Microsoft Office Excel® 2007 Data Analysis: Your Visual Blueprint™ for Creating and Analyzing Data, Charts, and PivotTables

Chapter 2. CREATING FORMULAS

Understanding Formulas

In Excel, you use A formula is an equation that performs a calculation. A formula can consist of operators, functions, numbers, text, and cell references. You place formulas in cells. You can click a cell and then type your formula into the formula bar or you can type your formula directly into a cell. You start most formulas by typing an equal sign (=).

Operators

You use operators to tell Excel the type of calculation you want to perform. There are four types of operators: arithmetic, comparison, text concatenation, and reference.

Arithmetic Operators

Use arithmetic operators to perform mathematical calculations such as addition (+), subtraction (−), multiplication (*), division (/), percent (%), ...