PC World - USA (2020-04)

APRIL 2020 PCWorld 125

numeric” values and characters.

3. Notice that row 18 (C and D) displays
   the actual formulas that are in C and D 16.


4. AVERAGE FUNCTION
   Most everyone knows that an average is
   determined by adding all the values in a list,
   then dividing by the number of values listed;
   e.g., 4+5+3=12/3=4, which is the average.
   You can use the SUM function and add the
   division all in one formula, or you can just use
   the AVERAGE function. The syntax is:
   =AVERAGE(range).


5. Enter some numbers
   in column A. Enter the
   AVERAGE function at the
   bottom of the list:
   =AVERAGE(A4:A13) and
   note the answer (in our
   case) is 53. You can verify
   your answer with the SUM
   function; that is:
   =SUM(A4:A13/10) = 53.


6. Next enter some
   more numbers in column C
   but, this time, add some
   text to one cell,
   punctuation to another,
   and a space to another.
   Enter the same formula:
   =AVERAGE(A4:A15), and
   note the answer is 78. To
   verify, enter the SUM
   formula omitting the cells
   that contain non-numeric characters:
   Cells that contain text, logical values,
   punctuation, or empty cells are disregarded;
   but cells with the zeros (as a number, but not
   as text) are included. A text zero would have
   an apostrophe in front of the zero, which you
   cannot see in the cell, but is visible in the
   Formula Bar.
   IMPORTANT NOTE: If you’re importing
   huge databases from a mainframe or an
   outside, external source, sometimes the
   numbers export as text. How can you know
   if a number is really text? Generally, text is

Use the

RAND

function to

create lists

of random

numbers.