Business Productivity Tools

Practicing With Excel Formulas

© Mike Splane 2006

When you enter a formula into a cell you see the formula in the “formula bar” above the worksheet. If the formula also appears in the cell, you are in “mirror” view. If the formula does not appear in the cell, you are in “flashcard” view. Switch between the two views by simultaneously pressing CTRL and ~ on the keyboard. Do this exercise in flashcard view.

Print these instructions. Construct the Excel Worksheet as shown

In the second column of the table, rewrite the formula, replacing cell references with numbers.

Do the math and enter the result in the third column.

Enter the formula into cell C5. Check your prediction with what is displayed.

If you understand the formula, move to the next formula and repeat the same steps.

=SUM(A1:B3) asks for the sum of six cells in the rectangle with A1 and B3 as opposite corners.

The ^ sign indicates an exponent. = A3 ^ 2 asks you to square the number stored in cell A3.

	A	B	C	D
1	2	3	4	2
2	5	6	2	12
3	3	2	5	7
4
5			The formula goes here

Formulas	Replace the cell references in the formulas with numbers.	Do the math.	Enter the formula into cell C5. What does Excel show?
= B3 + A3	Example: = 2 + 3	5	5
= B2 * C1
= C3 – C2
= B2 + B3 + C3
= B1 +7
= 5 + C3
= C3 * 8
= D2 / 4
= D2 * D3
= D2 * D3 / D1
= C3 * .4
= C3 * 1.6
= SUM (A1:B3)
= A3 ^ 2