Lesson 2: Spreadsheet Application – Excel Operators

Working with Data

Introduction:
RPK
In the previous lesson we were introduced to Microsoft Excel, we looked at the data used in
excel, navigating within excel etc
 Name some of the icons, buttons and their uses
 How do we navigate within the worksheet?
 Name of the data used in excel

Objectives
In this lesson, we will do the following:
 Enter data on the spreadsheet application
 Work with formulae

Notes
A formula is an expression which calculates the value of a cell. Functions are predefined
formulas and are already available in Excel. The following mathematical operators are used
in Microsoft excel, additionally, excel combines with other functions to perform to create
Excel Formulas.

Symbol Key Uses

* Asterisk and 8 Multiplication
+ Plus and equal to key Addition
/ Backslash Division
- Dash Subtraction

The diagram below shows how the four mathematical operators are applied in the
spreadsheet.

To Work with a Formula

To enter a formula, execute the following steps.
1. Select a cell.
2. To let Microsoft excel know that you want to enter a formula, type an equal sign (=).
3. For example, type the formula A1+A2.
In the example below, cell A3 contains a formula which adds the value of cell A2 to the
value of cell A1 as displayed in the formula bar.

Cell A3 below contains the SUM function which calculates the sum of the range A1:A2.

Cell A3 below contains the subtraction function which calculates the difference of the range
A1:A2.
Operator Order Preference

Excel uses a default order to perform calculations. Excel will attend to any formula placed in
parentheses, that part will be calculated first. It then performs multiplication or division
calculations. Once this is complete, Excel will add and subtract the remainder of your
formula. In the example below, excel first performs multiplication (A1 * A2). Next, Excel
adds the value of cell A3 to this result.

In this example, excel calculates the part in parentheses (A2+A3), then it multiplies this
result by the value of cell A1

Copy/Paste a Formula
There are several forms for copying a formula in excel. You can double click to copy, click
hold and drag or copy and paste a formula. When you copy a formula, Excel automatically
adjusts the cell references for each new cell the formula is copied to. To understand this,
execute the following steps.
Take a closer look at the formula displayed in the formula bar, the formula returns the
answer in cell A4.
 To copy the formula in cell A4
 Point to and right click cell A4, click Copy (or press CTRL + c) ...

Click cell B4 and right click

Click to Paste under 'Paste Options:' (or press CTRL + v).

Alternatively place the mouse at the bottom right hand corner of cell A4, let it turn into a
plus click hold and drag the formula across to cell B4. This is much easier and quicker to do.
gives the exact same result!
The outcome, the formula in cell B4 references the values in column B.

Inserting a Function
All functions have the same structure. For example, SUM (A1:A4). The name of this function
is SUM. The part between the brackets (arguments) means we provide excel with the range
of cells A1:A4 as input. This function adds the values in cells A1, A2, A3 and A4. The Insert
Function feature in Excel helps to organise and match the function with the argument for
each task. To insert a function, execute the following steps.
 Select a cell.
 Click the Insert Function button.

The 'Insert Function' dialog box appears.

 Search for a function or select a function from a category.
 For example, choose COUNTIF from the Statistical category.
 Click OK.
 The 'Function Arguments' dialog box appears.
 Click in the Range box and select the range A1:D4.
 Click in the Criteria box and type >5.
 Click OK.
Note: instead of using the Insert Function feature, you can simply type in the function into
the cell E4 =COUNTIF (A1:D4,">5"). When you arrive at: =COUNTIF (instead of typing
A1:D4, simply select the range A1:D4.

Conclusion
Excel calculates a function in parenthesis first