Equations in Excel

Table of Contents

• Equations in Excel
• Explanation of Equations in Excel
• How to Use Equations in Excel?

Equations in Excel

A formula is an equation which performs a calculation. Like normal calculations, excel uses formulas or equations to perform a different type of calculations.

We can use excel as our calculator and perform calculations like subtraction, addition, sum average or other complex calculations. How we do this by making equations in excel or formulas. To make an equation or formula in excel first we type an equals to sign in a cell which is a start of a formula.

As long as we understand the basics the mathematical operations or the logics excel does a lot of work for us.

In an excel equation we use two things:

1. Cell References
2. Operators

Cell references are cells like A1, B1 or range of cells A1:A3 and so on whereas operators are the basic operators such as + for sum – for subtraction * for multiplication and so on.

Explanation of Equations in Excel

Like a calculator, excel can execute formulas such as addition subtraction etc. One of the most useful features of Excel is the ability to calculate using a cell address to represent a value in a cell.

This is the basic definition of the cell reference.

Excel uses both cell reference and basic operators to make an equation.

How to Use Equations in Excel?

To make an equation in excel we need to keep three things in mind:

1. Every equation starts with an equals to sign.
2. Excel uses cell addresses as values in excel.
3. Operators are used to making an equation.

Let us make some excel equations with few examples

Equations in Excel Example #1 (Using SUM Formula)

I have my own monthly budget for the past five months. The budget includes data for rent, food, electricity, credit card, and car.

In the first example, we will create an excel equation for sum or addition of the bills for each month.

#1 – In cell B7 start with typing an equals to sign and add each cell references from B1 to B6 with a + operator in between.

#2 – When we press enter we get the total spendings done in Jan month

In the above two steps, we used cell references and an operator + for addition and the equation was created as =B2+B3+B4+B5+B6 which gave us our result.

Also, there is an inbuilt function in excel which gives us the same result but it saves us the time of giving each cell reference one at a time.

#1 – In the cell C7 start with typing an equals to sign and type sum then press Tab, It opens an inbuilt sum function for us.

#2 – Now select the range of cells from C2 to C6 and press enter.

This also gives the addition of total money spent in the month of February.

#3 – Repeat the same process for the month of March April & may get the total money spent for the respective months.

I have my money spent for all the months.

Now we have learned to give cell reference column wise let us do it in the rows. I want to know how much money I have spent in total in all these five months.

In a blank cell start typing an equals to sign and sum then press the tab button.

Select cells B7 to F7 for the data range and press enter.

I have my total money spent on all the months.

Equations in Excel Example #2 (Using SUM & IF Formula)

The above example was a simple addition using equations. Let us make a complex equation.

This time I want to excel to intimate if my money spent was high or average. If the amount spent in total for five months is above than 10000 then it should show as “High” else it should show as “Average”. In this type of equations, the operators used is “If Statement”.

#1 – First, we need to total the money spent on each bill. In cell G2 we will create an equation for the addition of the money spent on rent for five months. We start by typing an equals sign and type Sum then press the tab button.

#2 – Select the cell references B2 to F6, and press enter.

#3 – We repeat the same addition equation for each and every bill.

#4 – Now in cell H2, type an equals sign and type If then press Tab.

#5 – To better understand If equation in excel click on fx in the function address bar and a dialog box pops up.

#6 – In the logical test, we will insert our logic which is the total of bills is greater than 10000. Select range G2 to G6 and insert operator “>” greater than and type 10000.

#7 – If the value is true means total is greater than 10000 we want it to show as high else average.

#8 – As we are giving excel value in the string so we to start and end it with inverted commas. Click on ok.

#9 – Drag the formula to cell H6 and we have our final output.

In the above example, we have used cell references and If statement as an operator to make an equation.

Things to Remember about Equations in Excel

1. Always remember to start an equation with an equals to sign.
2. Creating an equation with cell reference is useful because we can update our data without having to rewrite the formula.
3. Excel will not always tell us if our equation is wrong or not. So it’s up to us to check all of our equations.

You can download this equation in Excel template here – Equations Excel Template

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This has been a guide to Equations in Excel. Here we discuss how to create simple formulas in excel using examples of SUM and IF Formula in excel and downloadable excel templates. You may also look at these useful excel tools –

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