Formulas in Excel
03/07/2024
Welcome
- this session is 🌶 - aimed at Excel beginners
- we’ll get going properly at 15.05
- you’ll need any version of Excel to follow along
- if you can’t access the chat, you might need to join our Teams channel: tinyurl.com/kindnetwork
- you can find session materials at tinyurl.com/kindtrp
The KIND network
- a social learning space for staff working with knowledge, information, and data across health, social care, and housing in Scotland
- we offer social support, free training, mentoring, community events, …
- Teams channel / mailing list
Where does this fit in?
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KIND Excel beginner skill tree
- for this session, you’ll need to be familiar with the Excel basics (getting around in Excel, opening/saving/closing files)
- you’ll also need to be familiar with A1 referencing, values, and tables
- we’re going to avoid talking about formatting as much as possible today
Session outline
- values and formulas
- simple functions
- references in formulas
Values
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Example value, showing identical cell contents and formula bar contents
- when you enter some data in a cell, we call that a value
- values look the same in their cell as in the formula bar
Functions
- But most formulas use functions, which are like the verbs of Excel
- Try
= SUM(2, 2)
Adding functions
you can type functions in by name (as above)
you can also add from the Formulas
area of the ribbon
![add from the Formulas area of the ribbon]()
or you can use the \(fx\) button by the formula bar
![use the fx button by the formula bar]()
What are arguments?
arguments are the values we supply to a function
- in
=SUM(2,3)
, the arguments are 2
and 3
we separate arguments with a comma ,
we need to be sure we’re supplying the right arguments in the right order (this gets described as the syntax of a function)
we also, while we’re on the jargon, say that functions return a value so = SUM(4,3)
will return 7
Useful simple functions
- in the same way as
=SUM()
, you can try:
AVERAGE
MIN
and MAX
SUBSTITUTE
CEILING
TODAY
ROUND
Practice
- calculate what percentage of your total population is under 16
- estimate the population density
- find an average area for each council area
Troubleshooting functions
#NAME?
= “I don’t recognise that function name”
#VALUE!
= “Your syntax has gone wrong - usually in the wrong order”
#REF!
= “I don’t recognise that reference”
#DIV/0!
= “You’ve divided by zero”
Feedback and resources
- please can I ask for some feedback - less than 1 minute, completely anonymous, helps people like you find the right training for them