The simplest way to interact with data in a spreadsheet is using operators.
Mathematical operators
You can use a cell just like a calculator with the following:
A | B | |
1 | Add | + |
2 | Subtract | - |
3 | Multiply | * |
4 | Divide | / |
5 | Exponent | ^ |
Like a calculator, the cell will follow the order of operations.
Inserting the following formula:
Displays the number 7 in the cell.
Displays 18.
Displays 16.
You can also use decimals to calculate root values:
Displays 4.
You can even insert parentheses () to manage the order of operations.
Displays 3.
You can use cell references that contain numbers in place of the numbers in these formulas!
Text operators
Text data has one operator: &
The ampersand operator works by joining text together.
Displays: NameSurname
Notice that there's no space between the two pieces of text. That's because the & operator just joins, nothing more. To fix this, you could instead write:
Displays: Name Surname
It works on numbers too, but converts the output to text. That's why it's considered a text operator.
Logic operators
A lot of spreadsheet functions are based on logic.
To describe this simply, If this: Then that.
The 'this' is usually a logic test using an operator.
For example, If A1=A2: Then that.
The logic test A1=A2 outputs either TRUE or FALSE:
The data in cells A1 and A2 are equal (true) or the data in cells A1 and A2 are not equal (false).
If TRUE, 'Then that' happens.
If FALSE, 'Then that' does not happen.
Here are all of the operators you can use to test logic:
A | B | C | D | |
1 | Description | Operator | Example | Result |
2 | Equal to | = | 1=2 | FALSE |
3 | Not equal to | <> | 1<>2 | TRUE |
4 | Greater than | > | 1>2 | FALSE |
5 | Greater than or equal to | >= | 1>=2 | FALSE |
6 | Less than | < | 1<2 | TRUE |
7 | Less than or equal to | <= | 1<=2 | TRUE |
Each operator allows for only a TRUE or FALSE output allowing logic tests to pass or fail.
A | B | C | |
1 | First | Last | Sales |
2 | Dwight | Schrute | 10,000 |
3 | Jim | Halpert | 8,000 |
4 | Stanley | Hudson | 7,000 |
5 | Phyllis | Vance | 6,000 |
6 | Andy | Bernard | 4,000 |
7 | |||
8 | Add: | ||
9 | Substract: | ||
10 | Text: | ||
11 | Logic: | ||
12 |
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