Functions and Formulas

Quick reference

• 00:04 When you are working with numerical data within your spreadsheet,
• 00:08 it can be most helpful to apply functions or formulas.
• 00:12 Especially if there are certain pieces of information that may be missing or,
• 00:17 perhaps, totals, or averages,
• 00:19 or other mathematical functions that you would like to see on the same sheet.
• 00:24 In this case, let's take a look at the units column.
• 00:28 Let's say I'd like to figure out the average number of units per sale.
• 00:33 In this case, I'm going to first start by selecting the cell
• 00:37 where I would like that new average to appear.
• 00:41 Next, I'm gonna go up to my tool bar and
• 00:43 select functions, here we have some of the most common functions available to us,
• 00:49 sum, average, count, maximum, and minimum.
• 00:54 If you need more than these functions you can always select more functions to find
• 00:58 more available to you.
• 01:00 Now in this case I want to find the average, so I'm gonna select average.
• 01:05 Next I need to determine which cells I want included within this value.
• 01:12 Now you're not limited to just summing columns, you can also sum rows as well.
• 01:18 But in this example I would just like the data here within the Units column.
• 01:22 I'm gonna select all of that information and hit Enter on my keyboard.
• 01:27 And here I can see the average number of units sold per sale is 49.5263.
• 01:34 Let's clean that up a little bit by going to the decrease decimal places, and
• 01:39 I'm gonna decrease it just to one decimal place there, 49 .5.
• 01:42 Let's move over next to the Total column.
• 01:47 And let's say that I would like to see the total
• 01:50 number of items that were sold in this particular period.
• 01:55 So in this case, once again,
• 01:56 I'm gonna select the cell where I would like that total to appear.
• 02:00 I'm gonna go back and select functions and this time, I'm gonna select sum.
• 02:07 Next, just like we saw before,
• 02:09 it's going to ask me as to which cells should be included in this sum.
• 02:13 I'm gonna select all of the cells in this column, hit Enter, and
• 02:18 now I have my new figure.
• 02:21 So functions can be very helpful to find information,
• 02:25 especially if you want totals, or perhaps averages at the bottom or
• 02:30 anywhere on your spreadsheet when it comes to the data that you're looking at.
• 02:34 Another helpful tool within your spreadsheet is applying a formula.
• 02:39 Perhaps you'd like to apply some addition, or multiplication as a part of your table.
• 02:46 In this case, let's say that I would like to figure out the average, or
• 02:51 I'd like to do some math with this total number here
• 02:55 as it pertains to the average number of units sold.
• 02:59 So in this case, I'm gonna select a new cell and
• 03:02 I'm gonna start my formula by selecting the = key on my keyboard.
• 03:07 It is most important whenever you want to apply a formula,
• 03:12 it must start with the = key.
• 03:15 Next, I'm going to select this total cost value.
• 03:20 I'm next going to select the division key on my keyboard.
• 03:25 And lastly, I'm gonna select what cell I would like to divide this number by.
• 03:30 In this case, it's this one here.
• 03:32 So I'm gonna select it there.
• 03:34 Lastly, I'm going to hit Enter on my keyboard, and now I have that new number.
• 03:40 Now, I have the average cost
• 03:43 based on the total cost divided by the average number of units sold here.
• 03:48 So you can create very complex formulas or very simple formulas,
• 03:53 depending on what type of information you are basing on.
• 03:57 Just remember, always start your formulas by entering in the = key.

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