Basic Functions
Intermediate
COUNT Functions
Three ways to count, and the difference between them is the whole point.
Task:
The meter-reading round came back with gaps — some flats gave a reading, some were locked, some were never visited. In B8 count how many actual readings you got, in B9 how many flats came back with anything at all, and in B10 how many readings are over 4000.
Learning Objectives:
- Tell COUNT and COUNTA apart
- Count against a condition with COUNTIF
- Read the gap between two counts as information
Hints
Solve without hints for +5 XP
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 | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Flat | Reading |
| 2 | 1A | 4021 |
| 3 | 1B | No access |
| 4 | 2A | 3887 |
| 5 | 2B | |
| 6 | 3A | 4460 |
| 7 | 3B | No access |
| 8 | Readings received | |
| 9 | Flats that responded | |
| 10 | Readings over 4000 |
What this exercise teaches (contains the answer)
COUNT and COUNTA differ by exactly the rows where someone wrote a note instead of a number, and that gap is the useful figure here: five flats responded but only three gave you a reading, so two need revisiting. A single count would have hidden it.