How to do basic mathematical computations (in Excel)

Task

How do we write the most common mathematical operations in a given piece of software? For example, how do we write multiplication, or exponentiation, or logarithms, in Python vs. R vs. Excel, and so on?

Solution

Each of the formulas shown on the right of the table below is valid code for use in Excel formulas, in cells in a worksheet.

Mathematical notation	Excel notation	Example
$x + y$	`x+y`	`=A1+B1`
$x - y$	`x-y`	`=A1-B1`
$x y$	`x*y`	`=A1*B1`
$\frac{x}{y}$	`x/y`	`=A1/B1`
$x^{y}$	`x^y`	`=A1^B1`
$\| x \|$	`ABS(x)`	`=ABS(A1)`
$\ln x$	`LN(x)`	`=LN(A1)`
$\log_{a} b$	`LOG(b,a)`	`=LOG(A1,B1)`
$e^{x}$	`EXP(x)`	`=EXP(A1)`
$π$	`PI()`	`=PI()`
$\sin x$	`SIN(x)`	`=SIN(A1)`
$\sin^{- 1} x$	`ASIN(x)`	`=ASIN(A1)`
$\sqrt{x}$	`SQRT(x)`	`=SQRT(A1)`

Other trigonometric functions are also available besides just SIN, including COS, TAN, etc.

Content last modified on 24 July 2023.

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Contributed by Nathan Carter (ncarter@bentley.edu)