Order of Operations

Part of the Fundamentals section of Coddy's Excel journey — lesson 15 of 42.

Quick: what does =2+3*4 show? If you said 20, Excel disagrees, it shows 14. Just like in math class, Excel multiplies and divides before it adds and subtracts. So it computes 3*4 first (12), then adds 2.

Want the addition to happen first? Wrap it in parentheses, whatever sits inside them is calculated before anything outside:

=2+3*4     shows 14
=(2+3)*4   shows 20

The full pecking order: parentheses first, then powers (^), then * and /, and finally + and -. That's why =2*3^2 is 18 (the power runs first), and =10-4/2 is 8, not 3.

When in doubt, add parentheses. Extra ones that don't change the order are harmless, =(3*4)+2 works exactly like =3*4+2, and they make your formulas easier to read.

Challenge

Easy

Three numbers live in A1, A2 and A3 (call them a, b and c). Column B describes two calculations that look alike but aren't:

In C1 (next to the a+b*c label): a plus b times c, no parentheses
In C2 (next to the (a+b)*c label): the same formula, but with parentheses forcing the addition first

Use cell references, the numbers will change during testing. Watch how different the two results are!

Try it yourself

Sheet1