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Chapter 8 Creating Tables 195
Defining Formulas That Use Functions
The following tables provide information about the three kinds of
functions: statistical, numerical, and logical. In the tables, these conventions are used
to describe arguments:
 The argument placeholders—x, x
1
, and so forth—represent places where input to
the functions (such as cell references or constants) should go.
 The ellipsis (...) following a list of arguments means you can use additional
arguments. Place a comma between arguments; if you’re in a locale where the
decimal separator is not a period, place a semicolon between arguments.
 Functions that don’t require a specific number of arguments (such as AVERAGE) can
include cell range references (such as A4:A6) instead of or in addition to other
arguments.
Statistical functions perform statistical calculations.
This function Returns Examples
AVERAGE(x
1
...) The arithmetic mean of the
arguments
AVERAGE(2, 3) returns 2.5
COUNT(x
1
...) The number of arguments that
are numeric
COUNT(1, 2, ”hello”) returns 2
COUNT(A1:A4) returns 2 if A1
and A2 contain numbers, but
A3 and A4 are empty
MAX(x
1
...) The value of the largest
argument
MAX(–1, 42, 7) returns 42
MIN(x
1
...) The value of the smallest
argument
MIN(–1, 42, 7) returns
–1
Notes:
 If an argument is a reference to a cell that doesn’t contain a number,
the argument is ignored. TRUE is interpreted as 1, FALSE is interpreted as 0,
and text strings result in an error.