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Parentheses and the Order of Operations

Excel follows the usual order: brackets, then powers, then multiplication and division, then addition and subtraction. Without brackets =2+3*4 is 14, not 20. Use parentheses to say exactly what you mean, especially for averages and percentages.

A common slip is =A1+A2/2. If you want the average of two cells you need =(A1+A2)/2. Brackets also keep a formula readable.

Exampleexcel
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Quick check

What is `=10-2*3`?

Your turn: write the code

Fix B3 so it shows the average of A1 and A2 (add parentheses).

Finish the quick check (and any code exercise) to complete this lesson, or mark it done yourself.

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