remember using formulas to calculate
math problems in school like two plus
two equals four or two pizzas times ten
dollars equals twenty dollars Excel can
use these same formulas to work with
numerical data in your spreadsheets just
like a calculator Excel uses standard
operators for its math equations like a
plus sign for addition and a minus sign
for subtraction an asterisk for
multiplication and a forward slash for
division and a carat for exponents
you're probably used to seeing equations
like five plus five equals but in excel
the equal sign comes first this is
because the cell itself contains or is
equal to the formula and its value
we'll start things off slow with a
simple multiplication formula to figure
out the total cost of paint for a list
of remodeling projects as you can see
I've done some research on price and the
amount of pain I'm going to need $30
times 6 gallons of paint to create a
formula just click where you want the
total to appear and begin with an equal
sign we are going to do 30 times 6 using
the asterisk for multiplication now
press ENTER on your keyboard and Excel
displays the value in the cell another
way to create formulas is to use cell
references a cell reference is when your
formula contains cell addresses like f8
or F time instead of the numbers in
those cells let's give it a try on the
total estimated budget rather than
calculating 700 + 550 the values in
cells f8 and f9 will write the formula
this way f8 + f9 that totals the numbers
in f8 and f9 whether you leave the
budget at 705 50 or change it to
something else say 800 + 650 the total
recalculates automatically that's why
cell references are so convenient they
make it possible to update your
worksheet without ever having to rewrite
the values in your formulas you can also
use something called the point and click
method to make cell references this one
is a great time-saver now that I've
calculated my estimated budget why don't
we find out how much is left after
taking my wishlist into account that
means I'll need to subtract my wishlist
total from my estimated budget so I'm
going to start my equation then just
click this cell to make reference to it
now type your operator in my case a
minus sign and click the next cell you
want in your formula press ENTER and the
total appears editing formulas is also
just a click away click the cell you
want to edit and then come up here to
make your changes in the formula bar if
you make a mistake or change your mind
just use the cancel command and you'll
avoid making any unwanted changes
you can also double-click the cell and
make your changes right there
simple formulas and cell references are
easy to use why not give them a try and
let Excel do the math like that you just
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