How to convert a chain into a number
You could use the string concatenation operator '&amp;' and make a formula like this:

=B2&amp;" X "&amp;B3&amp;" X "&amp;B4
which would display "4 X 8 X 7"

then have another formula that actually calculates the function:

=B2*B3*B4
which would display "224"

http://i.imgur.com/9ggakhc.png