Excel: A faster method to
fill an arithmetic series in a column
The following method (which I believe
is my own invention :-)) shows how to fill a series of numbers (in
a predefined range) without telling Excel what is the stop (last cell's) result.
Explanation:
Suppose you want to fill the series: 7,
10, 13…. in cells: M3:M200
Usually you would use the following (“traditional”)
method:
1.
Enter 7 in cell M3 and
press: CTRL+ENTER (to stay in cell M3)
2.
Click the Home Tab
3.
Click the Editing Group
4.
Select the Fill icon
5.
Select the Series option
6.
In the Series dialog box
select: Columns in
the: Series radio button
7.
In the Series dialog box
select: linear in
the: Type radio button
8.
In the Step value text box:
type 3
9.
Now you
need to calculate the Stop value:
The formula is: 7 + (200 –
3)*3 = 598, where: 200
is the last cell’s row and 3 is the first
cell’s row.
10.
In the Stop value text box type the result of step 9.: 598
11.
Press OK in the Series dialog box and Excel will display the
requested series in the defined range (M3:M200)
Now, to my method:
I propose a new method, which is faster: You don’t need to
precalculate the stop value, i.e. the value at the range’s last cell.
I propose a new method, which is faster: You don’t need to
precalculate the stop value, i.e. the value at the range’s last cell.
1.
Enter 7 in cell M3 and
press: CTRL+ENTER (to stay in cell M3)
2.
Press F5 to display the Go To dialog box
3.
Enter M3:M200 in the Reference Text Box
4.
Press OK
5.
Press F2 to edit cell M3
6.
Press CTRL+ENTER to
propagate the number in cell M3 (7) to the
entire range
7.
In cell M4 Enter 10 (the
second number of the series)
8.
Select cells M3:M4 and double-click the Fill Handle of cell
M4 (at the lower right corner of that cell)
9.
Et voilà, Cells M3:M200 now contain the desired series…
Picture No.2: My method
