Math question in excel?

Question

=(((1+0.1)^35)-1)/0.1 equals 271 but =((1+0.1)^35)/0.1 equals 281, why does the -1 add value?

Answer 1

The one adds value because of the parenthesis. You are subtracting -1/.1 from the final answer, which is 10. It's a different formula. If you add 357 to it at the end, you should expect a different result too.

Answer 2

What do you mean "add value" - It doesn't - it's 10 less

Start with this:

=((1+0.1)^35)/0.1 = 281

Put the - 1 in (which is -1/0.1 = -10) and you get 10 less:

=(((1+0.1)^35)-1)/0.1 = 271

If you want to multiply by -1 then you need a " * " between it:

=(((1+0.1)^35)*-1)/0.1

or you could do

=-((1+0.1)^35)/0.1

Answer 3

What do you mean "adds value"? All you can say is that it "adds value" of -1. You can see that without the /0.1 (which is the same as multiplying by 10).

You could also ask: if 12 = 12 why does 12-1 = 11? Ask any 2nd grader.

If you take any number and raise it to any power it will be 1 more than the same number raised to the same power, minus one.

Answer 4

Perhaps the formula you want is:

=((((1+0.1)^35)*-1))/0.1

or

=((-(1+0.1)^35))/0.1

Excel understands that a minus operator between two values means to subtract.