IF and THEN statements

[Athena]

I'm currently working on a spreadsheet that is becoming more complicated in
formula needs than I can manage on my own. I was wondering if someone would
be kind enough to assist me with a solution on how to incorporate IF and THEN
statements.

Current Problem: I have this: #DIV/0! showing up in some of my cells
currently because there are no numbers to calculate. The results are
basically zero. However, I would like it to show that IF the formula results
in ZERO, THEN place a 0 instead of the #DIV/0! text in the cell. The
current formula in the cell is:

=SUM(L16/'2008'!G16

My Question: How do I use an IF and THEN statement with the above formula
to place a zero number in the cell if there are no numbers to calculate?

Thank you so much in advance for being a help to me.

 

[Mike H]

Hi,

Try this and note there's no need for SUM

=IF('2008'!G16<>0,L16/'2008'!G16,0)

Mike

 

[Tom Hutchins]

If you are just dividing two numbers, you don't need to use SUM. Your IF
formula should check the number by which you are dividing. If it's zero,
return zero; otherwise, go ahead and do the division.

=IF('2008'!G16=0,0,L16/'2008'!G16)

Hope this helps,

Hutch

 

[Luke M]

IF functions create routes for TRUE/FALSE outcomes. In your case, since
'2008'!G16 is the possible trouble maker, we'll check it first to determine
our outcome:

=IF('2008'!G16=0,0,L16/'2008'!G16)

Note that there is no need for the SUM function, as you are not actually
summing an array of numbers, but rather performing a single math operation.

 

[T. Valko]

Try it like this:

=IF('2008'!G16=0,0,L16/'2008'!G16)

 

[Bernard Liengme]

Let's start with =SUM(L16/'2008'!G16)
There is no need to use SUM when you are doing a simple math operation like
divide
This is what you need
=L16/'2008'!G16
We use SUM as in =SUM(A1:A100) to sum all the vlaues in a range

Now let's get that zero
=IF('2008'!G16=0, 0, L16/'2008'!G16)
or
=IF(ISERR(L16/'2008'!G16),0,L16/'2008'!G16)

But is zero really what you need? Maybe a cell that looks empty would be
better
=IF('2008'!G16=0, "" L16/'2008'!G16)
That is a pair of double-quotes with nothing between

best wishes