Hi Ann,
You could use the MAX function.
MAX(A1,B1) will give you just the populated cell
MAX(A2,B2)

Don't quite understand what you want to do with these.
your line "so (a1*703)/(b1*b1) is what i'm looking for essentially" confused
me. Not sure where the 703 came from, or am I just a bit thick tonight?
Anyhoo,
If you want to multiply them together, for example:
=MAX(A1,B1)*MAX(A2,B2)
Regards - Dave.