51  Excel formulas and functions quiz

🏠 Self-study

This is a formative Excel quiz about content covered in Lab 9.

What is the essential first character that must be typed when creating any formula in Excel?

The dollar sign ($).The equals sign (=).The plus sign (+).The ampersand (&).

The equals sign (=) must always be the first character when creating a formula in Excel. This tells Excel that the cell content should be interpreted as a formula rather than text.

• False. While the dollar sign is used in Excel for absolute cell references, it is not the required first character for formulas.
• True. Every Excel formula must begin with an equals sign.
• False. The plus sign is an arithmetic operator but not the required first character for formulas.
• False. The ampersand is used for text concatenation but not for starting formulas.

What does the Excel “fill handle” allow you to do?

Add borders around selected cells.Copy formulas to adjacent cells while updating relative cell references.Lock cell references to prevent them from changing.Insert new rows or columns automatically.

The fill handle is a small square in the bottom-right corner of a selected cell that, when dragged, copies formulas to adjacent cells. When copying formulas this way, Excel automatically updates relative cell references. For example, if you copy =A1+B1 to the next row, it becomes =A2+B2.

• False. This is done using the borders tool in the formatting menu.
• True. The fill handle makes copying formulas efficient by automatically adjusting cell references.
• False. This is done using absolute cell references with dollar signs ($).
• False. This requires using the insert command or right-click menu.

When working with Excel functions, which of the following statements are correct? Select all that apply.

The AVERAGE function ignores empty cells in its calculations.The COUNT function will include cells containing text in its count.The COUNTA function will count cells containing logical values, text, or error values.The SUM function treats empty cells the same as cells containing zero.

Two statements are correct. The AVERAGE function does ignore empty cells in its calculations. The COUNTA function counts cells with logical values, text, or error values, but not empty cells. However, COUNT only counts cells with numbers (not text), and SUM treats empty cells as zero, not the same as cells containing zero.

• True. Empty cells are automatically excluded from AVERAGE calculations.
• False. COUNT only counts cells containing numbers, not text.
• True. COUNTA counts any non-empty cell, including those with text, logical values, or errors.
• False. SUM treats empty cells as zero, while cells containing zero are counted as actual values.

Which of the following statements about Excel’s IF function are correct? Select all that apply.

Text values used within IF functions must be enclosed in quotation marks.The IF function always requires exactly three arguments.IF functions can only test for equality, not for greater than or less than.IF functions can be nested within other IF functions.

• True. Any text strings in IF functions must be enclosed in quotation marks.
• True. IF always needs a condition, what to do if true, and what to do if false.
• False. IF functions can use various comparison operators like >, <, >=, <=.
• True. Multiple IF functions can be nested to test multiple conditions.