VLOOKUP and IF functions

Hi all.

I am looking for help with the following. I am semi new to the formula's and funtions/referencing and my college prof. well, kind of didn't explain very well and we're not allowed to email her.HELP

I basically just need to know what to put in each box of the VLOOKUP and "IF" function.

i.e for the "IF" function

If the the value in column F6 is more than $500, add 25%. If it is less than $500 and 10%.

i.e for the VLOOKUP
I want to determine the cost of the box in I7 by looking up the cubic feet value in H7. Value cost is in F7. I also MUST use absolute reference but I don't know how to do that.

Thank you for saving a new college girl out!

The IF function has three fields: the first is a logical test that returns a boolian. The second is what happens if the test evaluates "true" and the third is for evaluating "false".

The question you have is, "Is the value in f5 greater than 500?"

The syntax for that is f5 > 500

Let's say the output of the formula goes into cell f6 next door.

The "true" statment is f5 *1.25

And for "false" we do f5 * 1.10

So, in cell f6 (or wherever the output goes) put:

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I also add that the example as you've described doesn't provide a handle for when F5 is EQUAL TO 500. barfly provide a more subtle answer than my own that handles F5 = 500 with an implicit "do nothing".

I recommend checking the official "definition" of IF() available from Microsoft. I find office.microsoft.com to be an excellent reference; but, their are other people that are shaking their head as they read that saying "what is he thinking?"

You're VLOOKUP question isn't quite as straightforward for me.

I think you want to match a cost from F7 a list of costs in the H column, and deliver the matching row value in the column next door, I.

That would look something like:

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Where I've taken the liberty of arbitrarily assinging the matrix from rows 7 to 37 (inclusive).

There are four values in VLOOKUP. The first is the value you're checking against, the second is the matrix (columns & rows) that the function looks at, third is the column (nth from the left) that you deliver an answer from, and "TRUE" or "FALSE" for the question "do you want an approximate match"? which, if left blank, will assume TRUE. Putting FALSE in there means you'll get an error if you don't get an exact match between input and check.

Notice you don't assign which column you are comparing your value against. In VLOOKUP, this is always the leftmost column. You don't get to pick.

I'm not 100% sure what is wanted for "absolute reference", but I'd bet this can explain it.

Thank you both for your replies and help! Much appreciated ;-)