Lesson 2 of 75 · Beginner · 6 exercises

Your first formulas

Add, multiply and total numbers. No Excel experience needed.

What you'll practise

This table shows one morning of sales at a bakery. You already know that a formula starts with = and can point at other cells by their address.

In cell E2, add the muffins sold (B2) to the bagels sold (B3).

To multiply in Excel you use the * symbol. Revenue is always quantity times price, and it's one of the most common formulas you'll ever write.

In cell E2, work out the money made from muffins: the number sold (B2) times the price (C2).

SUM can add a whole range at once, written as first cell, colon, last cell, like B2:B5.

In cell E2, use SUM to total everything sold, from B2 to B5.

AVERAGE works just like SUM, but instead of the total it gives the mean: the total divided by how many numbers there are.

=AVERAGE(range)

In cell E2, find the average price of the four items in C2 to C5.

MAX returns the largest number in a range, and its partner MIN returns the smallest. They're handy for spotting best sellers and outliers.

=MAX(range)

In cell E2, find the highest quantity sold in B2 to B5.

MIN is MAX's partner: it returns the smallest number in a range. Use it to spot the lowest price, the slowest seller or the earliest date.

=MIN(range)

In cell E2, use MIN to find the smallest number sold in B2:B5.

Every step checks your answer instantly and tells you exactly what to fix.