Operator order of precedence and Creating Formula in Excel

Creating Formula in Excel

Creating customized (user-defined) formulas in Microsoft Excel is not too difficult. For creating formulas just combine the references of your data with the correct mathematical operator (such as -, +, /, *, and ^).

Operator Order of Precedence

The order of mathematical operations determines in which order the mathematical operations are carried out. If more than mathematical operators are used in the formula, there is a specific order (sequence) that Microsoft Excel will follow to perform (compute) these mathematical operations. However, to change the order of operations, brackets (parenthesis) are used in the Excel formula. The easy way to remember the order of operations (precedence) is to remember the acronym: BEDMAS (PEDMAS), that i.e.,

The Operator order of precedence (operations) is:

Bracket or Parenthesis
Exponents (^)
Division (/)
Multiplication (*)
Addition (+)
Subtraction (-)

Suppose, the following is the screenshot of an Excel sheet. The formula is also shown in the formula bar. As an example, addition (+), division (/), and multiplication (*) operators are used.

Operator order of precedence

The formula in the screenshot performs the computation in the following order,

  • $E1/F1$ will be computed (the answer is 1.5),
  • the answer of $E1/F1$ will be multiplied by value of $G1$ (answer is $1.5*2 = 3$)
  • the answer of $E1/F1 * G1$ will be added to $D1$ (answer is 7)

Any operation(s) enclosed in brackets (parenthesis) will be carried out first followed by any exponents. After that, Excel will consider division or multiplication operations to be of equal importance. The operations are performed in the order they occur left to right in the formula. A similar sequence is also performed for addition and subtraction. Both (addition and subtraction) are considered equal in the order of operations. The operator that appears first will be computed first.

order of precedence bracket

For example, see the screenshot The sequence of operations is

  • The first bracket will be computed, that is, multiplication will be performed $(2 *2 = 4)$
  • E1 will be divided by the answer from the multiplication of $F1$ and $G1 (3/4 = 0.75)$
  • Lastly, $D1$ will be added to the answer $0.75 (4 + 0.75 = 4.75)$

Now check the sequence in the following screenshot

order of precedence bracket

For Creating formula in Excel, see the link Creating Excel Formula

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Convert PDF to Editable File Formats in 3 Easy Steps

The post is about different ways to convert PDF to editable file formats.

Since the introduction of computers into our lives, we’ve been able to do things that we couldn’t do before. Slowly but surely, our PC skills have improved and today we are using new technologies that are enabling us to be better and more productive in almost every aspect of our lives.

One huge part of modern technology is digital documents which are a legacy of the digital revolution. Paper documents have been replaced by digital files at one point since they are easier to use, edit, and share between colleagues and friends.

One of the most used and known digital file formats is Portable Document Format, better known as PDF. Developed and published in the nineties, the PDF is still a number one format for managers, students, accountants, writers, and many others. For more than 20 years it has been building up supporters, who use it for 3 main reasons:

  1. It’s universal — it can be opened on any device (including mobile devices).
  2. It’s shareable — documents are easily shared across all platforms.
  3. It’s standardized — the files always maintain original formatting.

Aside from attractive features that make this file format popular, there is one major downside to using PDF — the format is not so easy to edit.

If you want to make changes to your financial or project reports saved in PDF, the best thing to do is to edit your documents using software that’s designed for that purpose. One such tool is Able2Extract Professional 11, known for its powerful and modern PDF editing features.

With Able2Extract’s integrated PDF editor you can:

  • Resize and scale more pages at once
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  • Convert PDF to Editable File Formats

Convert PDF to Editable File Format

The software is used to convert PDF to Editable File Format over 10 different file formats (MS Office, AutoCAD, Image, HTML, CSV) and it’s available for all three desktop platforms.

It’s so easy to use that all you need to do is follow this three-step conversion process:

  1. Click Open and select the PDF document that you want to convert.convert pdf
  2. Select either the entire document or just a part, using the Selection panel. After making the selection, click on the desired output format.
    Convert PDF
  3. Choose where you want your document to be saved, and the conversion will begin.
Convert PDF to Editable File Formats in 3 Easy Steps

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Able2Extract Convert PDF to Editable File Format

To conclude this quick guide: the process of converting PDF to Editable File Format is precise, quick, and most importantly — it can boost your office productivity. On the downside, the tool is aimed at experienced business professionals, with the full, lifetime license costing around $150.

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See the video for further information and working of Able2Extact software

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Random Walk Model (2016)

The random walk model is widely used in the area of finance. The stock prices or exchange rates (Asset prices) follow a random walk. A common and serious departure from random behavior is called a random walk (non-stationary) since today’s stock price is equal to yesterday’s stock price plus a random shock.

Types of Random Walk Model

There are two types of random walks

  1. Random walk without drift (no constant or intercept)
  2. Random walk with drift (with a constant term)

Definition

A time series is said to follow a random walk if the first differences (difference from one observation to the next observation) are random.

Note that in a random walk model, the time series itself is not random, however, the first differences in time series are random (the differences change from one period to the next).

A random walk model for a time series $X_t$ can be written as

[X_t=X_{t-1}+e_t, , ,]

where $X_t$ is the value in time period $t$, $X_{t-1}$ is the value in time period $t-1$ plus a random shock $e_t$ (value of error term in time period $t$).

Since the random walk is defined in terms of first differences, therefore, it is easier to see the model as

[X_t-X_{t-1}=e_t, , ,]

where the original time series is changed to a first difference time series, that is the time series is transformed.

The transformed time series:

  • Forecast the future trends to aid in decision-making
  • If the time series follows a random walk, the original series offers little or no insights
  • May need to analyze the first differenced time series

Real World Example

Consider a real-world example of the daily US-dollar-to-Euro exchange rate. A plot of the entire history (of daily US-dollar-to-Euro exchange rate) from January 1, 1999, to December 5, 2014, looks like

Random Walk model

The historical pattern from the above plot looks quite interesting, with many peaks and valleys. The plot of the daily changes (first difference) would look like

Random Walk Model first difference

The volatility (variance) has not been constant over time, but the day-to-day changes are almost completely random.

Key Characteristics of a Random Walk

  • No Pattern: The path taken by a random walk is unpredictable.
  • Independence: Each step is independent of the previous one.
  • Probability distribution: The size and direction of each step can be defined by a probability distribution.

Applications of Random Walk Models

Beyond finance, random walk models have applications in:

  • Physics: Brownian motion and diffusion processes
  • Biology: Population dynamics and genetic drift
  • Computer science: Algorithms and simulations

Remember that, random walk patterns are also widely found elsewhere in nature, for example, in the phenomenon of Brownian Motion that was first explained by Einstein.

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R and Data Analysis

Creating Formulas in MS Excel and Changing Data

Changing the data

Before Creating formulas in MS Excel, you need numeric data in different columns or rows of the Excel sheet. Suppose you want to enter a few numbers in a column. Before entering these numbers, you should confirm the cell reference where you need to enter the data. Let’s start by entering numbers in Microsoft Excel‘s cells $A1$ and $A2$. For this purpose follow the steps given below

  1. Click on the cell $A1$
  2. Type 3 from the keyboard
  3. Press the ENTER or DOWN ARROW key on the keyboard. You will be in Cell A2
  4. Now type say 2 from the keyboard and press the ENTER key

Suppose you want to add these numbers in Cell $C1$. You need to write a formula in cell $C1$. After writing the correct formula the content of Cell $C1$ will immediately change to adding two numbers typed in $A1$ and $A2$ and used in $C1$ as formula content.

excel-data-and-formula

Creating Formulas in MS Excel

In this section, we will learn about Creating Formulas in MS Excel. In Excel, each formula begins with an equal sign ($=$), see the picture below

Creating Formulas in MS Excel

Therefore, when creating formulas in Excel, ALWAYS start by typing the equal sign. The equal sign is typed in the Cell where you want the answer to appear. Like the image above, follow these steps

  1. Click on cell $C1$ with ARROW keys from the keyboard or with the mouse pointer.
  2. Type the equal sign in cell $C1$.
excel-data-and-formula

After typing the equal sign in step 2, you have two choices for adding cell references to the spreadsheet formula. Note that cell reference is the name of the cell you want to use in the formula. $A1$ and $A2$ are cell references of numbers 3 and 2, respectively.

  1. You can type these references in or,
  2. You can use an Excel feature called Pointing
excel-data-and-formula

Pointing allows you to click with your mouse on the cell that contains the data or approach a cell reference using the keyboard ARROW keys containing your data to add. This will add cell reference to the formula.

After typing an equal sign in cell C3 in step 2:

  1. Click on cell $A1$ with the mouse pointer to enter the cell reference into the formula
  2. Type a plus (+) sign. You can also use other operators such as for multiplication use you have to use the * symbol, for division/symbol, and for subtraction use $–$, etc.
  3. Click on cell $A2$ with the mouse pointer to enter the cell reference into the formula
  4. Press the ENTER key on the keyboard

The answer 5 should appear in cell $C1$.

Note if you have more than one row or column of data then you need to perform calculations on each row or column cell. It is often possible to copy the first formula to other cells. The easiest way is to copy formulas with the file handle.

See also Creating Formulas in Microsoft Excel

Learn about Primary and Secondary Data

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