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Using basic arithmetic and logical formulas

Formulas are the most important aspect of spreadsheeting as they allow you to perform complex repetitive tasks with a minimum of effort.

There are a number of methods to creating the formulas for use in your spreadsheet, and we will examine the most common.

To reference a value in another cell, you use the cell reference as a value e.g. if you want to say that cell C5 is to display cell B2's value multiplied by 4 then you would use :

=B2 * 4

The = (equals) sign at the start of the expression or formula denotes that this is something Excel is to try to calculate as a number as opposed to displaying it as text.

Recognising standard error messages  associated with formulas

When working with formulae and cell references, error messages can appear in the cell instead of the formula result.  The following is a list of the most common errors and what they mean.  When these error messages occur it is always advisable to use the Excel Help to find more information.

#### - The column is not wide enough to display the number.
#DIV/0! - The formula is trying to divide by zero, which is not possible.
#Value! - Text has been entered when the formula expects a number.
#Name! - Text has been entered in a formula, which is not allowed.
#N/A - The value is not available.

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