Purpose
Return value
Syntax
=CEILING.PRECISE(number,[significance])
- number - The number that should be rounded.
- significance - [optional] Multiple to use when rounding. Default is 1.
Using the CEILING.PRECISE function
The Excel CEILING.PRECISE function rounds a number up to a given multiple, where multiple is provided as the significance argument. If the number is already an exact multiple, no rounding occurs and the original number is returned.
The CEILING.PRECISE function takes two arguments , number and significance. The number argument is the numeric value to round up, and is the only required argument. With no other input, CEILING.PRECISE will round number up to the next integer.
The significance argument is the multiple to which number should be rounded. In most cases, significance is provided as a numeric value, but CEILING.PRECISE can also understand time entered as text like “0:15”. The default value of significance is 1.
Examples
By default, CEILING.PRECISE rounds up to the next integer, with a significance of 1.
=CEILING.PRECISE(1.25) // returns 2
=CEILING.PRECISE(8.1) // returns 9
To round to a different multiple, provide a value for significance :
=CEILING.PRECISE(1.25,3) // returns 3
=CEILING.PRECISE(4.1,3) // returns 6
=CEILING.PRECISE(4.1,0.5) // returns 4.5
Rounding negative numbers
By default, positive numbers with decimal portions are rounded up to the nearest integer, and negative numbers with decimal portions are rounded toward zero:
=CEILING.MATH(6.3) // returns 7
=CEILING.MATH(-6.3) // returns -6
The CEILING.PRECISE function always rounds negative numbers toward zero, and ignores the sign of significance.
=CEILING.PRECISE(-4.1) // returns -4
=CEILING.PRECISE(-4.1,1) // returns -4
=CEILING.PRECISE(-4.1,-1) // returns -4
If you need control over rounding of negative values up or down, see the CEILING.MATH function .
CEILING.PRECISE vs CEILING
The CEILING.PRECISE function together with the CEILING.MATH function replace the original CEILING function , which is now classified as a " compatibility function “. The behavior is very similar, but CEILING.PRECISE differs from the CEILING function in these key ways:
- Defaults to a significance of 1 (i.e. rounds up to nearest integer)
- Always rounds negative numbers toward zero
- Ignores the sign of significance argument (uses the absolute value)
Notes
- CEILING.PRECISE always rounds negative numbers toward zero.
- If number is an exact multiple of significance , no rounding occurs.
- To round to the nearest multiple ( up or down) see the MROUND function .
Purpose
Return value
Syntax
=COMBIN(number,number_chosen)
- number - The total number of items.
- number_chosen - The number of items in each combination.
Using the COMBIN function
The COMBIN function returns the number of combinations for a given number of items. A combination is a group of items where order does not matter. The COMBIN function does not allow repetitions. To count combinations that allow repetitions, use the COMBINA function . To count permutations (combinations where order does matter) see the PERMUT function .
Example
To use COMBIN, specify the total number of items and “number chosen”, which represents the number of items in each combination. For example, to calculate the number of 3-number combinations, you can use a formula like this:
=COMBIN(10,3) // returns 120
The number argument is 10 since there are ten numbers between 0 and 9, and number_chosen is 3, since there are three numbers chosen in each combination. This result can be seen in cell D8 in the example shown.
The COMBIN function takes two arguments: number , and number_chosen . Number is the number of different items available to choose from. The number_chosen argument is the number of items in each combination. Both arguments are required.
In the example shown above, the formula in cell D6, copied down, is:
=COMBIN(B6,C6)
At each new row, COMBIN calculates returns the number of combinations using the values in column B for number , and the values in column C for number_chosen . The results can be seen in column D.
Notes
- A combination is a group of items in any order. If order matters, use the PERMUT function .
- Arguments that contain decimal values are truncated to integers.
- COMBIN returns a #VALUE! error value if either argument is not numeric.
- If number is less than number_chosen , COMBIN returns #NUM!
