A106 Step-by-step: Advanced Formulas

Microsoft Excel 4.0 for Macintosh

After you are used to basic formulas, you should try using some of Excel's built-in functions. These simplify many common tasks, such as taking the average of a column of numbers.

To use an advanced formula

1. Select the cell

You can either click in the cell with the mouse, or use the arrow keys.

2. Type an equal sign

Formulas always start with an equal sign.

3. Type in the name of the function you want

If you can't remember the exact spelling, you can find a list under Paste Function... in the Formula menu. Unless you are extremely comfortable with formulas, it is probably best to just browse this list and hit Cancel, rather than actually using the Paste Function feature. A few particularly useful functions are:

Average: The mean of a set of numbers
Median: The number that would be in the middle of a set of numbers, if they were sorted in order
Mode: The number which appears most often in a set
Sum: The result of adding up a set uf numbers
Max: The largest of a set of numbers
Min: The smallest of a set of numbers
Count: The number of non-zero values in a set

4. Type a left parenthesis

5. Enter the range of cells you want to use

This is the set of cells you want to, for example, take the average of. You should not include any cells containing labels.

There are two ways to enter a range. You can either type the name of the upper left cell, a colon, and the name of the lower right cell (for example, B2:B25), or you can drag the mouse from the upper left cell to the lower right cell (which will automatically put in what you would have typed). If you've had trouble with the mouse in Excel, the first method is probably easier.

6. Type a right parenthesis

You should now have something like =sum(D6:E11) in the formula bar.