What is a sum in Excel?

Answer 1

SUM() is a function within Excel which adds up the values of the cells that are passed to it. You can pass individual cells, a list of cells or a range of cells. e.g.

=SUM(A1) returns the same value as the cell A1
=SUM(A1,B2) return the sum of A1 + B2
=SUM(A1:B2) returns the sum of the range A1:B2

Ranges are effective squares of cells, so the range A1:B2 is a small 2x2 square consisting of A1, A2, B1 and B2.

Answer 2

SUM adds a range of numbers.

EXAMPLE:

Find the sum of the contents of cells B1 through B32.

=SUM(B1:B21)

You also can combine several ranges to get a single sum.

=SUM(B1:B12,B34:B42,D13:D43)

Answer 3

If you want to find the sum of a column from A1 to A12, use the following formula:

=SUM(A1:A12)

If you ever want to add 2 or more values (numbers) in excel to get the result in a specified cell, you can use the formula SUM.

Ex: Cell A1 has value 10, Cell B1 has value 20 and Cell C1 has value 30. To get the sum of these three values in cell D1, you can either enter =SUM(A1,B1,C1) or =SUM(A1:C1) in the cell D1.

Answer 4

The purpose of the SUM function in Microsoft Excel is to add values together.