Excel has a powerful formula writing capability. Below you will find some of the basic rules for writing formulas. Also built into Excel is an excellent help function to find examples of commonly used formulas, troubleshooting formulas, etc.

Basic Formulas | Mathematical Rules | Accessing Examples in HELP

Once you have data in the spreadsheet, you need to select the cell where you want the answer to your calculation. In the example below, we are looking for a total in cell B10.

Click in the cell where you want the answer to your formula. In this example, it would be in B10. Note that on the top of the grid, B10 is indicated as a check that you have the cell you want. The formula will be writing in the fx box above the cells.

There are at least two ways to create the total. One is to create a formula that adds each cell from B3 through B8. This formula would be:

=B3+B4+B5+B6+B7+B8

The shorter way would be to use a function of Excel. In this case, you would use the SUM function. The formula would look like this:

=SUM(B3:B8)

Following the equal sign, you would put in the function SUM, following be a parenthesis. In the parenthesis would go the range of cells that you wish to sum. In this case the first cell is B3 and the last is B8. You use a colon to separate the first and last cell.

You may have noticed that once you typed in the equal sign, the B10 changed to SUM with a down arrow key:

You will now see the most commonly used functions, such as SUM, AVERAGE, etc. You can select from this list or type in the function.

To explore a variety of functions, go to the HELP function:

In the search blank, type in formulas and click on the green arrow.

You will find a variety of helps available. To find out more about formulas, click on the examples of commonly used formulas link.

Don't hesitate to make use of the HELP feature. It will save you both time and frustration.

Excel uses the following symbols for mathematical computation:

+	Addition
-	Subtraction
*	Multiply
/	Divide

 

The formulas in Excel follow the rules for algebra. This would include, but not limited to, the following:

• Anything in parenthesis is done first.
• Multiply and divide are done before add and subtract.

If you create a problem where the answer is not even, and thus you have many numbers after the decimal point, you can highlight that cell and change the number of decimal places that show. To do this, first click in the cell. Then go to Format/Cell.

On the menu you will see a space for the number of decimal places. You can select any number you wish. If you select zero, the formula will round to the nearest whole number.