Question

Which function is used to calculate the "sum of a range of cells"?

• A. ADD()
• B. Sum()
• C. TOTAL()
• D. COUNT()

Answer 1

Answer:

B. Sum()

• The Sum() function is a fundamental built-in function in most spreadsheet applications, including Microsoft Excel, Google Sheets, and LibreOffice Calc. It is designed specifically for the purpose of adding up all the numerical values within a specified range of cells.

Key Features and Usage:

• Purpose: To compute the total sum of a series of numbers.

• Syntax: The basic syntax is SUM(number1, [number2], ...). In practice, it's most commonly used with a range: SUM(range).

• Range: A range typically refers to a contiguous block of cells, specified by the starting cell and the ending cell, separated by a colon. For example, A1:A10 refers to all cells from A1 down to A10 in column A.

• Multiple Arguments: The function can accept individual numbers, cell references, or ranges as arguments. For instance, SUM(A1, B5, C1:C10) would sum the value in cell A1, the value in cell B5, and all values in the range C1 through C10.

• Non-numeric Cells: The Sum() function automatically ignores cells that contain text or are empty. It only processes numerical values.