Syntax
The syntax for the Microsoft Excel
LINEST function is:
LINEST( y_values, [x_values], [constant], [additional_statistics] )
Parameters or Arguments
y_values is the known set of "y values" from the line equation.
x_values is the optional. It is the known set of "x values" from the line equation. If this parameter is omitted,
x_values is assumed to be {1,2,3,...} with the same number of values as
y_values.
constant is optional. It is either TRUE or FALSE. If this parameter is omitted, the function will assume TRUE. If
constant is TRUE,
b in the line equation is calculated normally. If
constant is FALSE,
b becomes 0 so that the line equation is evalulated as
y = mx.
additional_statistics is optional. It is either TRUE or FALSE.
If this parameter is omitted, the function will assume FALSE. If
additional_statistics is TRUE, the function will return additional
regression statistics. If additional_statistics is FALSE, the function
will returns only
m coefficients and
b constant.
Example (as Worksheet Function)
Let's look at some Excel LINEST function examples and explore how to use the
LINEST function as a worksheet function in Microsoft Excel:
This first example we have entered the y values in column A
(cells A2 through A6) and the x values in column B (cells B2 through
B6). Then we have entered the following
LINEST function in both cells D2 and E2 as follows:
=LINEST(A2:A6,B2:B6,TRUE,FALSE)
The
LINEST functions are written as array formulas. When creating your array formula, you need to do the following:
- Enter the formulas in both cells D2 and E2
- Highlight cells D2 and E2
- Press F2 (in Windows) or CONTROL-U (on Mac)
- Press Ctrl+Shift+Enter
This creates {} brackets around your formulas as follows:
{=LINEST(A2:A6,B2:B6,TRUE,FALSE)}
You can see how the formula look in the images below.
The value in cell D2 returns the slope of 0.5 and the value in cell E2 returns the y-intercept of 0.
This formula could also be written as follows (entering values instead of cell ranges):
=LINEST({2,3,5,7,10},{4,6,10,14,20},TRUE,FALSE)
The
LINEST functions are written as array formulas. When creating your array formula, you need to do the following:
- Enter the formulas in both cells D2 and E2
- Highlight cells D2 and E2
- Press F2 (in Windows) or CONTROL-U (on Mac)
- Press Ctrl+Shift+Enter
This creates {} brackets around your formulas as follows:
{=LINEST({2,3,5,7,10},{4,6,10,14,20},TRUE,FALSE)}