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Excel Spreadsheets
Parts of an Excel Formula
Now that you know the purpose of a formula, let's take a look at the different parts of a formula.
A Microsoft Excel formula is listed below. Review the parts of the formula and its definition. Understanding the parts of a formula is vital in helping you understand how formulas work in a spreadsheet.
=Sum (A1:B4) * 3
An Equal Sign (=) : typed in a cell to before the formula to indicate a formula will be entered
Function (SUM) : a type of or statistical operation Examples: PI, SUM, AVE, MIN, MAX
Parentheses ( ): controls the order in which expressions within a formula are evaluated
Cell References: used to refer to a cell or range in an Excel spreadsheet
Examples: A1, B4
Constant: a value entered into a formula; constants can be numbers or text
Examples: 2, 3, 100, “Age”
Excel Formula
Operators: special symbols that perform specific operations between operands and then return a result.
Examples: +, -, *, /