Prompt
Answer
Formula in Excel to Sum Two Columns
To sum two columns in Excel, you can use the following formula:
=SUM(A:A, B:B)
- Replace A:A and B:B with the actual column references that you want to sum.
- This formula adds all the numeric values in the specified columns and returns the total sum.
Explanation
The SUM
function in Excel is used to add up a range of numbers.
- In this formula,
SUM(A:A, B:B)
adds up all the values in columns A and B. - The colon (:) between A and A (or B and B) signifies the entire column.
- Therefore,
A:A
refers to all the cells in column A, andB:B
refers to all the cells in column B.
Practical Illustration
Suppose you have sales data in columns A and B, and you want to find the total sales for each month. You can use the formula =SUM(A:A, B:B)
to quickly calculate the total sales for each month.
By using this formula, you can efficiently sum up two columns of data without manually adding each cell.
This formula provides a simple and effective way to aggregate data across multiple columns in Excel.
Description
The input provides a formula using Excel's SUM function to add up values from two different columns. It explains the syntax, its purpose, and offers a practical application for aggregating data efficiently in Excel.