Excel Formulas

Formulas
A formula in Excel is used to do mathematical calculations. Formulas always start with the
equal sign (=) typed in the cell, followed by your calculation.

Formulas can be used for calculations such as:

=1+1
=2*2
=4/2=2
It can also be used to calculate values using cells as input.
Let's have a look at an example.
Now we want to do a calculation with those values.

Step by step:

Select C1 and type (=)

Left click A1
Type (+)
Left click A2
Press enter
Lets change from addition to multiplication, by replacing the (+) with a (*). It should now
be =A1*A2, press enter to see what happens.
You got C1(8), right? Well done!

Excel is great in this way. It allows you to add values to cells and make you do calculations on them.

Now, try to change the multiplication (*) to subtraction (-) and dividing (/).

Delete all values in the sheet after you have tried the different combinations.
The fill function continued the calculation that you used
for Iva and was able to understand that you wanted to
count the cells in the next rows as well.

The total is called SUM in Excel.

There are two ways to calculate the SUM.

Adding cells
SUM function
Lets use the fill function to continue the formula, step
by step:

Select E2
Fill E2:E4

Excel has many pre-made

functions available for you to
use. The SUM function is one
of the most used ones. You
will learn more about
functions in a later chapter.
Sum by adding cells, step by step:

Select cell E5, and type =

Left click E2
Type (+)
Left click E3
Type (+)
Left click E4
Hit enter
 2
SUM function, step by step: .

Type E5(=)
Write SUM
Double click SUM in the menu
Mark the range E2:E4
Hit enter

1. 3.
Chapter Summary

Values used in formulas can be typed directly and by using cells. The formula
updates the result if you change the value of cells, which is used in the formula. The
fill function can be used to continue your formulas upwards, downwards and
sidewards. Excel has pre-built functions, such as SUM.
Try same procedure for all arithmetic
operators
Relative references
Absolute references
Excel Relative References
Cells in Excel have unique references, which is its location.

References are used in formulas to do calculations, and the fill function can be used to continue
formulas sidewards, downwards and upwards.

Excel has two types of references:

Relative references
Absolute references

Absolute reference is a choice we make. It is a command which tells Excel to lock a reference.

The dollar sign ($) is used to make references absolute.

Example of relative reference: A1

Example of absolute reference: $A$1

Relative reference
References are relative by default, and are without dollar sign ($).

The relative reference makes the cells reference free. It gives the fill function freedom to continue
the order without restrictions.
ABSOLUTE REFERENCE
Excel Addition Operator
Addition Operator
Addition uses the + symbol in Excel, and is also known as plus.

There are two ways to do addition in Excel. Either by using the + symbol in a formula or by using the
SUM function.

How to add cells:

Select a cell and type (=)

Select a cell
Type (+)
Select another cell
Hit enter
You can add more cells to the formula by typing (+) between the cells.
Adding Two Manual Entries
Type A1(=)
Type 5+5
Hit enter
Adding Two Cells
First let's add some numbers to work with. Type the following values:

How to do it, step by step:

Type B1(=)
Select A1
Type (+)
Select A2
Hit enter
Adding Several Cells
First let's add some numbers to work with. Type the following values:

Step by step to add several cells:

Type B1(=)
Select A1
Type (+)
Select A2
Type (+)
Select A3
Type (+)
Select A4
Type (+)
Select A5
Hit enter
Adding with SUM
Let's keep the numbers from the last exercise. If you did last exercise, remove the value in B1 .

Step by step to add with SUM:

Type B1(=SUM)
Double click the SUM command
Mark the range A1:A5
Hit enter
Excel Subtraction Operator
Subtraction Operator
Subtraction uses the - symbol, and is also known as minus.

How to subtract cells:

Select a cell and type (=)

Select the minuend
Type (-)
Select the subtrahend
Hit enter

Note: The minuend is the number to which the subtrahend subtracts from.
Subtracting Two Manual Entries
Let's start with adding in a formula. Start with a clean sheet

Step by step:

Type A1(=)
Type 100-50
Hit enter
Subtracting Using Two Cells
Let's add some numbers to work with. Type the following
values:

Subtracting using two cells, step by step:

Type A3(=)
Select A1
Type (-)
Select A2
Hit enter
Subtracting Using Many Cells
Let's subtract using many cells. First, type the following values :
Step by step:

Type B1(=)
Select A1
Type (-)
Select A2
Type (-)
Select A3
Type (-)
Select A4
Type (-)
Select A5
Hit enter
Excel Multiplication Operator
Multiplication Operator
Multiplication uses the * symbol in Excel.

How to multiply cells:

Select a cell and type (=)

Select a cell
Type (*)
Select another cell
Hit enter
You can add more cells to formula by typing (*) between the cells.

Let's have a look at some examples.

Multiplying Manual Entries
Let's start with adding in a formula. Start with a clean sheet.

Step by step:

Type A1(=)
Type 2*2
Hit enter
Multiplying Two Cells
Let's add some numbers to work with. Type the following values:
Step by step:

Type A3(=)
Select A1
Type (*)
Select A2
Hit enter
Excel Division Operator
Division Operator
Division uses the / symbol in Excel.

How to do division cells:

Select a cell and type (=)

Select a cell
Type (/)
Select another cell
Hit enter
You can add more cells to the formula by typing (/)
between the cells.

Let's have a look at some examples.

Dividing Manual Entries

Let's start with adding in a formula. Start with a clean

sheet.

Step by step:

Type A1(=)
Type 4/2
Hit enter
Dividing Two Cells

Let's add some numbers to work with. Type the following values:
Step by step:

Type A3(=)
Select A1
Type (/)
Select A2
Hit enter
Excel Parentheses
Parentheses
Parentheses () is used to change the order of an operation.

Using parentheses makes Excel do the calculation for the numbers inside the parentheses first, before
calculating the rest of the formula.

Parentheses are added by typing () on both sides of numbers, like (1+2).

Examples
No parentheses

=10+5*2

The result is 20 because it calculates (10+10)

With parentheses
Formulas can have groups of parentheses.
=(10+5)*2
=(10+5)+(2*4)+(4/2)
The result is 30 because it calculates (15)*2
 Without Parentheses

The result is 17, the calculation is 2+15. It

uses 15 because 3*5=15.
 With One Parentheses

The result is 25, the calculation is 5*5. It uses 5 because it has calculated numbers inside the
parentheses (2+3)=5 first.
With Many Parentheses

The result is 17, the calculation is 5+8+4.

The numbers inside the parentheses are calculated first.