Excel Functions

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Written by Alistair Wylie – 06.05.09

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We’ve already looked at inserting some basic formulas to our spreadsheet.

In addition to writing these by hand, Excel 2007 also offers a range of Functions. A Function is a pre-written formula which will save you from arduously typing out long-winded equations (e.g. =A2+A3+A4 etc). In this example, Excel has a SUM Function which will do this for you, which is = SUM(A2:A4).

As with the equations you have handled previously, all functions need to start with a “=”. This is followed by the name of the function (e.g SUM) and then the range of cells that the function is to be perfomed on in brackets afterwards. The information in the brackets is known as “arguments”, and there can be many of these, seperated by commas. However – let’s start with something simple!

Usually, when you start to fill in the function name Excel will offer you an auto-complete option. This, if clicked, will complete the function name and also enter the first set of brackets.

To make things even easier, you can also enter a function using the ribbon. First – highlight the cell you want your function to appear in and click the “formula” tab at the top of the ribbon.

Now click the “insert function” button and a dialogue box will appear. You can select from some recently used functions, or search the various categories. We’ll do a basic SUM (addition) functiom, so in the “Or Select a Category Box”  select “Math and trig” and find “SUM” in the list of functions.

Now a new box will appear where you can choose the range of cells you want to perform the function on. You can either type the range by hand, seperating the start and finish cells with a colon (e.g A1:A4), or you can simply use the mouse to drag a box around the cells you want, and then hit enter or the OK button.

Similar resources you may like

1. Formatting and Formulas
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4. Calculating an Average
5. The Count Function

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