A copied rate and a displayed percentage
A fictional office workbook stores a service rate of0.08 in cellB1 and three purchase amounts inA2 throughA4. The rate cell is formatted as a percentage. The author enters=A2*B1 inC2 and drags the formula down, expecting every amount to use the same rate. The result inC3 looks wrong because its reference moved toB2, which contains an unrelated heading. A colleague suggests typing8 intoB1 because the displayed rate should be eight percent, while another wants to replace the formulas with manually typed totals. The exercise uses Excel-style A1 references and ordinary automatic calculation, with no hidden names or iterative model. It is a written review of references and display, not a real invoice or tax calculation.
1. Write a suitableC2 formula and state its copy behavior.
Read the worked answer
Use=A2*$B$1. Copied down one row it becomes=A3*$B$1, preserving the rate location while advancing the amount row.
2. ShouldB1 be changed to8 merely because the display should show8 percent?
Read the worked answer
No. Under percentage formatting,0.08 displays as8 percent. Storing8 would represent800 percent in that format and would multiply amounts by8 rather than0.08.