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Perhaps
the most powerful feature of a spreadsheet program is its ability to perform mathematical calculations with your data. You have already learned and practiced how to use formulas and functions in
your Typing Test spreadsheet. Due to the importance of the concept, it's a good idea to review: Just like a calculator, a spreadsheet can add, subtract, multiply,
and divide. By entering a formula into a cell, you tell the spreadsheet what kind of calculation to perform and with
what data. You can create your own formulas using common mathematical operators such as those listed below:
+
addition
| * multiplication
| -
subtraction
| / division
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If you are looking for an easier way to enter formulas, you can use
one of the spreadsheet’s built-in functions. Functions are pre-made and come with the spreadsheet program, so you do
not have to do any math! For example, if you wanted to find the average of the two numbers in cells A3 and A4, instead of
adding them up and dividing by 2, you would simply select the two cells and call on the function to perform the math for you.
Google Spreadsheets makes it easy for you to access commonly used functions. The FUNCTIONS button located on the toolbar
allows you to quickly fund the sum or average of a range of data, as well as the highest or lowest number in a group.
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