Day 3: Formulas

Aniko Balogh
CEU Computer & Statistics Center
balogha@ceu.edu
 Types of data

• In each cell there may be the following data types:

– Labels -- (text with no numerical value)
– Number data (constant values)
– Formulas (mathematical equation used to calculate)
Data Types Examples Descriptions
Name or Wage or anything that is just
LABEL
Days text
CONSTANT 5 or 3.75 or -7.4 any number
FORMULA =5+3 or = 8*5+3 math equation
 Basic formulas

• Formulas are math equations that CALCULATE a

value to be displayed.
• You must have an equals sign ( = ) as the first
character in a cell that contains a formula.
• The = sign tells excel that the contents of the
cell is a formula
• Without the = sign, the formula will not
calculate anything. It will simply display the
text of the formula.
 Explicit values and cell references

You can use both explicit values and cell references in a

formula:

– Formula with only cell references: =a1*b1

– Formula with only literal values: =100/27

– Formula with both cell references and literal values:

=a1/100

4
 Absolute and Relative References

• By default, all cell references are relative references.

• When copied across multiple cells, they change based
on the relative position of rows and columns.
• For example, if you copy the formula =A1+B1 from
row 1 to row 2, the formula will become =A2+B2. 
• Relative references are especially convenient
whenever you need to repeat the same calculation
across multiple rows or columns.
 Absolute references

• There may be times when you do not want a cell reference

to change when filling cells.
• Absolute references do not change when copied or filled.
• You can use an absolute reference to refer to the same
cell.
• An absolute reference is signed by the dollar sign.
($)                                                                            
 Basic Math Functions
• multiply, divide, add and subtract.
 Practice
• Download the practice 2 file
• Calculate the monthly Total cost in HUF
• Calculate it in EUR with absolute referencing
• Format the cells with currency
 Change the case of text
• Unlike Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel
doesn't have a Change Case button for
changing capitalization.
• However, you can use the UPPER, LOWER, or 
PROPER functions to automatically change the
case of existing text to uppercase, lowercase,
or proper case. 
 Sources
• Free Computer Tutorials:
http://www.homeandlearn.co.uk/excel2007/E
xcel2007.html
• Microsoft Official Page:
https://support.office.com/
• Excel Easy#1 Excel tutorial on the net
• http://www.excel-easy.com/basics.html