Which MS-EXCEL formulae are equivalent to each other? A. =A3+A4+A5+A6 B.…

CONCEPT

Two spreadsheet formulas are equivalent when, for the same cell values, they evaluate the same cells under the same operations and produce the same result.

The SUM function accepts either a contiguous range written with a colon or a list of individual arguments separated by commas. A comma does not include the cells between two references.

APPLICATION

1. Formula A adds the four individual cells A3, A4, A5 and A6.

2. Formula B uses the range A3:A6, so it includes A3, A4, A5 and A6.

3. Formula C passes A3 and A6 as two separate arguments, so it includes only those two cells.

4. Formula D passes A3, A4, A5 and A6 as four separate arguments.

CROSS-CHECK AND CONTRAST

Let A3 = 1, A4 = 2, A5 = 4 and A6 = 8. Formulas A, B and D each return 15, whereas formula C returns 9.

• The set A, B and C includes C, which uses only the two endpoint cells.

• The set B and D omits A, although A adds the same four cells.

• The set C and D combines an endpoint-only sum with a four-cell sum.

Therefore, A, B and D are equivalent, so the correct answer is ‘A, B and D only’.