Name

BETADIST

Synopsis

Use BETADIST to find the cumulative beta probability density function for the specified values. This function is commonly used to determine the variation in the percentage of change over various samples.

To Calculate

=BETADIST(X, Alpha, Beta, A, B)

The X, Alpha, and Beta arguments are required for this function. The A and B parameters are optional. The default values of A and B are and 1, respectively.

X

Specifies a numeric value between values of the A and B arguments that indicates the value that should be used to evaluate the function.

Alpha, Beta

The two positive numeric values describing the Beta distribution.

A

An optional numeric value that indicates the lower bound for the value specified for the X argument.

B

An optional numeric value that indicates the upper bound for the value specified for the X argument.

Example

Figure 15-2 illustrates how BETADIST is used to determine the probability value. Notice that the value returned by BETAINV is fairly close to the initial X value of BETADIST. The difference in the values is due to the fact that Excel rounds decimal values so that nine digits display on the right side of the decimal point.

BETAINV returns a value that matches the initial X value specified for BETADIST

Figure 15-2. BETAINV returns a value that matches the initial X value specified for BETADIST

Get Excel 2000 in a Nutshell now with the O’Reilly learning platform.

O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.

Start your free trial