ABS - Absolute value of a Number in Excel
| C | D | |||||||||
| Number | Absolute Value | |||||||||
| 4 | 10 | 10 | =ABS(C4) | |||||||
| 5 | -10 | 10 | =ABS(C5) | |||||||
| 6 | 1.25 | 1.25 | =ABS(C6) | |||||||
| 7 | -1.25 | 1.25 | =ABS(C7) | |||||||
| What Does it Do ? | ||||||||||
| This function calculates the value of a number, irrespective of whether it is positive or negative. | ||||||||||
| Syntax | ||||||||||
| =ABS(CellAddress or Number) | ||||||||||
| Formatting | ||||||||||
| The result will be shown as a number, no special formatting is needed. | ||||||||||
| Example | ||||||||||
| The following table was used by a company testing a machine which cuts timber. | ||||||||||
| The machine needs to cut timber to an exact length. | ||||||||||
| Three pieces of timber were cut and then measured. | ||||||||||
| In calculating the difference between the Required Length and the Actual Length it does | ||||||||||
| not matter if the wood was cut too long or short, the measurement needs to be expressed as | ||||||||||
| an absolute value. | ||||||||||
| Table 1 shows the original calculations. | ||||||||||
| The Difference for Test 3 is shown as negative, which has a knock on effect | ||||||||||
| when the Error Percentage is calculated. | ||||||||||
| Whether the wood was too long or short, the percentage should still be expressed | ||||||||||
| as an absolute value. | ||||||||||
| Table 1 | ||||||||||
| C | D | E | F | G | ||||||
| 35 | Test Cut | Required Length | Actual Length | Difference | Error Percentage | |||||
| 36 | Test 1 | 120 | 120 | 0 | 0% | |||||
| 37 | Test 2 | 120 | 90 | 30 | 25% | |||||
| Test 3 | 120 | 150 | -30 | -25% | ||||||
| =D36-E36 | ||||||||||
| Table 2 shows the same data but using the =ABS() function to correct the calculations. | ||||||||||
| Table 2 | ||||||||||
| C | D | E | F | G | ||||||
| 44 | Test Cut | Required Length | Actual Length | Difference | Error Percentage | |||||
| 45 | Test 1 | 120 | 120 | 0 | 0% | |||||
| 46 | Test 2 | 120 | 90 | 30 | 25% | |||||
| Test 3 | 120 | 150 | 30 | 25% | ||||||
| =ABS(D45-E45) | ||||||||||


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