[GeoStL] FW: Excel 2007 Can't Multiply correctly
- From: "Bernie" <happykraut@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <geocaching@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 3 Oct 2007 05:05:11 -0500
-
Just received this from a friend of mine. Bernie.
Subject: Excel 2007 Can't Multiply correctly
What do you guys think about this?
>> The article below from PC Magazine may be of interest to those of you
>> who use Excel 2007
>>
>> Bill B.
>> ========================================
>>
>>
>> We all learned how to multiply with pencil and paper, even great big
>> numbers and decimals. But when it comes to something important like a
>> blueprint or a
>> scientific formula we reach for a calculator - or a spreadsheet. That's
>> much
>> more reliable, right? Well, not if the spreadsheet is Excel 2007. Over
>> the
>> weekend a member of the microsoft.public.excel newsgroup revealed that
>> Excel
>> 2007 thinks that 850*77.1 is 100,000. What's the correct answer? Anybody?
>> Anybody? Bueller? Anybody? Right, it should be 65,535. Other members
>> verified
>> that the error carries over into some (but not all) calculations based on
>> the
>> incorrect result. Microsoft has been informed of the bug, but hasn't yet
>> formulated a response.
>>
>> UPDATE: Microsoft recognizes the problem and assures us that Excel
>> Will Learn to Multiply.
>>
>>
>> If it were just 850*77.1 that gave a wrong answer, we could probably
>> work around that. But there are tons of other problem numbers, as I
>> discovered for myself. I set up a spreadsheet to divide 65,535 by
>> every number from 1 to 65,535 itself, then multiply the number by
>> that result. So, for example, it
>> divided 65,535 by 26 to get 2,520.577. Then it multiplied 26 by 2,520.577
>> to
>> get... 100,000?! Over ten thousand of these simple calculations gave the
>> wrong
>> answer.
>>
>> We won't know just why the problem comes up until Microsoft speaks
>> out, but there is one thing about 65535 - it's the very largest
>> 16-bit number. In binary it's a string of 16 ones. In hexadecimal
>> (the programmer's friend) it's
>> FFFF. But converting the "problem" results to hexadecimal in Excel yields
>> FFFE. That's surely a clue. Meanwhile, if you have any spreadsheets where
>> some
>> results hit the range around 65535, it might be a good idea to
>> double-check
>> with your trusty calculator... or a pencil.
****************************************
For List Info or To make _ANY_ changes, including unsubscribing from this
list, click -----> //www.freelists.org/list/geocaching
Missouri Caches Scheduled to be Archived http://tinyurl.com/87cqw
Other related posts:
