Calculated fields in Google Sheets - Cell-by-Cell Formula Trace

Sample Data

This table shows items with their price per unit and quantity bought. The 'Total Cost' column will calculate the cost for each item by multiplying price and quantity.

Cell	Value
A1	Item
B1	Price
C1	Quantity
D1	Total Cost
A2	Apples
B2	2
C2	5
D2
A3	Bananas
B3	1
C3	7
D3
A4	Cherries
B4	3
C4	2
D4

Formula Trace

=B2*C2

Step 1: B2

Step 2: C2

Step 3: 2 * 5

Cell Reference Map

     A       B       C       D
1  Item    Price  Quantity Total Cost
2  Apples    2       5      -->
3  Bananas   1       7      
4  Cherries  3       2      

The formula in D2 uses values from B2 (Price) and C2 (Quantity) to calculate Total Cost.

Result

     A       B       C       D
1  Item    Price  Quantity Total Cost
2  Apples    2       5       10
3  Bananas   1       7       
4  Cherries  3       2       

After entering the formula =B2*C2 in D2, the cell shows 10, which is the total cost for Apples.

Sheet Trace Quiz - 3 Questions

What does the formula =B2*C2 calculate?

A Difference between price and quantity

B Sum of price and quantity

C Total cost by multiplying price and quantity

D Price divided by quantity

Key Result

Calculated fields multiply related numeric columns to produce a new value in another column.