Excel 2019 Bible

Part II: Working with Formulas and Functions

After you enter a formula, the cell displays the calculated result of the formula. The for-

mula itself appears in the Formula bar when you select the cell, however.

Here are a few examples of formulas:

=150*.05 Multiplies 150 times 0.05. This formula uses only values, and it always

returns the same result. You could just enter the value 7.5 into the cell,

but using a formula provides information on how the value was

calculated.

=A3 Displays the value in cell A3. No calculation is performed on A3.

=A1+A2 Adds the values in cells A1 and A2.

=Income–

Expenses

Subtracts the value in the cell named Expenses from the value in the

cell named Income.

=SUM(A1:A12) Adds the values in the range A1:A12, using the SUM function.

=A1=C12 Compares cell A1 with cell C12. If the cells are the same, the formula

returns TRUE; otherwise, it returns FALSE.

Note that every formula begins with an equal sign (=). The initial equal sign allows Excel to

distinguish a formula from plain text.

Using operators in formulas

Excel formulas support a variety of operators. Operators are symbols that indicate what

mathematical (or logical) operation you want the formula to perform. Table 9.1 lists the

operators that Excel recognizes. In addition to these, Excel has many built-in functions

that enable you to perform additional calculations.

TABLE 9.1 Operators Used in Formulas

Operator Name

+ Addition

• Subtraction

• Multiplication
  / Division
  ^ Exponentiation
  & Concatenation
  = Logical comparison (equal to)

  
  

  Logical comparison (greater than)
  < Logical comparison (less than)
  = Logical comparison (greater than or equal to)