The main purpose of Excel is to perform calculations, and to do any calculation in Excel must write an equation, so understanding the basics of writing equations is the most important topic you should study well, so in this lesson we will learn about the basics of writing equations in Excel through an example Simple.
The following table contains the name of the student and his name in three subjects (Arabic – English – Math – Math) and we want to write an equation to calculate the total
We will start with the first student, to calculate the sum of the three subjects for this student we will collect cells B2, C2 and D2
Any equation in Excel must start with a = sign followed by the calculation you want, you can use different functions within the equations, and you can also use arithmetic operators such as:
+ Combine
– Subtraction
* Multiplication
/ division
Accordingly to calculate the total for the first student we will write the following equation:
= B2 + C2 + D2
After typing the equation, you must press Enter on the keyboard to execute the equation.
Now in the same way, write the rest of the equations to calculate the total for the rest of the students.
= B2 + C2 + D2
= B3 + C3 + D3
= B4 + C4 + D4
= B5 + C5 + D5
= B6 + C6 + D6
But there is a problem. What if you have 1000 students? Would you write 1000 equations? Inevitably, Excel is smarter than that.
Did you notice something? Inevitably, you notice that the only difference between the five equations is that each time the cells increase by 1 (2, 3, 4, 5, and then 6), Excel provides you with a great advantage is that you just write the first equation and then drag it down to the last cell Excel will write the rest of the equations for you.
Just type the first equation in cell E2 and go to the lower-right corner of the cell. When the cursor changes to +, drag the equation down to cell E6.
Excel will write the rest of the equations for you and execute them.
In the same way you can calculate the total if you have 1000 students by just typing the equation for the first student and then pulling the equation down to the last student.