Apple Numbers '08 - Manual (Page 84)

84 Chapter 5 Using Formulas and Functions in Tables
Here’s a formula that adds the values in nine cells of the first column: SUM(A2:A10).
There is one argument, A2:A10. The colon means the function should use the values
in cells A2 through A10.
You don’t need to understand more than this to use formulas in tables. Templates (such
as the Loan Comparison and Mortgage templates) and formula editing tools (such as
the Formula Editor and the Formula Bar) make basic formulas easy to use.
A Tour of Using Formulas
Reviewing the formulas built into the Invoice template is a good introduction to
Numbers formulas.
1 Create a new Numbers spreadsheet using the Invoice template.
Open Numbers, in the Template Chooser click Business, select Invoice, and then click
Choose.
The Invoice table in this template uses formulas to derive the values in the Cost
column.
2 Double-click the topmost dollar value in the Cost column. The Formula Editor opens,
revealing that the value is derived using a formula.
Header row names (Quantity and Unit Price) are used in the formula to refer to two
cells. Using header text to refer to cells makes formulas more readable. But you can also
use the letters and numbers in the reference tabs to refer to cells, as you’ll see in step 4.
A formula in each cell of
the Cost column updates
Cost values when values
in other cells change.
The formula multiplies the value in
the Quantity cell and the value in the
Unit Price cell in the row.
The asterisk symbol (*) is
the multiplication operator.