What function would you use in Excel to calculate the absolute difference between two cells?

The function used in Excel to calculate the absolute difference between two cells is indeed the ABS function. This function returns the absolute value of a number, which means it converts any negative result into a positive one.

To find the absolute difference between two values, you would typically subtract one cell from another and then apply the ABS function to this result. For example, if you want to find the absolute difference between values in cells A1 and B1, you would use the formula =ABS(A1 - B1). This ensures that the result is always a non-negative number, reflecting the true distance or difference between the two values, regardless of their order.

The other options do not serve this purpose specifically. For instance, the SUM function adds numbers rather than providing a difference, DISTANCE is not a recognized function in Excel, and DIFFERENCE is not a predefined function in Excel to calculate absolute differences. Thus, using the ABS function is the most appropriate choice for calculating the absolute difference between two cells.