

Operator Meaning Example Result

& Connects, or
concatenates,
multiple
values to
produce one
continuous Want to combine the values in The shows what the formula in
text value columns A‐C. I added a space, via D1 looks like. You can see the value
the space bar, so the words would in D1 has the two words combined
have a space between them. nicely.

Operator Precedence

If you combine several operators in a single formula, Excel performs the operations in a specific order,
described below. If operators within the same formula share the same precedence Excel then defaults

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from left to right. The user may change the order by which calculations are performed by using
parentheses.

The following is an example of why the precedence needs to be understood and why it is important:

Formula Result Calculation

=5+2*3 11 (2 times 3) plus 5
=(5+2)*3 21 (5 plus 2) times 3

Operator Precedence
Operator Meaning
* and / Multiplication and Division
+ and ‐ Addition and Subtraction
& Text Concatenation
= Equal to
<> Not equal to
<= Less than or equal to
>= Greater than or equal to

UPPER, LOWER, PROPER, and TRIM

These formulas all work with text. After using one of these functions it is good practice to paste
special\values so that they will remain in their desired formatting.

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 UPPER, LOWER, PROPER, and TRIM

Formula Description
=UPPER Converts all text to upper case
=LOWER Converts all text to lower case
Capitalizes the first letter in a text string and any other letters in
=PROPER text that follow any character other than a letter, i.e. a space.
Converts all other letters to lowercase
Removes all blank, unnecessary spaces at the start and end of a
=TRIM string including extra spaces, tabs, and other characters that
don’t print.

& (Ampersand)

The & connects, or concatenates, multiple values to produce one continuous text value. After using this
function it is good practice to paste special\values so that they will remain in their desired formatting.

The finished product I want is to have Shasta County in one cell which I can accomplish with the &
function. By combining the values in columns A and B I have accomplished my desired task, but quite
literally. Note there is no space between the two words in cell C1.

By adding a column to the right of column A and pressing the space bar once, creating a single space , and
modifying my formula to now include columns A – C, I now have a more readable result.

Note if your data consists of

several rows you would
need to copy the blank
Notice there is no space space in B1 all the way to
the last row.
between the two words.

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SUM

The SUM function is the singularly most used function within Excel. It is used to total values in your
worksheets. These values may be continuous, noncontinuous, from different worksheets, etc, or a variety
thereof.

The syntax is =SUM(number1,[number2],[...])

An example of the formula is =SUM(A1:A4). The English translation is add up all of the values found in the
range of between A1 and A4, inclusive, and displays the result.

Add up the values in this range

And place the result here

Notice that I have one extra line within my formula. I do that on all of my formulas as a best practice. If I
need to add any additional rows, by doing so above the blank row, I am ensured my formula will properly
be modified automatically.

There are many variations to this formula, this is just one example.

ROUND

The ROUND function rounds a number to a specified number of digits. This should not be confused with
formatting to a specified decimal places.

The syntax is =ROUND(number, num_digits)

Expanding our previous SUM formula from above, the formula is =ROUND(SUM(A1:A4),2). The English
translation is add up all of the values found in the range of between A1 and A4, inclusive, round the result
to two decimal places, and display the result .

It is important not to confuse rounding to a specific number of decimals and formatting your cell to a
specific number of decimals. For example, if cell A5 below contains 18.44978. If we were to format the cell
to two decimal places, 18.45 will be displayed. However, Excel still sees it as 18.44978 (Before picture). If I

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want Excel to see, and use in subsequent calculations, 18.45 I would need to have the following rounding
formula in A5: =ROUND(SUM(A1:A4),2) (After picture)

Without ROUND Formula With ROUND Formula

COUNT

The COUNT function counts the number of cells that contain numbers and counts numbers within the list
of arguments.

The syntax is COUNT( value1, value2, …)

Continuing on with our SUM formula from above, let’s not only add up the values of the range A1:A4, but
let’s count how many numbers are included within the range, i.e. how many cells within the range has a
value in it.

The formula is =COUNT(A1:A4). The English translation is count how many cells within the range has a
value in it and display the result.

Notice that the range is exactly the same as our

SUM, A1:A4, which includes four rows. The value
returned in cell A7 is three, because only three of the
four rows have values in them.

If you are trying to count text, use the COUNTA formula which counts the non‐blank cells.

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IF

The formula makes a statement/question, if the answer is true then one response is obtained. If the
answer if false, then another answer is obtained.

The syntax is =IF(logical_test,value_if_true,value_if_false)

Continuing on with our SUM formula from above, let’s add some verbage to emphasize whether the result
is greater or less than twenty.

The formula is =if(A5<20,”Amount is less than twenty”,”Amount is more than twenty”). The English
translation is if the value found in A5 is less than twenty THEN display the comment ‘Amount is less than
twenty’ ELSE display the comment ‘Amount is more than twenty’.

Anchoring Rows and Columns With $ Sign

As formulas are copied either the column reference increases or the row number depending on the
direction of the copy. If copying to the right through the spreadsheet, the column reference will increase;
if copying down through the spreadsheet, the row references will increase.

In order to overrule the automatic increment, place a dollar sign in front of the reference that you don’t
want to change, the column, row, or both.

Anchoring Rows and Columns With $ Sign

Source Destination
Formula Action Formula Effect
=SUM(A1:A4) Copy formula one cell =SUM(B1:B4) Column references
to the right increased from A to B
and A to B
=SUM($A1:A4) Copy formula one cell =SUM($A1:B4) Column references A
to the right stayed constant at A and
increased from A to B
=SUM(A1:A4) Copy formula one cell =SUM(A2:A5) Row references
down increased from 1 to 2
and 4 to 5

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 =SUM(A$1:A4) Copy formula one cell =SUM(A$1:A5) Row references 1 stayed
down constant at 1 and
increased from 2 to 5
=SUM($A$1:$A$4) Copy formula =SUM($A$1:$A$4) Neither column nor row
anywhere within the references changed
spreadsheet

Combining Formulas Between Multiple Worksheets

Data can be pulled from other worksheets and utilized on others. This function can be used for both
numerical and text data. The formulas can combine one to many worksheets are ranges.

For Example, this is extremely handy when one worksheet acts as a summary and recaps information from the
detail worksheets. Our example below recaps sales on one sheet, while the monthly detail in maintained on
other sheets.

Note the worksheet names of Summary, Jan, Feb, & Mar. We are working within the Summary worksheet,
denoted by the tab color. The curser is in cell D6 which receives its information from the January worksheet.

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VLOOKUP
The VLOOKUP function searches vertically (top to bottom) the leftmost column of a table until a
value that matches or exceeds the one you are looking up is found.

The elements being looked up must be unique and must be arranged or sorted in ascending order; that
is, alphabetical order for text entries, and lowest-to-highest order for numeric entries.

The syntax is =VLOOKUP(lookup_value,table_array,col_index_num,[range_lookup]).

An example of the formula is: VLOOKUP(E2,D2:M3,2,TRUE) The English translation is using the value
found in the cell E2, look in the range of D2 to M3 row by row. If you find a value that matches or
exceeds the value in E2, using that row, go over 2 columns to the right, grab the value there and bring
it back.

There are two range_lookup argument options; TRUE or FALSE

TRUE

Is the default answer, so you may leave it out of the formula

Looks for an approximate match

If it finds an exact match it will use it.

If it doesn’t find an exact match, it will use the last item before it got greater

Alphabetical: Looking for Cat. If elements are Apple, Bird, Carpet, Dog; then
Carpet would be returned because Dog exceeds Cat alphabetically.
Numeric: Looking for 5.25. If elements are 3.0, 4.0, 5.0, 6.0, 7.0, then 5.0 would
be used. The last number before 5.25 was exceeded.
FALSE

Looks for an exact match.

If it finds an exact match it will use it.

If it doesn’t find an exact match, it will return #N/A

Alphabetical: Looking for Cat. If elements are Apple, Bird, Carpet, Dog; then
#N/A would be returned.
Numeric: Looking for 5.25. If elements are 3.0, 4.0, 5.0, 6.0, 7.0, then #N/A
would be returned because there is no exact match.

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PRACTICE SET

Using the data on the staff mileage data tab, perform the following steps:

1. Insert rows and add the header. Change the font size to 12. Make bold and italic.
2. Bold, underline, word wrap, and center headers.
3. Sort employee data lines, skipping the budget row by employee name and date
4. Using the PROPER command clean up the employees names.
5. Using the SUM formula add totals to the adopted, revised, and actual columns.
6. Add the top and bottom border to the sums.
7. Add REMAINING BALANCE text and do a basic subtraction formula calculating the difference
between the revised budget total and the actual to date.
8. Add ‘NUMBER OF TRANSACTIONS TO DATE’ caption. Using the COUNT formula count the
number of transactions.
9. Add a new column entitled ‘Remaining Balance (Revised vs Actual). Using basic
subtraction calculate the remaining balance on a per line basis.
10. Your final product should look like this:

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1) Explain Arithmetic and comparison operators.
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2) Describe Upper, Lower and Trim Functions.

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3) How to combine formulas between Multiple Worksheets?

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4) Write about VLOOKUP function.

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