Hi,

Its all about how computer work, they "think" in binary so
256 = 2^8 or 2*2*2*2*2*2*2*2
65,536 = 2^16

Notice that 8 has been increased to 16 all factors of 2.

In 2007 we have
16384 columns = 2^14
1,048,576 rows = 2^20

Now there is the other question of why, meaning why did Microsoft decide on
2^16 rows rather than 2^15 or some such. One factor was that initially
Microsoft was trying to go Lotus 1-2-3 one better. Later it was because
there seemed to be a need for larger spreadsheets. But in the background the
binary system also puts constraints on their choices.

--
Thanks,
Shane Devenshire


"columns and rows" wrote:

in excel. why are there 256 columns and 65,536 rows?