Mathematically speaking, the average is the central tendency referenced by a series of numbers. Today we will tell you how to calculate or get the general average in Excel with a step-by-step formula.
How to Calculate or Take the General Average in Excel with Formula – Step by Step
In math, getting an average is calculated by adding all the numbers and dividing by the number of numbers you added. So, for example, if you want to know how much is the grade point average of a subject, you should do the following:
Exam grades: 7, 8, 10, 6
Number of exam marks: 4
Average exam marks: 7 + 8 + 10 + 6/4 = 7.75
You can apply all this in an Excel document automatically using formulas. Next, we will tell you how you can do it (it should be noted that before starting you should download the latest version of Office from its page , because if not, many options described here will not appear).
How to Calculate Excel Grand Average in a Column Step by Step
In this section we will teach you how to calculate the Excel general average in a column step by step.
As we mentioned before, we need a series of different numbers to be able to calculate the average of them and add them to all of them. In the event that you have text and numbers in the same cell, you must first separate names and surnames with formulas in an Excel sheet .
To be able to perform an addition and then a division automatically you must use the formula: = SUM (Cell 1: Cell 2) / number of numbers that you added , in case you want to select a continuous series of cells in a row, or either = SUM (Cell 1; Cell 2) / total numbers , if you want to select specific cells.
You can also select cells directly with the mouse.
Another way to do it is by using the average formula. This, like the = SUM function, can be inserted in different ways:
- Click in an empty cell and type = AVERAGE (Cell 1A: 10A) or = AVERAGE (Cell 1; Cell 2 ). Remember that if you enter the colon you will be indicating a section, and with the semicolon specific sections or cells.
- Position yourself on an empty cell. Click on Fx in the toolbar at the top of the screen and enter Select a function> Average> Insert function> OK. Now enter the range of cells you want to calculate.
- Write the = sign in an empty cell . At the top of the screen, from where you can edit everything you write in a cell, a drop-down menu will open with all the functions that Excel has. Now between the parentheses write the range of cells you want to calculate.
How to calculate the mean, median and mode in Excel fast and easy
Now let’s see how to calculate the mean, median and mode. As we mentioned earlier, the mean is the general or weighted average, also called the arithmetic mean, it represents a fair value.
The median is the number the value that occupies the central position of a series of numbers. Following the example at the beginning, if the numbers were: 7, 8, 10, 6, the median would be 7.5.
The mode is the number that is repeated the most times or has the most frequency.
Now that we know what each one means, let’s see how to calculate it with different formulas in Excel.
To calculate the mean, we must use the average formula as explained in the previous section.
Calculating the median we are going to use the formula: = MEDIAN (Cell1; cell 2) or = MEDIAN (Cell 1: Cell2) . The median may or may not be equal to one of the values in the sample range.
To calculate the mode, we must use = MODE (Cell 1: Cell 2) or = MODE (Cell 1; Cell 2). Here we must make a clarification, and it is that depending on the version of Excel you have, you will use = MODE (), = MODE.ONE (), = MODE.VARIUS.
In the older versions you can only calculate a single mode number, while in the more updated versions, you must choose MODE.ONE , in case you want to find the number more frequently, or MODE.VARIUS to search for several values in the case that there is more than one fashion.
As you can see, using Excel formulas is extremely simple and practical, especially when it comes to long lists.
However, to learn perfectly how to carry out all the processes you have to keep looking for information, so as a recommendation you should look: how are all the Excel formulas used in a spreadsheet ?
Or also, you can find how to insert formulas in text boxes ?, so that you can handle the formulas in all possible ways.
