Excel 2016 Formulas

Chapter 10 Miscellaneous Calculations

In This Chapter

• Converting between measurement units
• Formulas that demonstrate various ways to round numbers
• Formulas for calculating the various parts of a right triangle
• Calculations for area, surface, circumference, and volume
• Matrix functions to solve simultaneous equations
• Useful formulas for working with normal distributions

This chapter contains reference information that may be useful to you at some point. Consider it a cheat sheet to help you remember the stuff you may have learned but have long since forgotten.

Unit Conversions

You know the distance from New York to London in miles, but your European office needs the numbers in kilometers. What’s the conversion factor?

Excel’s CONVERT function can convert between a variety of measurements in the following categories:

• Area
• Distance
• Energy
• Force
• Information
• Magnetism
• Power
• Pressure
• Speed
• Temperature
• Time
• Volume (or liquid measure)
• Weight and mass

The CONVERT function requires three arguments: the value that you want to convert, the from-unit, and the to-unit. For example, if cell A1 contains a distance expressed in miles, use this formula to convert miles to kilometers:

=CONVERT(A1,"mi","km")

The second and third arguments are unit abbreviations, which are listed in the Excel Help system. Some of the abbreviations are commonly used, but others aren’t. And, of course, you must use the exact abbreviation. Furthermore, the unit abbreviations are case sensitive, so the following ...