100^200 = #num

[lezawang]

Hello
What is the max value I can enter in a cell. I tried =100^200 and I got #NUM message.
I tried to google it but once I enter Maximum all results come related to Max() function!
Thank you.

 

[njimack]

The largest number recognised by Excel is 9.99999999999999E+307

 

[lezawang]

Thanks for your reply. Based on what? how did you get that number, i.e 2^256 or how?

 

[Aladin Akyurek]

See Excel's help for "excel specifications and limits".

 

[joeu2004]

Based on what? how did you get that number, i.e 2^256 or how?

A very astute question.

9.99999999999999E+307 is the largest number that we can enter (type or import from a text file). That is an arbitrary limitation of Excel.

However, the largest value that we can calculate is (2^1023 - 2^970)*2, which is 10*1.79769313486231E+307 + 5.79E+293.

This is based on the fact that Excel stores numeric values using 64-bit binary floating-point, which has a binary exponent of 11 bits and a binary mantissa of 53 bits (1 of which is implicit for so-called "normalized" values).

Also note: for data entry, Excel interprets only the first 15 significant digits, replacing any digits to the right with zeros, effectively truncating the data entry. And Excel displays (formats) only the first 15 significant digits, rounded.

However, the actual numeric value can be precise to many more significant digits. For example, the binary representation of 0.01 is actually the exact decimal number 0.0100000000000000,0020816681711721685132943093776702880859375.

(I use period for the decimal point and comma to demarcate the first 15 significant digits.)

 

[cerfani]

You need the NASA version of Excel and a supercomputer! jk

Are you calculating something scientific like distance in space or grains of sand on earth?

 

[joeu2004]

Too late to edit....

However, the largest value that we can calculate is (2^1023 - 2^970)*2, which is 10*1.79769313486231E+307 + 5.79E+293.

(2^1023 - 2^970)*2 is about 1.79769313486231E+308 , which we can enter as 10*1.79769313486231E+307 + 5.79E+293.