multiplication several cells, different ranges

[lezawang]

Hi

What is the best way to do multiplication. Lets say I want to multiple all the cells in range A1:A10

=A1*A2*A3*A4..... *A10

and let say I want to multipley A1:A10 * B1:B4

=A1*A2*A3.... *A10 *B1*B2*...*B4

Writing a formula to do multiplication is ok if I have few numbers but let say I have 100 or 1000 etc. I thought it must be better way to do that. Thank you so much.

 

[kweaver]

You cannot multiply to ranges of unequal length. Maybe you meant you wanted the product of A1:A10 TIMES the product of B1:B4?

Maybe this will clarify:

Book6
	A	B	C	D
1	7	3		241920
2	4	4		34836480
3	6	6		34836480
4	2	2
5	1	1
6	9	8
7	10	7
8	1	2
9	8	4
10	1	3
11	5	4
12	7	4
13	5	1
14	8	3
15	3	6
Sheet3

Cell Formulas
Range	Formula
D1	D1	=PRODUCT(A1:A10)
D2	D2	=PRODUCT(A1:A10)*PRODUCT(B1:B4)
D3	D3	=PRODUCT(A1:A10,B1:B4)

 

[lezawang]

Yes thank you very much. I did not know about product() function. I only know about SumProduct(). It is either a new function or no one really know about it. Because I yet to see anyone talking about it or have video about it. Thanks a lot

 

[kweaver]

That function (Product) has been around "forever"...

 

[lezawang]

Thanks a lot once again. Are there any function do the division and subtraction? like

=A1/A2/A3/..../A10

or for substation

=A1-A2-A3-A4... -A10

Thanks again.

 

[kweaver]

Because of our arbitrarily designed (and, illogical, in my opinion) order of operations, this divisions is "left-to-right".
If you worked that out it would be =A1/product(A2:A10).

By the same "logic" the conseq subtractions becomes: A1-sum(A2:A10).

If the order was right-to-left (not backwards), like functions are (supposed) to be performed [ f(g(x)) you have to do g(x) first, the right-most function, then f of that ]
Somewhere along the line, it was forgotten that + - multiply and divide are ALL functions. They should behave like f(g(x)).
Well, had we done like that, the division would have provided alternating product and the subtraction would have been alternating sum -- both useful.
The way it's done has little or no use, I believe.

Somewhere along the line, it was forgotten that + - multiply and divide are ALL functions. They should behave like f(g(x)).
Oh well.
That's my math soapbox.