AVERAGE function in Google Sheets - Cell-by-Cell Formula Trace

Sample Data

This data shows a list of five numbers in cells A1 through A5.

Cell	Value
A1	10
A2	20
A3	30
A4	40
A5	50

Formula Trace

=AVERAGE(A1:A5)

Step 1: A1:A5

Step 2: SUM(A1:A5)

Step 3: COUNT(A1:A5)

Step 4: SUM(A1:A5) / COUNT(A1:A5)

Cell Reference Map

    A   
  +-----+
1 | 10  |
2 | 20  |
3 | 30  |
4 | 40  |
5 | 50  |
  +-----+

Formula references cells A1 through A5.

The formula uses the range A1:A5 which includes all five numbers.

Result

    A       B   
  +-----+-------+
1 | 10  |       |
2 | 20  |       |
3 | 30  |       |
4 | 40  |       |
5 | 50  |  30   |
  +-----+-------+

Cell B5 shows the result of =AVERAGE(A1:A5), which is 30.

The average of the numbers in A1 to A5 is 30, shown in cell B5.

Sheet Trace Quiz - 3 Questions

What does the range A1:A5 contain?

A Only the number 30

B The numbers 10, 20, 30, 40, 50

C Empty cells

D Text values

Key Result

AVERAGE(range) sums all numbers in the range and divides by how many numbers there are.