In an equation, there must be a right hand side, left hand side and an equal sign. while in excel the left hand side is missing. why is that so?
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annnnn
ANSWERS: 3
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When you are in excel and you are finding the answer to an equation you actually highlight the terms that would mormally be on the left side of the equation. By doing this, the program already knows what to do with the information you have highlighted because the the right handed side of the equation you have typed in allows the program to do so
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Because it isn't an equation, it's a formula. If you enter an equation without a 'left hand side' you'll almost certainly generate an error report. I think Microsoft chose to use the = symbol to differentiate Excel from Lotus 1-2-3, which was the industry standard spreadsheet when Excel was introduced. 1-2-3 used the @ symbol to precede formulas, if my memory serves me well.
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I'll deviate from my normal policy of not answering software-based "why?" questions to state what ought to be fairly obvious, if you think about it for a few minutes. In Excel, you are generating ONE-HALF of an equation. That is, you're setting up the formula (by convention, since your work starts with an "=", you're working the right side of each equation), and THE CELL (or array) ITSELF is the left side of the equation. When you do set up "both sides" of an equation in Excel (and you can if you really want to), then Excel responds with a "TRUE" or "FALSE" or ("NA#", "DIV/0#" or other appropriate error message), depending on the validity of the formula. You still have to enter the thing with an equals sign. But go ahead and try some examples and see for yourself: =2 = 1+1 =5 = 4 =1 = 1/0
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