MICROSOFT EXCEL 2011
UNDERSTAND EXCEL FORMULA AND FUNCTIONS
Microsoft Excel 2011 Essentials – Introduce to Excel formulas and functions
Last Edited: 2012-07-10
Technology Training and Education
© Metropolitan State University of Denver
1
Introduce Excel formula and functions .................................................... 4
Define an Excel formula ............................................................................................. 4
Define an Excel function............................................................................................ 4
Add a formula or function to a cell ............................................................ 5
Get help in using functions in Excel ......................................................... 6
Formula Builder .......................................................................................................... 6
Preference feature ...................................................................................................... 7
Insert function ............................................................................................................ 8
Introduce calculation operators ................................................................ 9
Arithmetic operators .................................................................................................. 9
Comparison operators ............................................................................................... 9
Join operator .............................................................................................................. 9
Reference operators .................................................................................................. 9
Order of operations ................................................................................... 11
Use absolute and relative cell references .............................................. 12
Understand Cell Reference ..................................................................................... 12
Switch between relative and absolute references ................................................. 12
Control how Excel copies and pastes formulas .................................... 14
Copy and paste formula and any formatting ......................................................... 14
Microsoft Excel 2011 Essentials – Introduce to Excel formulas and functions
Last Edited: 2012-07-10
Technology Training and Education
© Metropolitan State University of Denver
2
Copy and paste a result of the formula .................................................................. 16
Copy and paste formula as a text ........................................................................... 17
Refer to Excel table data in formulas ...................................................... 18
The following training document is using information from
Lynda.com and Microsoft Office Excel 2011 Help
Microsoft Excel 2011 Essentials – Introduce to Excel formulas and functions
Last Edited: 2012-07-10
Technology Training and Education
© Metropolitan State University of Denver
3
Introduce Excel formula and functions
Define an Excel formula
Use cell references to perform calculations
Start with equal sign “=”
Basic arithmetic
 Addition “+”
 Subtraction “-“
 Multiplication “ * ”
 Division “/ ”
 Exponent “ ^ “
NOTE
It’s only practical to create formulas by hand for very simple mathematical operations
Define an Excel function
It is a built-in set of steps or an algorithm that Excel can follow to find a result
You always begin a function by typing
 An equal sign “=”
 The name of the function
 An left parenthesis
 Cell references
 An right parenthesis
Microsoft Excel 2011 Essentials – Introduce to Excel formulas and functions
Last Edited: 2012-07-10
Technology Training and Education
© Metropolitan State University of Denver
4
Add a formula or function to a cell
Select a cell to add a formula
Type the equal sign “=” to begin a formula or function
Do one of the following:
 Enter a formula
 Enter the function name
Press return key
TIP The AutoComplete list will pop-up when you start typing the first characters of the function
name. To select a desired function name from the list, do one of the following:
 Use the down arrow key on the keyboard to highlight a desired function name
 Use the mouse pointer to click on a desired function name
Microsoft Excel 2011 Essentials – Introduce to Excel formulas and functions
Last Edited: 2012-07-10
Technology Training and Education
© Metropolitan State University of Denver
5
Get help in using functions in Excel
Formula Builder
If you don’t know which function you want to use or which one to make up the calculation you want,
Formula Builder will be one of the best the best ways to get help on using functions in Excel
From the Ribbon, click Formula tab  Function  click Formula Builder
In the Formula Builder dialog box, do the following:
 In the Search for a function box, type in what you want to calculate, for example Count, and
Microsoft Excel 2011 Essentials – Introduce to Excel formulas and functions
Last Edited: 2012-07-10
Technology Training and Education
© Metropolitan State University of Denver
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then press return
 Click to highlight a desired function from the list to see the description of the function as well
as its syntax in the Description pane
Preference feature
From the Ribbon, click Formula tab  Function  click Preference
In the Excel Help dialog box, find a desired function in the list of functions by category
Microsoft Excel 2011 Essentials – Introduce to Excel formulas and functions
Last Edited: 2012-07-10
Technology Training and Education
© Metropolitan State University of Denver
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Insert function
From the Ribbon, click Formula tab  Function  click Insert
Excel displays a menu of the different categories of functions you can create, move the mouse
pointer to hover over each category to find the functions contained in the selected category
Microsoft Excel 2011 Essentials – Introduce to Excel formulas and functions
Last Edited: 2012-07-10
Technology Training and Education
© Metropolitan State University of Denver
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Introduce calculation operators
Arithmetic operators
To perform basic mathematical operations (such as addition, subtraction, or multiplication), combine
numbers, and produce numeric results, use the following arithmetic operators.
Comparison operators
You can compare two values with the following operators. When two values are compared by using
these operators, the result is a logical value either TRUE or FALSE.
Join operator
Use the ampersand (&) to join one or more text strings to produce a single piece of text
Reference operators
Combine ranges of cells for calculations with the following operators.
Microsoft Excel 2011 Essentials – Introduce to Excel formulas and functions
Last Edited: 2012-07-10
Technology Training and Education
© Metropolitan State University of Denver
9
Microsoft Excel 2011 Essentials – Introduce to Excel formulas and functions
Last Edited: 2012-07-10
Technology Training and Education
© Metropolitan State University of Denver
10
Order of operations
A formula in Excel always begins with an equal sign (=). Following the equal sign are the
elements to be calculated (the operands), which are separated by calculation operators. Excel
calculates the formula from left to right, according to a specific order for each operator in the
formula.
If you combine several operators in a single formula, Excel performs the operations in the order
shown in the following operation. If a formula contains operators with the same precedence — for
example, if a formula contains both a multiplication and division operator — Excel evaluates the
operators from left to right.
 Step 1: Check reference operators
 Step 2: Checks for a negative value

For example
-3
 Step 3: Checks if a value is expressed as a percentage,

For example
75%
 Step 4: Checks if the formula has any parentheses,

For example
10  2  9 + (3 – 8) = 10/2*(9+3-8) = 20
 Step 5: Applies an exponent to a number

For example
23 = 2^3 = 8
 Step 6: Performs multiplication or division

For example
10  2  9 = 10/2*9 = 45
 Step 7: Performs addition or subtraction

For example
10  2  9 + 3 – 8 = 10/2*9+3 – 8 = 40
 Step 8: Checks connects two strings of text (concatenation)
 Step 9: Evaluates comparison
Microsoft Excel 2011 Essentials – Introduce to Excel formulas and functions
Last Edited: 2012-07-10
Technology Training and Education
© Metropolitan State University of Denver
11
Use absolute and relative cell references
When you use a value in a formula, you have two options:
Put the value in the formula directly
Use the value in the cell and refer to the cell as part of the formula
However, in almost every case, it’s a better idea to draw the value from a cell in your worksheet because
putting in a value in a cell both makes the value visible instead of hidden in a formula and enables you to
change the value without editing the formula
Understand Cell Reference
Cell reference is the set of coordinates that a cell occupies on a worksheet. For example, the
reference of the cell that is displayed at the intersection of column B and row 3 is B3
Cell reference refers to a cell or a range of cells on a worksheet and can be used in a formula
In one or several formulas, cell reference is used to refer to:
 Data from one cell on the worksheet.
 Data that is contained in different areas of a worksheet.
 Data in cells on other worksheets in the same workbook
Switch between relative and absolute references
When you create a formula that refers to another cell or range, the cell reference can be relative or
absolute. A relative cell reference adjusts to its new location when the formula is copied or moved.
An absolute cell reference does not change when the formula is moved
Select the cell that contains the cell reference that you want to change
In the Formula bar, click the cell reference that you want to change
Do one of the following to move through the combinations
 From the Ribbon, click Formulas tab  Function  click Switch Preference
Microsoft Excel 2011 Essentials – Introduce to Excel formulas and functions
Last Edited: 2012-07-10
Technology Training and Education
© Metropolitan State University of Denver
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 Press command + T (⌘+T)
In the following table, the Changes to column shows how a reference type updates if a formula
that contains the reference is copied two cells down and two cells to the right
Microsoft Excel 2011 Essentials – Introduce to Excel formulas and functions
Last Edited: 2012-07-10
Technology Training and Education
© Metropolitan State University of Denver
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Control how Excel copies and pastes formulas
Copy and paste formula and any formatting
When you copy and paste a formula to a new cell, the cell reference in the new cell may change too,
based on the kind of cell reference that you use, either absolute or relative cell references
NOTE
When you copy and paste a formula that used the absolute reference, the copy of the
formula in the destination cell will reflect either the same value as the result of the copied
formula or different value upon where the absolute reference taking place in the cell
references
Select the cell that contains the formula that you want to copy, and then press command + C
(⌘+C)
Select a destination cell and press command + V (⌘V) to paste the formula
TIP You can also copy formulas into adjacent cells by using the Fill handle
 Select the cell that contains the formula that you want to copy
 Drag the Fill handle over the range that you want to fill
Excel adjusts the cell references automatically to include the correct values for each row
Microsoft Excel 2011 Essentials – Introduce to Excel formulas and functions
Last Edited: 2012-07-10
Technology Training and Education
© Metropolitan State University of Denver
14
Microsoft Excel 2011 Essentials – Introduce to Excel formulas and functions
Last Edited: 2012-07-10
Technology Training and Education
© Metropolitan State University of Denver
15
Copy and paste a result of the formula
To copy the result of the formula instead or the formula itself, do the following
Select the cell that contains the formula that you want to copy, and then press command + C
(⌘C) to copy it
Select a destination cell to paste the result, and then click Home tab  Edit  click the down
arrow next to Paste  select Values
NOTE
The disadvantage of pasting a formula’s result instead of the formula itself is that if the
formula’s inputs change, the cell where you put the current value will not update to reflect
that change
Microsoft Excel 2011 Essentials – Introduce to Excel formulas and functions
Last Edited: 2012-07-10
Technology Training and Education
© Metropolitan State University of Denver
16
Copy and paste formula as a text
To prevent the possibility of any formula references changing when copying a cell’s formula to
another cell, you need to copy the formula from the Formula bar, which considers the formula
copied as if it were a text and pasted it into another cell. Do the following:
Select the cell that contains the formula the you want copy
On the Formula bar, select the formula
Press command + C (⌘C) and then press esc key to stop editing that cell
Click a destination cell and press command + V (⌘V) to paste the formula to the cell
Microsoft Excel 2011 Essentials – Introduce to Excel formulas and functions
Last Edited: 2012-07-10
Technology Training and Education
© Metropolitan State University of Denver
17
Refer to Excel table data in formulas
Excel tables provide a structure within your workbooks that you can use to store data. One major benefit
of using Excel tables is that you can refer to table columns in your formulas using those table and column
name, which makes your formulas easier for you to interpret.
Excel tables consist of rows and columns of data. If desired, you can include an entire column of data in
a formula by creating what’s called a structured reference to the table column you want to include
Rename the table by doing the following:
 Click any cell in the table that you want to rename
 From the Ribbon, click Tables tab  Tools  click Rename
 In the name box, type a new table name, for example SalesData
 Press esc key
Microsoft Excel 2011 Essentials – Introduce to Excel formulas and functions
Last Edited: 2012-07-10
Technology Training and Education
© Metropolitan State University of Denver
18
Click on a destination cell to enter a function, for example SUM function which the name of the
table to refer to the table and column name to refer to the column of the referred table
 Syntax: =sum(table_name[column_name])
=sum(SalesData[Sales])
Press return key
Microsoft Excel 2011 Essentials – Introduce to Excel formulas and functions
Last Edited: 2012-07-10
Technology Training and Education
© Metropolitan State University of Denver
19