WHAT IS AN IF STATEMENT?
We use IF statements in excel to answer the question, “is it TRUE or is it FALSE?”
For example, if we want to find out if A>B, we can create in IF statement to tell us the answer. If A is in fact greater than be then the IF statement will return “TRUE,” if this condition is not true then it will return “FALSE.” The words true and false can be changed to a number or another word/phrase; we will discuss how to change this a little later.
To help explain the use of this function will create a simple Spreadsheet to help us determine if we should or should not purchase something. We will Label the first column "Money Available," the second one "Cost of Item," and the last one "Should we buy?"
After we have created the columns, we will use the IF function to see if we should purchase the items. First we will Insert the IF Function, refer to the Diagram for the steps.
Second we will input the information required to make the fuction work.
Logical Test: This means what are we asking?
We want to know if the value under money available is greater than the value under cost of item.
To show this we will write “A4>B4” in that space
Value if true: This is the value we want displayed if the Logical test is true
We will write “YES,” because if we have more money than the item costs, then we can purchase it
Value if False: This is what we want if the answer is false.
We will write “NO”
These are the basic steps to make a working IF Function! Hope they were useful!
