Excel for Beginners Course: Formulas and basic functions

Untimed topic quiz: 18 questions on Formulas and basic functions, with an explanation after each answer. Questions and answers are shuffled every time.

Course
Canada
100 questions
Checked October 13, 2026
Fact-checked October 13, 2026

Start with the lessonsExcel for Beginners Course: Lessons: about 120 minutes of reading. Every test question is covered in the lessons.

Topic quiz 3: Formulas and basic functions

Question 1 of 18
What character must every Excel formula start with?
- $
- =
- #
- +
Show answer
Answer: B. =
Excel formulas always begin with the equal sign (=).
Question 2 of 18
Which operator multiplies two numbers in a formula?
- &
- *
- ^
- x
Show answer
Answer: B. *
Excel uses the asterisk (*) to multiply. The ^ sign raises a number to a power and & joins text.
Question 3 of 18
What does the formula =4+6*2 return?
- 14
- 16
- 20
- 12
Show answer
Answer: B. 16
Excel multiplies before it adds: 6*2 = 12, then 4 + 12 = 16.
Question 4 of 18
In the timesheet below, what does =SUM(B2:B5) return?
A B C D E F
1 Employee Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri
2 Ana 8 7.5 8 0 6
3 Ben 6 8 8 8 4
4 Chen 7 7 7.5 8
5 Dana 8 8 8 8 8
- 29
- 4
- 21
- 29.5
Show answer
Answer: A. 29
SUM adds every number in B2:B5: 8 + 6 + 7 + 8 = 29 hours worked on Monday.
Question 5 of 18
In the timesheet below, what does =SUM(B2:F2) return?
A B C D E F
1 Employee Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri
2 Ana 8 7.5 8 0 6
3 Ben 6 8 8 8 4
4 Chen 7 7 7.5 8
5 Dana 8 8 8 8 8
- 29.5
- 5
- 28.5
- 29
Show answer
Answer: A. 29.5
B2:F2 is Ana's row: 8 + 7.5 + 8 + 0 + 6 = 29.5 hours.
Question 6 of 18
You select the empty cell under a column of numbers. Which keyboard shortcut inserts a SUM formula with AutoSum?
- Shift+F11
- Ctrl+1
- Ctrl+S
- Alt+=
Show answer
Answer: D. Alt+=
Alt+= is the AutoSum shortcut. You can also select AutoSum on the Home tab or the Formulas tab and press Enter.
Question 7 of 18
In the timesheet below, what does =MAX(C2:C5) return?
A B C D E F
1 Employee Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri
2 Ana 8 7.5 8 0 6
3 Ben 6 8 8 8 4
4 Chen 7 7 7.5 8
5 Dana 8 8 8 8 8
- 7.5
- 30.5
- 8
- 7
Show answer
Answer: C. 8
MAX returns the largest number in the range. The Tuesday hours are 7.5, 8, 7 and 8, so the largest is 8.
Question 8 of 18
In the timesheet below, what does =MIN(F2:F5) return?
A B C D E F
1 Employee Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri
2 Ana 8 7.5 8 0 6
3 Ben 6 8 8 8 4
4 Chen 7 7 7.5 8
5 Dana 8 8 8 8 8
- 0
- 4
- 6
- 8
Show answer
Answer: B. 4
MIN returns the smallest number in the range. Friday's hours are 6, 4, 8 and 8, so the smallest is 4.
Question 9 of 18
In the timesheet below, cell D4 is empty. What does =COUNT(B4:F4) return?
A B C D E F
1 Employee Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri
2 Ana 8 7.5 8 0 6
3 Ben 6 8 8 8 4
4 Chen 7 7 7.5 8
5 Dana 8 8 8 8 8
- 5
- 4
- 29.5
- 3
Show answer
Answer: B. 4
COUNT counts only cells that contain numbers. Empty cells are not counted, so the answer is 4.
Question 10 of 18
In the timesheet below, cell D4 is empty. What does =AVERAGE(B4:F4) return?
A B C D E F
1 Employee Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri
2 Ana 8 7.5 8 0 6
3 Ben 6 8 8 8 4
4 Chen 7 7 7.5 8
5 Dana 8 8 8 8 8
- 7.375
- 29.5
- 7.5
- 5.9
Show answer
Answer: A. 7.375
AVERAGE ignores empty cells. It adds 7 + 7 + 7.5 + 8 = 29.5 and divides by 4 numbers, giving 7.375.
Question 11 of 18
In the timesheet below, Ana has 0 hours on Thursday. What does =AVERAGE(B2:F2) return?
A B C D E F
1 Employee Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri
2 Ana 8 7.5 8 0 6
3 Ben 6 8 8 8 4
4 Chen 7 7 7.5 8
5 Dana 8 8 8 8 8
- 7.375
- 6
- 29.5
- 5.9
Show answer
Answer: D. 5.9
AVERAGE includes cells that contain zero. It divides 29.5 by 5 numbers, giving 5.9.
Question 12 of 18
In the attendance sheet below, P means present and A means absent. What does =COUNTIF(B2:F6,"A") return?
A B C D E F
1 Name Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri
2 Amrit P P A P P
3 Bella P A A P P
4 Carlos P P P P P
5 Divya A P P P
6 Erin P P P A P
- 5
- 4
- 19
- 25
Show answer
Answer: A. 5
COUNTIF counts the cells in the range that match the criteria. There are 5 cells that contain A.
Question 13 of 18
In the attendance sheet below, Divya's Thursday cell (E5) is empty. What does =COUNTA(B5:F5) return?
A B C D E F
1 Name Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri
2 Amrit P P A P P
3 Bella P A A P P
4 Carlos P P P P P
5 Divya A P P P
6 Erin P P P A P
- 3
- 1
- 5
- 4
Show answer
Answer: D. 4
COUNTA counts cells that are not empty, whether they hold text or numbers. E5 is empty, so the answer is 4.
Question 14 of 18
In the sheet below, what does =SUM(A2:C2) return?
A B C
1 Mon Tue Wed
2 8 N/A 7
- 8
- #VALUE!
- 0
- 15
Show answer
Answer: D. 15
SUM ignores text in the cells it refers to, so it adds only 8 and 7 and returns 15.
Question 15 of 18
In the sheet below, what does =A2+B2+C2 return?
A B C
1 Mon Tue Wed
2 8 N/A 7
- 15
- 0
- N/A
- #VALUE!
Show answer
Answer: D. #VALUE!
When you add cells with + and one of them holds text, Excel returns the #VALUE! error. SUM would ignore the text instead.
Question 16 of 18
In the sheet below, C2 contains =IF(B2>=32,"Full","Part") and is copied down to C5. How many cells in C2:C5 show "Full"?
A B C
1 Employee Hours Status
2 Ana 29.5
3 Ben 34
4 Chen 31.5
5 Dana 40
- 2
- 4
- 3
- 1
Show answer
Answer: A. 2
IF shows "Full" only when the hours are 32 or more. Ben (34) and Dana (40) meet the test, so 2 cells show "Full".
Question 17 of 18
What does =ROUND(1234.567,-2) return?
- 1235
- 1200
- 1300
- 1234.57
Show answer
Answer: B. 1200
A negative num_digits rounds to the left of the decimal point. -2 rounds to the nearest hundred, so the result is 1200.
Question 18 of 18
In the sheet below, C2 is empty. What does =B2/C2 return?
A B C
1 Item Cost Units
2 Gloves 84
- #DIV/0!
- #VALUE!
- 84
- 0
Show answer
Answer: A. #DIV/0!
Excel shows #DIV/0! when a number is divided by zero or by an empty cell. A formula like =IF(C2,B2/C2,0) avoids the error.

	A	B	C	D	E	F
1	Employee	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri
2	Ana	8	7.5	8	0	6
3	Ben	6	8	8	8	4
4	Chen	7	7		7.5	8
5	Dana	8	8	8	8	8

	A	B	C	D	E	F
1	Name	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri
2	Amrit	P	P	A	P	P
3	Bella	P	A	A	P	P
4	Carlos	P	P	P	P	P
5	Divya	A	P	P		P
6	Erin	P	P	P	A	P

	A	B	C
1	Item	Cost	Units
2	Gloves	84

Topic quiz 3: Formulas and basic functions

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