Calculations with decimals

[Guest]

I am having problems understanding what is happening with my formulas
depending if I round or not.

If I multiple 912.5 * .50=426.25

if I round
913*.5=456.5

Why are the answers different? I am trying to charge our customers per
driver and I don't think they will agree to pay for .25 or .50 of a person,
even though I want to show them the entire calculation.

 

[Guest]

Erika,

I assume it's a typo where you say

multiple 912.5 * .50=426.25

becasuse the correct answer is 456.25

The reason you get a different answer when you use Round is thta the round
finction actually changes he number so it becomes 913 which when multiplied
by 0.5 gives 456.5

Mike

 

[Guest]

In the first calc, it's essentialy ½ of 912.5 which would be 456.25
In the second that calc is essentially ½ of 913 which is 456.5

hth

 

[Guest]

I have to apologize I have done a horrible job explaining my problem.

when I do the following calculation in Excel

913 * .50 the answer I get is 456.30

when I do the same calculation on a calculator
913 * .50 the answer I get is 456.50

Why the difference?

 

[Guest]

I have to apologize I have done a horrible job explaining my problem.

when I do the following calculation in Excel

913 * .50 the answer I get is 456.30

when I do the same calculation on a calculator
913 * .50 the answer I get is 456.50

Why the difference?

 

[Peo Sjoblom]

If I do

=913*.50

I get 456.50


you probably are formatting to display what's in a cell to 913 and you think
what you see is what you get, copy and paste the cell that display as 913 to
another cell and paste it special and select values, format it as general
and you will see why there is a difference. Remember that formatting does
not change the contents of a cell, only what's displayed

So you can either use ROUND or precision as displayed under
tools>options>calculations.

Note that it might affect other calculations

 

[Guest]

in one cell I have 913 in another cell I have .50 = when I do the calculation
useing cell references the answer I get is 456.30

 

[Guest]

The cell containing 913 is probably 912.6 but as you appear to have formatted
the cell as 0 decimal places it displays as 913.

Format the cell contain 913 with 2 decimal places.

 

[Peo Sjoblom]

You are wrong, it is impossible. Format both those cells as general and you
will see that's not
Another way, assume A1 holds 913 and B2 holds 0.50, replace them with your
real cell references

now try

=913=A1

=0.50=B2

one of them (or both) will return FALSE which means that what you think is a
value is not
thus you can use ROUND to fix it


--
Regards,

Peo Sjoblom

 

[Niek Otten]

<in one cell I have 913 in another cell I have .50 >

No, you have not. That's what you SEE, not what really is there. Follow Peo's advice: format the cells as General AND make them
wide enough to display more digits. Then you'll see there is something else.
Another way to check: enter the number 913 in an empty cell, let's say G1. And let's suppose your 913 is in A1. In G2, enter the
formula=G1=A1. I bet you get FALSE. Then do it for the .5 cell


--
Kind regards,

Niek Otten
Microsoft MVP - Excel

| in one cell I have 913 in another cell I have .50 = when I do the calculation
| useing cell references the answer I get is 456.30
|
| "Peo Sjoblom" wrote:
|
| > If I do
| >
| > =913*.50
| >
| > I get 456.50
| >
| >
| > you probably are formatting to display what's in a cell to 913 and you think
| > what you see is what you get, copy and paste the cell that display as 913 to
| > another cell and paste it special and select values, format it as general
| > and you will see why there is a difference. Remember that formatting does
| > not change the contents of a cell, only what's displayed
| >
| > So you can either use ROUND or precision as displayed under
| > tools>options>calculations.
| >
| > Note that it might affect other calculations
| >
| >
| > --
| > Regards,
| >
| > Peo Sjoblom
| >
| >
| >
| > | > >I have to apologize I have done a horrible job explaining my problem.
| > >
| > > when I do the following calculation in Excel
| > >
| > > 913 * .50 the answer I get is 456.30
| > >
| > > when I do the same calculation on a calculator
| > > 913 * .50 the answer I get is 456.50
| > >
| > > Why the difference?
| > >
| > > "Mike H" wrote:
| > >
| > >> Erika,
| > >>
| > >> I assume it's a typo where you say
| > >>
| > >> multiple 912.5 * .50=426.25
| > >>
| > >> becasuse the correct answer is 456.25
| > >>
| > >> The reason you get a different answer when you use Round is thta the
| > >> round
| > >> finction actually changes he number so it becomes 913 which when
| > >> multiplied
| > >> by 0.5 gives 456.5
| > >>
| > >> Mike
| > >>
| > >>
| > >> "Erika" wrote:
| > >>
| > >> > I am having problems understanding what is happening with my formulas
| > >> > depending if I round or not.
| > >> >
| > >> > If I multiple 912.5 * .50=426.25
| > >> >
| > >> > if I round
| > >> > 913*.5=456.5
| > >> >
| > >> > Why are the answers different? I am trying to charge our customers per
| > >> > driver and I don't think they will agree to pay for .25 or .50 of a
| > >> > person,
| > >> > even though I want to show them the entire calculation.
| > >> >
| > >> >
| >
| >
| >