46 Excel
Table 2-4 Mathematical Operators
Operator Description
1 Addition
2 Subtraction
/ Division
* Multiplication
^ ExponentiationInserting a Simple Formula
To see how to enter a simple formula, add a new column to your data set
displaying the total sales from both gasoline and other sources for each of
the ten service stations.To add a formula:1 Type Total in cell D1 and press Enter.
2 Type =b2+c2 in cell D2 and press Enter.
Note that cells B2 and C2 contain the gas and other sales for
Station 0.
The value displayed in D2 is $15,933—the sum of these two values.
At this point you could enter formulas for the remaining cells in
the data set, but it’s quicker to use Excel’s Autofi ll capability to add
those formulas for you.
3 Click cell D2 to make it the active cell.
4 Click the fi ll handle and drag it down to cell D11. Release the mouse
button.
Excel automatically inserts the formulas for the cells in the range
D3:D11. Thus, the formula in cell D11 is =b11+c11, to calculate the
total sales for Station 9. Note that Excel has also applied the same
currency format it used for the values in column B and C to values
in column D. See Figure 2-8.