Spreadsheet help please

daybehavior

Hello everyone. Im a total newbs at spreadsheets. I can do basic functions but I don't know what formula to use to determine the percentage of weight loss for a person in a given week.

Like for example,
A1 B1 C1 D1
starting weight| ending weight| (=A1-B1)pounds lost | percentage lost

How do I get D1?

EDIT: NVM i figured it out, can someone tell how I get the same formula to carry across the whole colum?
I would really appreciate an answer, TIA

SeaRunner26

The percentage lost would be the amount lost divided by your starting weight.

So the formula for percentage lost is: C1/A1

You'll want to always use your ORIGINAL starting weight as the denominator in the equation, otherwise the result of the formula will be the percentage lost from the starting weight for each row.

So in Excel, the formula would be "=C1/$A$1". Then just copy this formula down to each cell in column D.

If you're looking for the cumulative (grand total) percent lost, then you'll also need to know the cumulative weight lost. Lets say cululative weight lost is in E1 and the cumulative percent lost is in F1.

For the first row, the cumulative lost would equal the incremental lost. So E1 would be "=C1". However, the cell below E1 would be "=E1+C2" and so on. The rest of column E can be copied from cell E2.

The cumulatve percentage lost would for F1 woud be "=E1/$A$1". You can copy this cell down for the rest of column F.

In summary, your formulas would look something like this:

A1..........B1..........=A1-B1..........=C1/$A$1..........=C1.................=E1/$A$1
A2..........B2..........=A2-B2..........=C2/$A$1..........=E1+C2..........=E2/$A$1
A3..........B3..........=A3-B3..........=C3/$A$1..........=E2+C3..........=E3/$A$1
A4..........B4..........=A4-B4..........=C4/$A$1..........=E3+C4..........=E3/$A$1

Since you're copying down from Row 2, you really only would have to use A$1 instead of $A$1. The $ just keeps the row or column from changing as you copy down or across.

Hope this helps.