"Atreides" <atreides1AThotmailD0Tcom wrote in message
...

I've recently noticed that Excel flies in the face of standard
scientific, mathematical and engineering convention in the
calculation of powers for numbers that are then multiplied by a
negative.

The convention of mathematics, "BIMDAS" (or similar acronyms),
states
that _I_ndices (or powers, or exponents), should be calculated
before
_M_ultiplication. Because of this, the following is accepted as
correct:

-3^2 = -9.

This is because it is the equivalent of (-1) * 3^2 = -1 * 9 = -9

However, Excel chooses to recognise this as (-3)^2 = 9.

This error is particularly problematic when doing algebraic
computations in such a tool as Mathematica and then copying the
result into Excel in input form. That is,

-x^2 - -A1^2
- -A1^2
(Mathematica) (Mathematica with reference substituted)
(Excel)

To correct the error, one must manually change it to: -(A1^2)

QUESTIONS
1: Why does Excel have this convention!
2: Is there any way to change it/make is more convenient?

I've only recently noticed this (which is quite scary to think how
many errors I may have made in the past!)

Thanks for your time,

Cheers,
Peter


Hi Peter,

See this thread for a *very* comprehensive discussion on the topic:

http://groups.google.co.nz/groups?hl...umbus. rr.com

Or this (same thing but shorter URL):

http://tinyurl.com/5t69s


Enjoy!

Alan.