Why protecting data prevents mistakes in Excel - Formula Trace Breakdown

Sample Data

This table shows items with their price, quantity, and total cost calculated by multiplying price and quantity.

Cell	Value
A1	Item
B1	Price
C1	Quantity
D1	Total
A2	Apple
B2	0.5
C2	10
D2	=B2*C2
A3	Banana
B3	0.3
C3	15
D3	=B3*C3
A4	Orange
B4	0.7
C4	8
D4	=B4*C4

Formula Trace

=B2*C2

Step 1: B2

Step 2: C2

Step 3: 0.5 * 10

Cell Reference Map

    A       B       C       D
1 | Item  | Price | Quantity | Total |
2 | Apple |  0.5  |   10    |  B2*C2|
3 | Banana|  0.3  |   15    |  B3*C3|
4 | Orange|  0.7  |    8    |  B4*C4|

The formula in D2 uses cells B2 and C2 to calculate the total cost for Apple.

Result

    A       B       C       D
1 | Item  | Price | Quantity | Total |
2 | Apple |  0.5  |   10    |   5   |
3 | Banana|  0.3  |   15    |  4.5  |
4 | Orange|  0.7  |    8    |  5.6  |

The Total column shows the result of multiplying Price by Quantity for each item.

Sheet Trace Quiz - 3 Questions

What does the formula =B2*C2 calculate?

A Total cost by multiplying price and quantity

B Sum of price and quantity

C Difference between price and quantity

D Price divided by quantity

Key Result

Multiplying price by quantity calculates total cost for each item.