Mistery digits on excel

[Guest]

I have created a chart with 2 columns of Nos. and a third column with the
results from the subtraction of column 1 from 2. At the bottom of each colum
I also have the resultant of the column. the display is to 0 digits but the
input on each box is to 2 digits. Also I have selected the numerical to show
in Red and parenthesis if it is a negative No. The final resultant at the
bottom of column 3 should equal 0. I cannot round to display because I would
losse the 2 digit accuracy on the input boxes.
The problem that I'm having is that the final resultant shows a negative
0. If I extend the final result to show max. digits to see why is a negative
0, somewhere around the 20th. digit numbers starts to show up instead of 0's.
Where do these numbers come from? I only inputed to 2 digits, everything else
should be 0. I cannot manipulate the formula to show positive 0 on the
result because if I make an error on the input where the answer would be
truly less than 0, it will not show it. Is there a way to change the setting
to just calculate to 2 significant digits. (Accuracy level) and again, Where
do these numbers come from?

 

[Bill Martin]

I have created a chart with 2 columns of Nos. and a third column with the
results from the subtraction of column 1 from 2. At the bottom of each colum
I also have the resultant of the column. the display is to 0 digits but the
input on each box is to 2 digits. Also I have selected the numerical to show
in Red and parenthesis if it is a negative No. The final resultant at the
bottom of column 3 should equal 0. I cannot round to display because I would
losse the 2 digit accuracy on the input boxes.
The problem that I'm having is that the final resultant shows a negative
0. If I extend the final result to show max. digits to see why is a negative
0, somewhere around the 20th. digit numbers starts to show up instead of 0's.
Where do these numbers come from? I only inputed to 2 digits, everything else
should be 0. I cannot manipulate the formula to show positive 0 on the
result because if I make an error on the input where the answer would be
truly less than 0, it will not show it. Is there a way to change the setting
to just calculate to 2 significant digits. (Accuracy level) and again, Where
do these numbers come from?

Creating multiple posts with different names does not help. Look for responses
back at your first posting with this same question.

Bill

 

[Myrna Larson]

They come from that fact that math is done in binary, and a number that has
just two decimal places in decimal probably does NOT have two decimal places
when translated to binary.

You can change the worksheet to Precision as Displayed. Maybe that will fix
things for you.

You can also round the sum: =ROUND(SUM(A1:A10),2)