Page 327 - Excel 2013 All-in-One For Dummies

the addition to be performed before the division, you need to nest the first set of parentheses within another set as follows:
=(B5+(C5–D5))/E5
In this revised formula, Excel performs the subtraction between the values in C5 and D5, adds the result to the value in cell B5, and then divides that result by the value in cell E5.
Of course, the biggest problem with parentheses is that you have to remember to enter them in pairs. If you forget to balance each set of nested parentheses by having a right parenthesis for every left parenthesis, Excel displays an Alert dialog box, informing you that it has located an error in the formula. It will also suggest a correction that would balance the parentheses used in the formula. Although the suggested correction corrects the imbal- ance in the formula, it unfortunately doesn’t give you the calculation order that you wanted — and if accepted, the suggested correction would give you what you consider an incorrect result. For this reason, be very careful before you click the Yes button in this kind of Alert dialog box. Do so only when you’re certain that the corrected parentheses give you the calculation order that you want. Otherwise, click No and balance the parentheses in the formula by adding the missing parenthesis or parentheses yourself.
Using the Insert Function button
Excel supports a wide variety of built-in functions that you can use when building formulas. Of course, the most popular built-in function is by far
the SUM function, which is automatically inserted when you click the Sum command button on the Home tab of the Ribbon. (Keep in mind that you can also use this drop-down button attached to the Sum button to insert the AVERAGE, COUNT, MAX, and MIN functions — see the “When you AutoSum numbers in a spreadsheet” section previously in this chapter for details.) To use other Excel functions, you can use the Insert Function button on the Formula bar (the one with the fx).
When you click the Insert Function button, Excel displays the Insert Function dialog box, similar to the one shown in Figure 1-4. You can then use its options to find and select the function that you want to use and to define
the argument or arguments that the function requires in order to perform its calculation.
To select the function that you want to use, you can use any of the following methods:
✦ Click the function name if it’s one that you’ve used lately and is there- fore already listed in the Select a Function list box.
Formulas 101 309
Book III Chapter 1
Building Basic Formulas