Basic math functions: ceiling, combin, exp, fact, floor
Excel Function CEILING
The Ceiling() function is used to round a given number to a specified multiple.
This function can also be used with negative numbers.
The number is rounded to the nearest integer of the multiple value.
CEILING()
| Random number | Ceiling | Formula |
| 26 | 30 | =CEILING(L9,5) |
| 45.964 | 50 | =CEILING(L10,5) |
| 97.234 | 100 | =CEILING(L11,5) |
| 4.556 | 5 | =CEILING(L12,5) |
| -9.4 | -5 | =CEILING(L13,5) |
| 9.4 | 10 | =CEILING(L14,5) |
Excel Function COMBIN
The COMBIN() function is used to determine the number of combinations of a given number of items.
The function takes number of digits in each group for a given number of items.
The syntax is as below.
COMBIN()
For example, to find the number combinations of 8 items by grouping them into two per group,
the following formula can be used
| No. of Items | Group | No. of combinations | Formula |
| 4 | 2 | 6 | =COMBIN(L20,M20) |
| 4 | 3 | 4 | =COMBIN(L21,M21) |
| 6 | 2 | 15 | =COMBIN(L22,M22) |
| 6 | 3 | 20 | =COMBIN(L23,M23) |
| 2 | 1 | 2 | =COMBIN(L24,M24) |
| 2 | 2 | 1 | =COMBIN(L25,M25) |
Excel Function EXP
The EXP() function is used to determine the exponential value of a number.
The value of e is 2.71, and EXP represents 2.71 raised to the specified power.
This function is the inverse of natural logarithm.
To determine EXP for other bases, the symbol ^ can be used.
| Number | EXP | Formula |
| 2 | 7.38905609893065 | =EXP(L38) |
| 5 | 148.413159102577 | =EXP(L39) |
| 7.76 | 2344.90460527589 | =EXP(L40) |
| 1 | 2.71828182845905 | =EXP(L41) |
| 10 | 22026.4657948067 | =EXP(L42) |
| 13.4 | 660003.224766157 | =EXP(L43) |
Excel Function FACT
The FACT() function returns the factorial of a given number.
The factorial of a number is the product of the number and all other integers below it upto 1.
The factorial is very useful in probability and statistical calculations.
The factorial cannot be determined for negative numbers.
| Number | FACT | Formula |
| 2 | 2 | =FACT(L52) |
| 5 | 120 | =FACT(L53) |
| 7 | 5040 | =FACT(L54) |
| 11 | 39916800 | =FACT(L55) |
| 0 | 1 | =FACT(L56) |
| -2 | #NUM! | =FACT(L57) |
As seen above, the factorial of the negative number results in error.
Also, the factorial of zero is 1. This is fixed.
Excel Function FLOOR
The FLOOR() function rounds the number to nearest multiple of a specified number.
This function rounds the number down towards zero.
This function cannot be used with negative multiple number for a positive number and results in error.
This function works only with numeric values.
| Number | Multiple | FLOOR | Formula |
| 2 | 2 | 2 | =FLOOR(L67,M67) |
| 5 | 3 | 3 | =FLOOR(L68,M68) |
| 0.375 | 0.1 | 0.3 | =FLOOR(L69,M69) |
| 4.9 | 2 | 4 | =FLOOR(L70,M70) |
| 2 | -2 | #NUM! | =FLOOR(L71,M71) |
| -2 | -2 | -2 | =FLOOR(L72,M72) |
As seen above, a positive number with a negative multiple number results in error.