Excel provides many, many functions which perform calculations after calculations. The total number of functions depends on the type of "install" you may choose. Rather than try to explain what each function will do, we will rely on the "hint" given by Excel describing the "function of each function"!
You can reach the Math and Trig set of functions by using Insert + Function from the Menu. This will allow you to select the Math/Trig category of functions
The
left panel contains the different categories of functions.
If you scroll down the categories until you highlight Math & Trig, you will bring up the different Math & Trig Functions in the right panel.
Note the functions are displayed in alphabetical order to help you quickly find the particular function you are seeking.
The function name selected by Excel may be a little cryptic and you could have some difficulty in guessing exactly what the function actually does. Excel provides a little hint to try to explain the "function of the function."
Once
a particular function in the right panel is highlighted with a click, a
hint will be displayed below the format Excel uses for that function.
In this case, a function like:
= abs(3.456)
will return the absolute value of the number inside the parentheses.
Should you have a "typical" install of Excel, you should see each of these math/trig functions in the right pane.
ABS |
ACOS |
ACOSH |
ASIN |
ASINH |
ATAN |
ATAN2 |
ATANH |
CEILING |
COMBINE |
COS |
COSH |
DEGREES |
EVEN |
EXP |
FACT |
FLOOR |
INT |
LN |
LOG |
LOG10 |
MDETERM |
MINVERSE |
MMULT |
MOD |
ODD |
PI |
PRODUCT |
POWER |
RADIANS |
RAND |
ROMANS |
ROUND |
ROUNDDOWN |
ROUNDUP |
SIGN |
SIN |
SINH |
SQRT |
SUBTOTAL |
SUM |
SUMIF |
SUMPRODUCT |
SUMSQ |
SUMX2MY2 |
SUMW2PY2 |
SUMXMY2 |
TAN |
TANH |
TRUNC |
Excel offers still more help if you need it on each function. Suppose you actually select one of these functions, say the FACT function for factorial. The Factorial function will give you the product of multiplying 1 x 2 x 3 x ... x N for the value of N that you supply.
Once you enter a value or cell reference in the wizard's field, you will see the computed value that will be displayed in the cell where the function is being placed. If you have some idea or estimate of what the answer should be, this may be of some help.
Comment: Most people's experiences in mathematics will let them understand some of the functions and not others. Basically, use the functions that have meaning to you and ignore the rest. Choose each of the functions one at a time and see if the "hint" makes any sense. (You might want to take a Math class to extend your background and more of these functions will have meaning!)