Ground plane on bottom layer in PCB Design - Cell-by-Cell Formula Trace

Sample Data

PCB layer data showing copper area and purpose for each layer.

Cell	Value
A1	Layer
B1	Copper Area (cm²)
C1	Purpose
A2	Top
B2	50
C2	Signal routing
A3	Bottom
B3	100
C3	Ground plane
A4	Inner 1
B4	40
C4	Power plane
A5	Inner 2
B5	40
C5	Signal routing

Formula Trace

SUMIF(C2:C5, "Ground plane", B2:B5)

Step 1: Check each cell in C2:C5 for 'Ground plane'

Step 2: Select corresponding B cells where condition is TRUE

Step 3: Sum selected values: 100

Cell Reference Map

    A       B       C
1 | Layer | Copper Area (cm²) | Purpose    
2 | Top   | 50     | Signal routing    
3 | Bottom| 100    | Ground plane <--
4 | Inner 1| 40     | Power plane     
5 | Inner 2| 40     | Signal routing    

The formula checks the Purpose column (C2:C5) for 'Ground plane' and sums the Copper Area (B2:B5) where the condition is true.

Result

    A       B       C           D
1 | Layer | Copper Area (cm²) | Purpose    | Result
2 | Top   | 50     | Signal routing    |      
3 | Bottom| 100    | Ground plane | 100
4 | Inner 1| 40     | Power plane     |      
5 | Inner 2| 40     | Signal routing    |      

The result 100 appears next to the Bottom layer row, showing total copper area for ground plane layers.

Sheet Trace Quiz - 3 Questions

Which layer is identified as the ground plane in the data?

A Top

B Bottom

C Inner 1

D Inner 2

Key Result

SUMIF(range_condition, condition, range_sum) sums values in range_sum where range_condition matches condition.