Types of operators.
There are four different types
of calculation
operators: arithmetic, comparison, text
concatenation, and reference.
Arithmetic operators
To perform basic mathematical operations, such as addition, subtraction,
multiplication, or division; combine numbers; and produce numeric results, use
the following arithmetic operators.
Arithmetic operator Meaning Example
+ (plus sign) Addition =3+3
– (minus sign) Subtraction =3–3
Negation =-3
* (asterisk) Multiplication =3*3
/ (forward slash) Division =3/3
% (percent sign) Percent 30%
^ (caret) Exponentiation =3^3
Comparison operators
You can compare two values with the following
operators. When two values are compared by
using these operators, the result is a logical
value—either TRUE or FALSE.
Comparison operator Meaning Example
= (equal sign) Equal to =A1=B1
> (greater than sign) Greater than =A1>B1
< (less than sign) Less than =A1<B1
>= (greater than or equal to sign) Greater than or equal to =A1>=B1
<= (less than or equal to sign) Less than or equal to =A1<=B1
<> (not equal to sign) Not equal to =A1<>B1
Text concatenation operator
Use the ampersand (&) to concatenate (join) one
or more text strings to produce a single piece of
text.
Text Meaning Example
operator
& Connects, or concatenates, ="North"&"wind" results in
(ampersand) two values to produce one "Northwind".
continuous text value Where A1 holds "Last name" and B1
holds "First name", =A1&", "&B1
results in "Last name, First name".
Reference operators
Combine ranges of cells for calculations with
the following operators.
Reference Meaning Example
operator
: (colon) Range operator, which produces one B5:B15
reference to all the cells between two
references, including the two references.
, (comma) Union operator, which combines multiple =SUM(B5:B15,D5:D15)
references into one reference
(space) Intersection operator, which produces one B7:D7 C6:C8
reference to cells common to the two
references