How would I do this sum in Excel please?

[Denise Green]

am new to excel (and maths to some extent!) so how do I put the following
calculation into the formula bar please.

42,450 x (1+0.004167) to the power of 120

 

[Dave Peterson]

I would use:

=42450*(1.004167^120)

am new to excel (and maths to some extent!) so how do I put the following
calculation into the formula bar please.

42,450 x (1+0.004167) to the power of 120

 

[Joe User]

am new to excel (and maths to some extent!) so how do I put the following
calculation into the formula bar please.
42,450 x (1+0.004167) to the power of 120

You could write any of the following:

=42450*(1+0.004167)^120

=42450*1.004167^120

=42450*(1.004167^120)

But if 0.004167 represents 50%/120, in general it would be more accurate and
less error-prone to write:

=42450*(1+50%/120)^120

And if you are doing future-value calculations, it might more clear and more
generally applicable to write:

=FV(50%/120, 120, 0, -42450)

 

[Sean Timmons]

Presuming you want to do the additon, then the multiplication, then exponent,
it would be

=(42450*(1.004167))^120

However, 1.79769313486231^308 is the largets number allowed in a cell, so
this would exceed the limit.

 

[Joe User]

Presuming you want to do the additon, then the multiplication, then
exponent,
it would be
=(42450*(1.004167))^120

You forgot some parentheses, to wit:

=(((42450)*(1.004167))^(120))



Good point about the ambiguity of the English description. I decided not to
mention it myself because I thought the form of her description made her
application clear. But you know what they say about ass-u-me ;-).


----- original message -----

 

[Joe User]

PS....

But if 0.004167 represents 50%/120

Actually, I suspect it represents 5%/12.

in general it would be more accurate and less error-prone to write:

=42450*(1+5%/12)^120

or

=FV(5%/12, 10*12, 0, -42450)


----- original message -----

 

[Sean Timmons]

Yeah, I've ass-u-me'd more than my share of times on here.

 

[Dana DeLouis]

Good point about the ambiguity

Sometimes using Power can help.

=42450*POWER(1+5%/12, 120)

= = = = = = =