Microsoft Excel can be used for mathematical equations – you can add, subtract, multiply, divide or even get the average of these values without having to manually compute them. This short Excel training will help people understand the ease of use in terms of solving simple and even complex mathematical equations. After going through this short Microsoft Excel training, you won't reach for your calculator, pen / pencil and a paper to solve mathematical equations.
In Microsoft Excel, every formula should start with an equals (=) sign. You will also be using these operators: plus sign (+), minus sign (-), multiply sign (*), and forward slash as a division sign (/). You can click on the cell, and type in the equals sign (=) and the number that you wanted to add, subtract, multiply or divide. For instance, click on the cell A1, type in =78+102. As soon as you press enter, you'll see the sum which is 180. Do the same thing for subtraction, multiplication and division.
When you perform a division, you might come up with decimal values such as: "5.8791029". Now, for some people, they don't mind getting accurate results. But for the majority, they prefer the values to be rounded off into 2 decimal values. So to get 5.89 without manually erasing the remaining decimal values, search for the "decrease decimal" value found on your toolbar. Don't forget to click the cell that you want to decrease the decimal values from.
Just like the basic rules in calculating values, you start from left to right, and use the MDAS rule: multiplication, division, addition and subtraction. In excel, the same thing is being applied. You can input your formula, and to make sure that you'll get accurate results, you have to follow what we've first learned at school in terms of writing a formula. For instance, if you wanted to add 2 + 2, and multiply the sum by 4, it shouldn't be: 2+2*4. You'll get 10 as the answer. This is the part where you'll have to use parenthesis. Instead of 2+2*4, you should write this in your equation bar: =(2+2)4 to get 16. The same thing applies when you're trying to subtract and divide in one cell. Although it's been quite a while before you were able to write basic formulas, but if you need to go back into these elementary equations, do so. This can make a huge difference when you are trying to make use of Excel, especially at work.
These are just the basic topics you would learn from a traditional Microsoft Excel training. There are more advanced lessons and you can easily search for these lessons online, or look for some great videos that could help you out. As a matter of fact, Microsoft Office has their own tutorial and you may want to check that out if you're trying to learn the basics and the advanced concepts of Microsoft Excel.