How to divide numbers and cells in Microsoft Excel to make calculations and analyze data

• You can divide in Excel using a few different methods.
• It's easy to divide two numbers or cell values in Excel using the forward slash in a simple formula.
• You can also divide a column of values by a constant, using the dollar sign to create an absolute reference in your spreadsheet.
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There are a few common techniques for performing division in Excel.

You can divide numbers directly in a single cell, or use a simple formula to divide the contents of two different cells. You can also set up a formula that divides a series of values by a constant.

Here's what you need to know to divide in Excel on a Mac or PC.

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How to divide two numbers in Excel

You can divide two numbers using the forward slash (/) in a formula.

If you type "=10/5" in a cell and press Enter on the keyboard, you should see the cell display "2."

You can also divide the values stored in different cells.

1. In a cell, type "=".

2. Click in the cell that contains the dividend (the dividend is the number on the top of a division calculation).

3. Type "/".

4. Click the second cell that contains the divisor.

5. Press Enter.

How to divide a column of values by a constant

It's not uncommon to need to divide a column of numbers by a constant. You can do that by using an absolute reference to the cell that contains the constant divisor.

1. Create a column of numbers that will serve as the dividend in your division calculations. Then put the constant divisor in another cell.

2. In a new cell, type "=" and click the first cell in your list of dividends.

3. Type the name of the cell that contains the divisor, adding a "$" before both the letter and number. Using the dollar sign in this way turns the reference into an absolute reference, so it won't change when you paste it elsewhere in the spreadsheet.

4. Press Enter.

5. Copy and paste this result to other cells to do more division on the other dividends. You can drag the cell by its lower right corner to copy it down a column.

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