Types of operators There are four different types of calculation operators: arithmetic, comparison, text concatenation, and reference. Arithmetic operators
To perform basic mathematical operations such as addition, subtraction, or multiplication; combine numbers; and produce numeric results, use the following arithmetic operators. *Arithmetic operator* *Meaning* *Example* + (plus sign) Addition 3+3 – (minus sign) Subtraction Negation 3–1 –1 * (asterisk) Multiplication 3*3 / (forward slash) Division 3/3 % (percent sign) Percent 20% ^ (caret) Exponentiation 3^2 Comparison operators You can compare two values with the following operators. When two values are compared by using these operators, the result is a logical value either TRUE or FALSE. *Comparison operator* *Meaning* *Example* = (equal sign) Equal to A1=B1 > (greater than sign) Greater than A1>B1 < (less than sign) Less than A1<B1 >= (greater than or equal to sign) Greater than or equal to A1>=B1 <= (less than or equal to sign) Less than or equal to A1<=B1 <> (not equal to sign) Not equal to A1<>B1 Text concatenation operator Use the ampersand (&) to join, or concatenate, one or more text strings to produce a single piece of text. *Text operator* *Meaning* *Example* & (ampersand) Connects, or concatenates, two values to produce one continuous text value ("North"&"wind") Reference operators Combine ranges of cells for calculations with the following operators. *Reference operator* *Meaning* *Example* : (colon) Range operator, which produces one reference to all the cells between two references, including the two references B5:B15 , (comma) Union operator, which combines multiple references into one reference SUM(B5:B15,D5:D15) (space) Intersection operator, which produces on reference to cells common to the two references B7:D7 C6:C8 [image: Top of Page]<http://office.microsoft.com/client/helppreview.aspx?AssetId=HP100788869990&lcid=1033&NS=EXCEL&Version=12&respos=0&CTT=1&queryid=b57e59a9a0d541a7a6f31cb9c69f2e1a#top> Top of Page<http://office.microsoft.com/client/helppreview.aspx?AssetId=HP100788869990&lcid=1033&NS=EXCEL&Version=12&respos=0&CTT=1&queryid=b57e59a9a0d541a7a6f31cb9c69f2e1a#top> The order in which Excel performs operations in formulas In some cases, the order in which calculation is performed can affect the return value of the formula, so it's important to understand how the order is determined and how you can change the order to obtain desired results. Calculation order Formulas calculate values in a specific order. A formula in Excel always begins with an equal sign (=). The equal sign tells Excel that the succeeding characters constitute a formula. Following the equal sign are the elements to be calculated (the operands), which are separated by calculation operators. Excel calculates the formula from left to right, according to a specific order for each operator in the formula. Operator precedence If you combine several operators in a single formula, Excel performs the operations in the order shown in the following table. If a formula contains operators with the same precedence — for example, if a formula contains both a multiplication and division operator — Excel evaluates the operators from left to right. *Operator* *Description* : (colon) (single space) , (comma) Reference operators – Negation (as in –1) % Percent ^ Exponentiation * and / Multiplication and division + and – Addition and subtraction & Connects two strings of text (concatenation) = < > <= >= <> Comparison Use of parentheses To change the order of evaluation, enclose in parentheses the part of the formula to be calculated first. For example, the following formula produces 11 because Excel calculates multiplication before addition. The formula multiplies 2 by 3 and then adds 5 to the result. =5+2*3 In contrast, if you use parentheses to change the syntax, Excel adds 5 and 2 together and then multiplies the result by 3 to produce 21. =(5+2)*3 In the example below, the parentheses around the first part of the formula force Excel to calculate B4+25 first and then divide the result by the sum of the values in cells D5, E5, and F5. =(B4+25)/SUM(D5:F5) -- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Some important links for excel users: 1. Follow us on TWITTER for tips tricks and links : http://twitter.com/exceldailytip 2. Join our LinkedIN group @ http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=1871310 3. Excel tutorials at http://www.excel-macros.blogspot.com 4. Learn VBA Macros at http://www.quickvba.blogspot.com 5. Excel Tips and Tricks at http://exceldailytip.blogspot.com To post to this group, send email to excel-macros@googlegroups.com <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> HELP US GROW !! We reach over 7000 subscribers worldwide and receive many nice notes about the learning and support from the group.Let friends and co-workers know they can subscribe to group at http://groups.google.com/group/excel-macros/subscribe