PRODUCT()

Syntax. PRODUCT(number1,number2,...)

Definition. This function multiplies the arguments and returns the product.

Arguments

• number1 (required) and number2 (optional) The minimum number of values is 1, and the maximum is 255 (30 in Excel 2003 and earlier versions) that you want to multiply. (One number is required, but for a multiplication a second value makes sense.) Instead of using separate numbers, it is also possible to build a product for a range of cells—for example, A1:A5.

Background. The product is the result of multiplication, and the multiplied values are the factors:

a₁ • a₂ • a₃ • a₄•...•a_n = b

In mathematics, analogous to the sum symbol Σ is the symbol Π for product. Π stands for the product of multiple factors.

Example. Multiplication of amounts is very common; for example, in a shopping list (see Figure 16-21).

Figure 16-21. The PRODUCT() function.

See Also

FACT(), SUM(), SUMPRODUCT()

Sample Files

Use the PRODUCT worksheet in the Chapter16.xls or Chapter16.xlsx sample file. The sample files are found in the Chapter16 folder. For more information about the sample files, see the section titled Using the Sample Files.