To use formulas you always first need to put the sign =. Then, you choose the function you want to do (ex. SUM, AVERAGE, etc). After you open parenthesis and choose the cells you want to be in the function. After you have chosen all the cells you want, you close parenthesis and press ENTER. If you did everithing correctly, the result will appear, if not, there would be an error message.

Some formulas I have used in class are

=SUM - for sum numbers
=AVERAGE - to know the average of data
=RANDBETWEEN - to randomly choose numbers from a minimum to a maximum. Ex
=RANDBETWEEN(6, 10)

Column charts

Can be used for comparing data over anything you want with a time period.

Line Charts

It helps to view how a variable has been changing over a time period. I would use it for seeing how sales in a business were.

 

Pie Charts

It helps top view the percentage of a data series, displayed with a pie. I would use it in politics, for display the results.

 

How to create graphs or charts in Excel 2010