software

Hi. I think I have just posted this question, but I can't find it now, so my
apologies.....
I need to start at number 1 and multiply it by 2 - then multiply that answer
by 2, then multiply that answer by 2 and carry on until I have done that 480
times!!
when I try to do this in excel, I either get the answer 4.72237E 21 (which
means nothing to me) or £4,722,366,482,869,650,000,000.0 which isn't a true
calculation as I have worked it out up to a point, but I dont have enough
spaces on my calculator. Bearing in mind that I have not used excel since I
last worked (about 3 years ago), answers as simple as possible please.
ThanksSo what you require is 2 to the power of 479 or 480?
Your result is 2^408, not 2^480.

--
Kind regards,

Niek Otten--
Kind regards,

Niek Otten

quot;reckyrooquot; gt; wrote in message ...
| Hi. I think I have just posted this question, but I can't find it now, so my
| apologies.....
| I need to start at number 1 and multiply it by 2 - then multiply that answer
| by 2, then multiply that answer by 2 and carry on until I have done that 480
| times!!
| when I try to do this in excel, I either get the answer 4.72237E 21 (which
| means nothing to me) or £4,722,366,482,869,650,000,000.0 which isn't a true
| calculation as I have worked it out up to a point, but I dont have enough
| spaces on my calculator. Bearing in mind that I have not used excel since I
| last worked (about 3 years ago), answers as simple as possible please.
| Thanks
|
Sorry, little mistake, your result is 2^72.

--
Kind regards,

Niek Otten

quot;Niek Ottenquot; gt; wrote in message ...
| So what you require is 2 to the power of 479 or 480?
| Your result is 2^408, not 2^480.
|
| --
| Kind regards,
|
| Niek Otten
|
|
| --
| Kind regards,
|
| Niek Otten
|
| quot;reckyrooquot; gt; wrote in message ...
|| Hi. I think I have just posted this question, but I can't find it now, so my
|| apologies.....
|| I need to start at number 1 and multiply it by 2 - then multiply that answer
|| by 2, then multiply that answer by 2 and carry on until I have done that 480
|| times!!
|| when I try to do this in excel, I either get the answer 4.72237E 21 (which
|| means nothing to me) or £4,722,366,482,869,650,000,000.0 which isn't a true
|| calculation as I have worked it out up to a point, but I dont have enough
|| spaces on my calculator. Bearing in mind that I have not used excel since I
|| last worked (about 3 years ago), answers as simple as possible please.
|| Thanks
||
|
|
quot;reckyrooquot; wrote:
gt; I need to start at number 1 and multiply it by 2 - then
gt; multiply that answer by 2, then multiply that answer by
gt; 2 and carry on until I have done that 480 times!!

That can be written =2^480 in Excel, which reads quot;2 to the
power of 480quot;.

gt; when I try to do this in excel, I either get the answer
gt; 4.72237E 21 (which means nothing to me)

It means quot;4.72237 times 10 to the 21quot; -- that is, 472237
followed by 16 zeros. It is called scientific notation. If you
change the format to Number (Format gt; Cells gt; Number gt;
Number, you will see something closer to what you expect.

But that is 4.72237E 21 2^72, not 2^480. 2^480 is closer
to 3.1217E 144.

gt; or £4,722,366,482,869,650,000,000.0 which isn't a true
gt; calculation as I have worked it out up to a point, but I dont
gt; have enough spaces on my calculator.

And just like your calculator, Excel -- and all computational
devices -- have a limit to the quot;spacequot; in which they can
represent a number. Some calculators simply give up beyond
that. Excel does its best by showing numbers in scientific
notation, by default. But even if you use the Number format,
only the first 15 non-zero digits are accurate, more or less.
(The 15th digit might be rounded.)

gt; answers as simple as possible please.

Hope that's simple enough.

And to answer your question (quot;how do I get a true calculationquot;),
there are multiprecision arithmetic add-ins that claim to have
more accuracy. I have not personal experience with any of them.