- Advanced Excel Functions Tutorial
- Advanced Excel Functions - Home
- Compatibility Functions
- Advanced Excel Functions - Cube
- Database Functions
- Date & Time Functions
- Engineering Functions
- Financial Functions
- Information Functions
- Advanced Excel Functions - Logical
- Lookup & Reference Functions
- Math & Trignometric Functions
- Statistical Functions
- Useful Resources
- Quick Guide
- Useful Resources
- Discussion
Advanced Excel Statistical - SLOPE Function
Description
The SLOPE function returns the slope of the linear regression line through data points in known_y's and known_x's. The slope is the vertical distance divided by the horizontal distance between any two points on the line, which is the rate of change along the regression line.
Syntax
SLOPE (known_y's, known_x's)
Arguments
Argument | Description | Required/ Optional |
---|---|---|
Known_y's | An array or cell range of numeric dependent data points. | Required |
Known_x's | The set of independent data points. | Required |
Notes
The equation for the slope of the regression line is −
$$b=\frac{\sum \left ( x-\bar{x} \right )\left ( y-\bar{y} \right )}{\sum \left ( x-\bar{x} \right )^2}$$
Where x and y are the sample means AVERAGE (known_x’s) and AVERAGE (known_y’s).The arguments must be either numbers or names, arrays, or references that contain numbers.
If an array or reference argument contains text, logical values, or empty cells, those values are ignored. However, cells with the value zero are included.
If known_y's and known_x's have a different number of data points, SLOPE returns the #N/A error value.
If known_y's and known_x's are empty, SLOPE returns the #DIV/0! error value.
If the variance of the supplied known_x's evaluates to zero, SLOPE returns the #DIV/0! error value.
Applicability
Excel 2007, Excel 2010, Excel 2013, Excel 2016