remember using formulas to calculate
simple math problems like two plus two
equals four or two pizzas times ten
dollars equals $20 you can use these
same formulas to work with numerical
data in your spreadsheets just like you
would use a calculator Google sheets
uses standard operators for math
equations like a plus sign for addition
a minus sign for subtraction an asterisk
for multiplication a forward slash for
division and a carrot for exponents
you're probably used to seeing equations
like five plus five equals but in Google
sheets the equal sign comes first
that's because the cell itself contains
or is equal to the formula and its value
we'll start things off slow with a
simple addition formula to help
calculate a budget as you can see I've
already entered the initial amounts
$1,200 for June and $1500 for July to
create a formula select the cell where
you want the total to appear then type
an equal sign but instead of entering
1200 plus 1500 we're going to use cell
references to create our formula a cell
reference is when your formula contains
cell addresses instead of the numbers in
those cells they're useful because they
make it possible to update your
spreadsheet without ever having to
rewrite your formulas the values we want
are in cells D 10 and D 11 so we'll
write the formula this way D 10 plus D
11 press ENTER on your keyboard and the
formula totals the numbers in D 10 and D
11 whether we leave them the way they
are or change them to something else say
500 and 900 the total recalculates
automatically there's an even easier way
to make cell references you'll need to
use something called the point and click
method why don't we give it a try on
this formula here I want to calculate
the cost of supplies that means I'll
need to multiply the two numbers you see
here 15 times eight point seven five so
I'll start my equation then just click
this cell to make reference to it now
type your operator in my case an
asterisk and click the next cell you
want your formula press ENTER and the
total appears editing formulas is also
just a click away if you have any
formulas that you want to fix or modify
all you have to do is double click the
cell for example this one is using the
wrong cell reference we'll just make the
change then press ENTER to recalculate
now we're getting the correct answer as
you can see simple formulas are really
pretty simple once you know how to use
them they can help you calculate all
kinds of data in your spreadsheets
GCF global creating opportunities for a
better life