Excel 2013 proves to be a very useful tool but at the same time it can be equally confusing to get your heads around it when you begin. ‘Number Crunching’ remains one of the most exploited strengths of Microsoft Excel 2013 and is something that can be used by a wide range of users. It can be used to carry out simple calculations say, those involved in creating a basic home budget as well as for more complex and intricate operations such as statistical and regression analysis. Excel 2013 comes embedded with a variety and range of mathematical formula and functions which can help you in various kinds of task that one may need to perform using this program. Microsoft Excel 2013 has spreadsheets which have cells arranged in rows and columns. Data entered in these cells can be processed using various formula as Excel 2013 will allow you to perform calculations on it. The formula are different and can be purely logical, statistical, financial or even base mathematical. We move on to explore five of the most commonly used formula on Microsoft Excel 2013.
First, there is the Excel 2013 SUM formula that can help you find the sum of numbers in a list by adding them altogether. This is usually the final step and this is also where the SUM function can be used effectively. The Auto Sum icon on the Home Tab (under Editing) also enables you to perform this function. You can use the cell, following the data in the respective row or column to write SUM (and the cell numbers of which you want the sum of with a “:” in the middle of the two) and the result will be shown in the cell.
Then, there is the popular Average formula in Microsoft Excel that can help you find the average or as it is also called, the mean of a range of numbers. By adding the formula which is AVERAGE (and the range of cell numbers for which you want Excel 2013 to provide you with an average of, with a “:” in the middle) in the cell that is following the last data filled cell, we can produce the mean or average of the data.
Thirdly, MS Excel 2013 can also use one of its functions to provide you with the accurate difference between two dates. This is the DATEDIF function and can be used by adding DATEDIF (and the two cell numbers ‘where the dates have been recorded on the spread sheet with a “,” in the middle).
There are also formulas for Minimum and Maximum values of a range of data. You can simply enter MIN/MAX (along with the first and the last cell, covering the range, with a “:” in the middle) in the cell that follows the data cells.
The last formula is the COUNT function in MS Excel that can count the total numeric values on a spreadsheet and thus, can help you navigate within data of thousands and beyond. You can also very easily use this function by writing COUNT (along with the first and the last data filled cells with a “:” in the middle) and this should be able to provide you with a count of all values. In order to get some more healthy tips about the basics of Excel 2013, just visit our blog post on MS Excel.
http://www.learningcomputer.com/blog/excel-tutorial-how-to-use-common-excel-formulas/
