Describe the difference between VLOOKUP and HLOOKUP in Excel.

The correct answer accurately highlights that VLOOKUP and HLOOKUP serve different functions based on the orientation of the data they search through. VLOOKUP, or "Vertical Lookup," is designed to search for a value in the first column of a table and return a corresponding value from a specified column within the same row of the data table. This makes it ideal for scenarios where you have data organized in vertical columns, such as lists of products or employee names.

On the other hand, HLOOKUP, which stands for "Horizontal Lookup," searches for a value across the first row of a table and returns a corresponding value from a specified row. This method is beneficial when your data is organized in horizontal rows, such as quarterly sales data where each row represents a different quarter.

In summary, the distinguishing factor is the orientation of the data structure being searched: vertical for VLOOKUP and horizontal for HLOOKUP.