Creating a Formula

Formulas consist of three crucial bits of information:

An equal sign (=)

One or more cell references

The type of calculation to do on the data (addition, subtraction, and so on)

A cell reference is simply the unique row and column heading that identifies a single cell, such as A4 or D9. The four common calculations that a formula can use are addition (+), subtraction (-), multiplication (*), and division (/).

Table lists show other mathematical operators you can use in a formula.

Common Mathematical Operators Used to Create Formulas

Operator

What It Does

Example

Result

+

Addition

=5+3.4

8.4

-

Subtraction

=54.2-2.1

52.1

*

Multiplication

=1.2*4

4.8

/

Division

=25/5

5

%

Percentage

=42%

0.42

^

Exponentiation

=4^3

64

=

Equal

=6=7

False

>

Greater than

=7>2

True

=3

True