SLOPE Function Examples in Excel, VBA, & Google Sheets

This Excel Tutorial demonstrates how to use the Excel SLOPE Function in Excel to calculate the slope.

SLOPE Function Overview

The SLOPE Function Calculates the slope of a line generated by linear regression.

To use the SLOPE Excel Worksheet Function, select a cell and type:

(Notice how the formula inputs appear)

SLOPE Function Syntax and inputs:

=SLOPE(known_ys,known_xs)

known_y’s – An array of known Y values.

known_x’s – An array of known X values.

 

What is SLOPE?

The SLOPE function in Excel is used to calculate the slope of a line given known x and y values.

The SLOPE function can be used in conjunction with the INTERCEPT function to find the equation of a linear line,

y = a + bx

Suppose I have a table of data with x and y values:

The slope of a line is calculated by plotting the data and using the

method, demonstrated below:

 

Using the above chart, we can calculate the slope, b using the rise of the line divided by the run of the line.

Using the SLOPE function:

How to use SLOPE

The SLOPE function takes two arguments:

=SLOPE(known_y’s, known_x’s)

Where known_y’s and known_x’s refer to the x and y data in your data table.

Using our first example, the function is written as:

=SLOPE(B3:B7,C3:C7)

Pairing SLOPE and INTERCEPT

To pair SLOPE and INTERCEPT, an equation can be written as:

= INTERCEPT(B3:B7,C3:C7) + SLOPE(B3:B7,C3:C7) * x

Interested in More Forecasting?

Pair SLOPE with INTERCEPT to see how to create the equation of a line and visit our other articles on Forecasting with Exponential Smoothing, TREND and LINEST functions.

SLOPE function in Google Sheets

The SLOPE function works exactly the same in Google Sheets as in Excel.

 

Additional Notes

The slop of the regression line is calculated as <<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Known_y’s and Known_x’s must not be empty and must have the same number of data points.

SLOPE Examples in VBA

You can also use the SLOPE function in VBA. Type:
application.worksheetfunction.slope(known_ys,known_xs)
For the function arguments (known_y’s, etc.), you can either enter them directly into the function, or define variables to use instead.