Formulas are the Bread and butter of worksheet. Without formula, worksheet will be just simple tabular representation of data. A formula consists of special code, which is entered into a cell. It performs some calculations and returns a result, which is displayed in the cell.

Formulas use a variety of operators and worksheet functions to work with values and text. The values and text used in formulas can be located in other cells, which makes changing data easy and gives worksheets their dynamic nature. For example, you can quickly change the data in a worksheet and formulas works.

Elements of Formulas

A formula can consist of any of these elements −

• Mathematical operators, such as +(for addition) and *(for multiplication)
Example −
o =A1+A2 Adds the values in cells A1 and A2.
• Values or text
Example −
o =200*0.5 Multiplies 200 times 0.15. This formula uses only values, and it always returns the same result as 100.
• Cell references (including named cells and ranges)
Example −
o =A1=C12 Compares cell A1 with cell C12. If the cells are identical, the formula returns TRUE; otherwise, it returns FALSE.
• Worksheet functions (such as SUMor AVERAGE)
Example −
o =SUM(A1:A12) Adds the values in the range A1:A12.

Creating Formula

For creating a formula you need to type in the Formula Bar. Formula begins with ‘=’ sign. When building formulas manually, you can either type in the cell addresses or you can point to them in the worksheet. Using the Pointing method to supply the cell addresses for formulas is often easier and more powerful method of formula building.

When you are using built-in functions, you click the cell or drag through the cell range that you want to use when defining the function’s arguments in the Function Arguments dialog box. See the below screen shot.

As soon as you complete a formula entry, Excel calculates the result, which is then displayed inside the cell within the worksheet (the contents of the formula, however, continue to be visible on the Formula bar anytime the cell is active). If you make an error in the formula that prevents Excel from being able to calculate the formula at all, Excel displays an Alert dialog box suggesting how to fix the problem.

Copying Formulas in Excel

Copying Formulas in MS Excel

Copying formulas is one of the most common tasks that you do in a typical spreadsheet that relies primarily on formulas. When a formula uses cell references rather than constant values, Excel makes the task of copying an original formula to every place that requires a similar formula.

Relative Cell Addresses

MS Excel does it automatically adjusting the cell references in the original formula to suit the position of the copies that you make. It does this through a system known as relative cell addresses, where by the column references in the cell address in the formula change to suit their new column position and the row references change to suit their new row position.

Let us see this with the help of example. Suppose we want the sum of all the rows at last, then we will write a formula for first column i.e. B. We want sum of the rows from 3 to 8 in the 9th row.

After writing formula in the 9th row, we can drag it to remaining columns and the formula gets copied. After dragging we can see the formula in the remaining columns as below.

• column C : =SUM(C3:C8)
• column D : =SUM(D3:D8)
• column E : =SUM(E3:E8)
• column F : =SUM(F3:F8)
• column G : =SUM(G3:G8)

Formula Reference in Excel

Cell References in Formulas

Most formulas you create include references to cells or ranges. These references enable your formulas to work dynamically with the data contained in those cells or ranges. For example, if your formula refers to cell C2 and you change the value contained in C2, the formula result reflects new value automatically. If you didn’t use references in your formulas, you would need to edit the formulas themselves in order to change the values used in the formulas.
When you use a cell (or range) reference in a formula, you can use three types of references − relative, absolute, and mixed references.

Relative Cell References

The row and column references can change when you copy the formula to another cell because the references are actually offsets from the current row and column. By default, Excel creates relative cell references in formulas.

Absolute Cell References

The row and column references do not change when you copy the formula because the reference is to an actual cell address. An absolute reference uses two dollar signs in its address: one for the column letter and one for the row number (for example, $A$5).

Mixed Cell References

Both the row or column reference is relative and the other is absolute. Only one of the address parts is absolute (for example, $A5 or A$5).

So, this brings us to the end of blog. This Tecklearn ‘Creating Formulas , Copying Formulas in Excel’ blog helps you with commonly asked questions if you are looking out for a job in Microsoft Excel. If you wish to learn Excel and build a career in Business Intelligence domain, then check out our interactive, Microsoft Power BI Training, that comes with 24*7 support to guide you throughout your learning period. Please find the link for course details:

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