The Area to Acreage Conversion in Excel

Measure and convert area figures.

The acre, an area unit, is nearly the size of a football field. You can use Excel, a spreadsheet program, to automatically translate other area measures into acres. This is done with a formula embedded into a cell, which reads the data in the spreadsheet and displays the result of a mathematical operation. You do not need any special programming knowledge to implement this process, but do be sure to copy the formulas precisely, as even a small typo could yield a nonsensical or incorrect result.

Instructions

1. Enter the area datum to be converted into a cell on the spreadsheet. It is common to start with column A and to leave a row for labels at the top, so cell A2 is a good place to begin.

2. Enter the formula in cell B2. Type the following: "=A2/4840" if your datum is in square yards or "=A2/43560" if your datum is in square feet. For conversion from other units, replace the number to the right of the slash with the conversion factor to acreage. You may use decimals.

3. Press "Enter." The area converted to acreage will display in cell B2. You may repeat the process to create more such conversions, either by re-typing the formula (changing the "A2" as necessary so the formula reads the proper cell) or copying and pasting the formula using the commands from the "Edit" menu at the top of the window. When you copy and paste this particular formula, it will convert the cell directly to the right, changing the formula automatically when you paste it in a new cell.

References

• Sizes: Acre
• George Mason University: Squares and Rectangles
• Microsoft Canada: Find Excel Answers