Excel Formula Inserts Non-existent decimal places

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Andrew.Noble

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Joined
Sep 18, 2011
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6
I have an unusual formula result, which seems to depend on the order in which the formula is calculated. It is s simple formula and shouldn't be doing what it is.

I have posted the formula results and formulas themselves below.

Note that "Sum 1" produces the correct answer, where as "Sum 2" inserts decimal points at the 15+ point.

I am using Excel 2010 (V14.0.5128.5000) in Windows 7

<TABLE style="WIDTH: 168pt; BORDER-COLLAPSE: collapse" border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=224><COLGROUP><COL style="WIDTH: 42pt" width=56><COL style="WIDTH: 126pt; mso-width-source: userset; mso-width-alt: 7168" width=168><TBODY><TR style="HEIGHT: 11.25pt" height=15><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; WIDTH: 42pt; HEIGHT: 11.25pt; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0" height=15 width=56></TD><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; WIDTH: 126pt; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0" class=xl65 width=168>Result</TD></TR><TR style="HEIGHT: 11.25pt" height=15><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; HEIGHT: 11.25pt; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0" height=15></TD><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0" class=xl66 align=right>135.50000000000000000</TD></TR><TR style="HEIGHT: 11.25pt" height=15><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; HEIGHT: 11.25pt; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0" height=15></TD><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0" class=xl66 align=right>-135.85000000000000000</TD></TR><TR style="HEIGHT: 11.25pt" height=15><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; HEIGHT: 11.25pt; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0" height=15></TD><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0" class=xl66 align=right>0.35000000000000000</TD></TR><TR style="HEIGHT: 11.25pt" height=15><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; HEIGHT: 11.25pt; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0" class=xl68 height=15>Sum 1</TD><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; BORDER-TOP: windowtext 0.5pt solid; BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0" class=xl67 align=right>0.00000000000000000</TD></TR><TR style="HEIGHT: 11.25pt" height=15><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; HEIGHT: 11.25pt; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0" height=15></TD><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0" class=xl66></TD></TR><TR style="HEIGHT: 11.25pt" height=15><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; HEIGHT: 11.25pt; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0" class=xl68 height=15>Sum 2</TD><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0" class=xl66 align=right>0.00000000000000566</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

<TABLE style="WIDTH: 165pt; BORDER-COLLAPSE: collapse" border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=220><COLGROUP><COL style="WIDTH: 42pt" width=56><COL style="WIDTH: 123pt; mso-width-source: userset; mso-width-alt: 6997" width=164><TBODY><TR style="HEIGHT: 11.25pt" height=15><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; WIDTH: 42pt; HEIGHT: 11.25pt; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0" height=15 width=56></TD><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; WIDTH: 123pt; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0" class=xl65 width=164>Formulae</TD></TR><TR style="HEIGHT: 11.25pt" height=15><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; HEIGHT: 11.25pt; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0" height=15></TD><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0" class=xl66 align=right>135.50000000000000000</TD></TR><TR style="HEIGHT: 11.25pt" height=15><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; HEIGHT: 11.25pt; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0" height=15></TD><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0" class=xl68>=-D5-D7</TD></TR><TR style="HEIGHT: 11.25pt" height=15><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; HEIGHT: 11.25pt; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0" height=15></TD><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0" class=xl68>0.35000000000000000</TD></TR><TR style="HEIGHT: 11.25pt" height=15><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; HEIGHT: 11.25pt; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0" class=xl70 height=15>Sum 1</TD><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; BORDER-TOP: windowtext 0.5pt solid; BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0" class=xl69>=D5+D7+D6</TD></TR><TR style="HEIGHT: 11.25pt" height=15><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; HEIGHT: 11.25pt; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0" height=15></TD><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0" class=xl68></TD></TR><TR style="HEIGHT: 11.25pt" height=15><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; HEIGHT: 11.25pt; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0" class=xl70 height=15>Sum 2</TD><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0" class=xl68>=D5+D6+D7</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
 

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Andrew.Noble said:
I have an unusual formula result, which seems to depend on the order in which the formula is calculated. It is s simple formula and shouldn't be doing what it is.

I have posted the formula results and formulas themselves below.

Note that "Sum 1" produces the correct answer, where as "Sum 2" inserts decimal points at the 15+ point.

I am using Excel 2010 (V14.0.5128.5000) in Windows 7

<TABLE style="WIDTH: 168pt; BORDER-COLLAPSE: collapse" cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=224 border=0><COLGROUP><COL style="WIDTH: 42pt" width=56><COL style="WIDTH: 126pt; mso-width-source: userset; mso-width-alt: 7168" width=168><TBODY><TR style="HEIGHT: 11.25pt" height=15><TD style="BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; WIDTH: 42pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; HEIGHT: 11.25pt; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" width=56 height=15></TD><TD class=xl65 style="BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; WIDTH: 126pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" width=168>Result</TD></TR><TR style="HEIGHT: 11.25pt" height=15><TD style="BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; HEIGHT: 11.25pt; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" height=15></TD><TD class=xl66 style="BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" align=right>135.50000000000000000</TD></TR><TR style="HEIGHT: 11.25pt" height=15><TD style="BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; HEIGHT: 11.25pt; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" height=15></TD><TD class=xl66 style="BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" align=right>-135.85000000000000000</TD></TR><TR style="HEIGHT: 11.25pt" height=15><TD style="BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; HEIGHT: 11.25pt; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" height=15></TD><TD class=xl66 style="BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" align=right>0.35000000000000000</TD></TR><TR style="HEIGHT: 11.25pt" height=15><TD class=xl68 style="BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; HEIGHT: 11.25pt; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" height=15>Sum 1</TD><TD class=xl67 style="BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0; BORDER-TOP: windowtext 0.5pt solid; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" align=right>0.00000000000000000</TD></TR><TR style="HEIGHT: 11.25pt" height=15><TD style="BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; HEIGHT: 11.25pt; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" height=15></TD><TD class=xl66 style="BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent"></TD></TR><TR style="HEIGHT: 11.25pt" height=15><TD class=xl68 style="BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; HEIGHT: 11.25pt; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" height=15>Sum 2</TD><TD class=xl66 style="BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" align=right>0.00000000000000566</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

<TABLE style="WIDTH: 165pt; BORDER-COLLAPSE: collapse" cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=220 border=0><COLGROUP><COL style="WIDTH: 42pt" width=56><COL style="WIDTH: 123pt; mso-width-source: userset; mso-width-alt: 6997" width=164><TBODY><TR style="HEIGHT: 11.25pt" height=15><TD style="BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; WIDTH: 42pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; HEIGHT: 11.25pt; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" width=56 height=15></TD><TD class=xl65 style="BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; WIDTH: 123pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" width=164>Formulae</TD></TR><TR style="HEIGHT: 11.25pt" height=15><TD style="BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; HEIGHT: 11.25pt; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" height=15></TD><TD class=xl66 style="BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" align=right>135.50000000000000000</TD></TR><TR style="HEIGHT: 11.25pt" height=15><TD style="BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; HEIGHT: 11.25pt; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" height=15></TD><TD class=xl68 style="BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent">=-D5-D7</TD></TR><TR style="HEIGHT: 11.25pt" height=15><TD style="BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; HEIGHT: 11.25pt; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" height=15></TD><TD class=xl68 style="BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent">0.35000000000000000</TD></TR><TR style="HEIGHT: 11.25pt" height=15><TD class=xl70 style="BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; HEIGHT: 11.25pt; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" height=15>Sum 1</TD><TD class=xl69 style="BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0; BORDER-TOP: windowtext 0.5pt solid; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent">=D5+D7+D6</TD></TR><TR style="HEIGHT: 11.25pt" height=15><TD style="BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; HEIGHT: 11.25pt; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" height=15></TD><TD class=xl68 style="BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent"></TD></TR><TR style="HEIGHT: 11.25pt" height=15><TD class=xl70 style="BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; HEIGHT: 11.25pt; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" height=15>Sum 2</TD><TD class=xl68 style="BORDER-RIGHT: #f0f0f0; BORDER-TOP: #f0f0f0; BORDER-LEFT: #f0f0f0; BORDER-BOTTOM: #f0f0f0; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent">=D5+D6+D7</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
Click to expand...
Believe it or not this is a common occurance.

It's caused by computers doing binary math on decimal numbers.

Understanding IEEE floating point errors...

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/42980

How to correct rounding errors in floating point arithmetic...

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/214118

The "fix" is to use rounding in your formulas.
 
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