Dividing the input value with another cell

[anajm88]

Hello,

I'm teacher trying to use Excel as a grade-book. I would like to be able to enter an input in a cell (the number of points earned) and have that divided by a constant value (the number of possible points) to be turned into a percentage. My self-attempts have resulted in what excel calls "circular reference".

More detail:

Cell D4 has the number of possible points, a homework assignment with 16 problems.
Cell D6 will be the input cell. If the student got 15 problems correct, i will input 15, but the cell will calculate the percentage of 15/16.

I'm a novice user. I would sincerely appreciate a broken-down answer.

Thank you!

 

[T. Valko]

Hello,

I'm teacher trying to use Excel as a grade-book. I would like to be able to enter an input in a cell (the number of points earned) and have that divided by a constant value (the number of possible points) to be turned into a percentage. My self-attempts have resulted in what excel calls "circular reference".

More detail:

Cell D4 has the number of possible points, a homework assignment with 16 problems.
Cell D6 will be the input cell. If the student got 15 problems correct, i will input 15, but the cell will calculate the percentage of 15/16.

I'm a novice user. I would sincerely appreciate a broken-down answer.

Thank you!

You just need to put the formula in a different cell.

D4 = 16
D6 = 15

Then, enter this formula in some other cell like D7:

=IF(COUNT(D4,D6)<2,"",D6/D4)

Format as Percentage

 

[JLGWhiz]

Try this to get the principle of how it is done.

Enter the total number of questions in cell A2 of a blank worksheet.

Skip to Column C and enter this formula:

If(b2 <> "",b2/$a$2,"")

The formula says that if b2 is not blank or zero value then divide the value in b2 by the value in a2, otherwise enter a zero length string which will appear as blank. Then select cell b2 and with the mouse pointer grab the lower right corner of the heavy line around b2, you should see a small plus sign when you have it. Hold the left mouse button down and drag the cursor down a few cells and release the button. Those cells should now contain the formula you want to use. Select the group of cells with the formula and right click the mouse. Click "Format Cells" in the pop-up menu, then click Numbers>Percentages>OK. Enter a few numbers in the group of cells in column b.

You should now see your percentages in column c.