As well as using a simple formula for multiplication, Excel also has a function - the PRODUCT function - that can be used to multiply data together.
The syntax for the PRODUCT function is:
=PRODUCT( Number1, Number2, ... Number255 )
Up to 255 numbers can be entered as arguments for the function.
Example Using Excel's PRODUCT Feature:
- Enter the following data:
C1 - 235
C2 - 546
- Click on cell C3 - the location where the results will be displayed
- Click on the Formulas tab of the ribbon menu
- Choose Math & Trig from the ribbon to open the function drop down list
- Click on PRODUCT in the list to bring up the function's dialog box
- In the dialog box, click on the Number1 line
- Drag select cells C1 and C2 in the worksheet to add these cell references to the Number1 line
- Click OK to complete the function and to close the dialog box
- The answer 128,310 should appear in cell C3
- When you click on cell C3 the complete function = PRODUCT (C1 : C2) appears in the formula bar above the worksheet
Note: Normally, when blank or empty cells are included in calculations, Excel treats these blank cells as having a value of zero ( 0 ).
Not so in the case of the PRODUCT function. If a reference to a blank cell is included as one of the arguments for PRODUCT, the blank cell is considered to have a value of one ( 1 ) not zero.
For example, if cell A1 contains a value of 9 and cell A2 is blank then the result of =PRODUCT(A1,A2), would be 9 not zero (9 x 1 = 9).
On the other hand, if a 0 has been entered into cell A2 then the results of the function =PRODUCT(A1,A2) would be zero (9 x 0 = 0).
