Appending queries in Excel - Cell-by-Cell Formula Trace

Sample Data

Two separate lists of students and their scores in columns A and B. The first list is in rows 1-3, the second list is in rows 5-7.

Cell	Value
A1	Name
B1	Score
A2	Alice
B2	85
A3	Bob
B3	90
A5	Name
B5	Score
A6	Charlie
B6	78
A7	Diana
B7	92

Formula Trace

=VSTACK(A1:B3, A5:B7)

Step 1: A1:B3

Step 2: A5:B7

Step 3: VSTACK(A1:B3, A5:B7)

Cell Reference Map

    A       B   
1 |Name   |Score|
2 |Alice  | 85  |
3 |Bob    | 90  |
4 |       |     |
5 |Name   |Score|
6 |Charlie| 78  |
7 |Diana  | 92  |

The formula references two ranges: A1:B3 and A5:B7, which are two separate tables with headers and data.

Result

    A       B   
1 |Name   |Score|
2 |Alice  | 85  |
3 |Bob    | 90  |
4 |Name   |Score|
5 |Charlie| 78  |
6 |Diana  | 92  |

The result shows the two tables stacked vertically, including the repeated header row from the second table.

Sheet Trace Quiz - 3 Questions

What does the formula =VSTACK(A1:B3, A5:B7) do?

A Adds the numbers in the two tables.

B Stacks the two tables vertically, including repeated headers.

C Joins the tables side by side horizontally.

D Filters out the header rows.

Key Result

VSTACK stacks multiple ranges vertically, appending rows from each range one after another.