Chapter 2: Entering and Editing Worksheet Data
2
Formulas
Formulas are what make a spreadsheet a spreadsheet. Excel enables you to enter flexible
formulas that use the values (or even text) in cells to calculate a result. When you enter a
formula into a cell, the formula’s result appears in the cell. If you change any of the cells
used by a formula, the formula recalculates and shows the new result.
Formulas can be simple mathematical expressions, or they can use some of the powerful
functions that are built into Excel. Figure 2.1 shows an Excel worksheet set up to calculate
a monthly loan payment. The worksheet contains values, text, and formulas. The cells in
column A contain text. Column B contains four values and two formulas. The formulas are
in cells B6 and B10. Column D, for reference, shows the actual contents of the cells in col-
umn B.
FIGURE 2.1
You can use values, text, and formulas to create useful Excel worksheets.
This workbook, named loan payment calculator.xlsx, is available on this book’s website at
http://www.wiley.com/go/excel2019bible.You can find out much more about formulas in Part II, “Working with Formulas and Functions.”Entering Text and Values into Your Worksheets
If you’ve ever worked in a Windows application, you’ll find that entering data into work-
sheet cells is simple and intuitive. And while there are differences in how Excel stores and
displays the different data types, for the most part it just works.
Entering numbers
To enter a numeric value into a cell, select the appropriate cell, type the value, and then
press Enter, Tab, or one of the arrow navigation keys. The value is displayed in the cell and
appears in the Formula bar when the cell is selected. You can include decimal points and