AVERAGE: a blank is not a zero
The same function gives two different answers depending on what an empty month means.
Task:
Two kiosks report weekly takings. The airport kiosk was shut in week 3 and the cell was left empty; the station kiosk opened that week and took nothing, so its cell holds 0. Put each kiosk's average week in B8 and C8 and compare them.
Interactive Spreadsheet
Hints
+5 XPno-hints bonusSolve it on your own to keep the bonus. Each hint gets one step closer to the formula.
Variations of AVERAGE
0/3The same formula in the other shapes it takes at work.
- AVERAGE Function
The number you quote when someone asks what a typical month costs.
CoreBeginner - AVERAGE: a blank is not a zero
The same function gives two different answers depending on what an empty month means.
Intermediate - AVERAGEIF: the average of one group
The average order, but only for the channel you were asked about.
Intermediate
The data in this exercise
This is the grid you start with. Cell references in the task — B6, C2 — point at the row numbers and column letters below.
| A | B | C | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Week | Airport | Station |
| 2 | Week 1 | 640 | 515 |
| 3 | Week 2 | 710 | 480 |
| 4 | Week 3 | 0 | |
| 5 | Week 4 | 585 | 560 |
| 6 | Week 5 | 665 | 545 |
| 7 | |||
| 8 | Average week |
What this exercise teachesMay contain the answer
The airport average is over four weeks because the empty week is ignored; the station average is over five because a zero is a real takings figure. Neither is wrong, but they answer different questions, which is why the way a missing week is recorded matters more than the formula.