"Dan McGarigle" wrote:
The equation says " 'Z' equals tan to the minus one power times open
paren the quantity "2 times 'h' " divided by the quantity "a" times "X"
close paren.

For future note, it is better to start a new thread when posting a different
topic. That way, others who are knowledgable in the area are more likely to
see the thread and offer assistance.

Perhaps this will work:

=atan(Y1) * (2 * H1 / (A1 * X1))

which can also be written:

=atan(Y1) * (2 * H1 / A1 / X1)

Of course, all of those cell references -- Y1, H1, A1 and X1 -- can be
changed. I chose them so that the relationship between the cells references
and the variables -- h, a and x -- would be clear.

As you know, the English description is ambiguous. I can see now why you
would have preferred a graphical depiction.

Some points to clarify....

"Tan to the minus one power" is ambiguous to some degree. tan(x)^-1 ("^"
means "to the power") is equivalent to 1/tan(x), whereas tan^-1(x) is
equivalent to arctan(x). I assume that you mean the latter (arctan) because
if you meant the former (1/tan(x)), you could have just as easily said "open
paren ... close paren divided by tan".

Note that the Excel ATAN function returns radians. If you need degrees,
replace ATAN(Y1) with DEGREES(ATAN(Y1)).

Also, you need to say: (arc)tan of what? Since you did not say, I invented
the quantity "y" in cell Y1. If you intended to say tan of a, h or x,
simply replace A1, H1 or X1 for my Y1.

Finally, "tan to the minus one power times ..." is ambiguous. You could
have meant tan(y)^(-1*(2*h / (a*x))). That seems unlikley to me, since that
is more easily expressed as "tan to the minus the quantity ...". But if
that is what you meant, obviously the Excel formula above is incorrect.

Aha! I wonder if you are misusing the term "times", and what you really
mean is: tan^-1(2*h/(a*x)), which is equivalent to arctan(2*h/(a*x)).

Of course, all of this would be crystal clear if I recognized the formula or
if you said what the formula computed. Unfortunately, I don't off-hand, and
you didn't.

Please post a reponse and let me know if the above formula works for you, or
if any of the "points to clarify" come closer to what you need.


----- original message -----

"Dan McGarigle" wrote in message
...
Dear JoeU2004

Now I will write the equation using English language words.
The equation says " 'Z' equals tan to the minus one power times open
paren
the quantity "2 times 'h' " divided by the quantity "a" times "X" close
paren.

It's the nature of the equation in a graphic sense that makes it
impossible
for me to predict how I could enter a graphic representation of the
equation
in this text mode thing that I could reasonably predict would be
understandable to the reader.
So, I hope the "English words" method I have given above will accurately
convey the equation, which I desparately want to enter into a cell in an
Excel spreadsheet.
My attempts to do that have all resulted in incorrect results which means
I
don't have the Excel skills needed to get the job done.
Can anyone help with an Excel statement that will do what is said in the
"English words" given above ?
THANKS !
Dan

"Dan McGarigle" wrote:

Dear JoeU2004
I have tried to use Internet Explorer 6 to access the "you can post to
the
MSnews server directly" by using the URL "http://msnews.microsoft.com/"
but I get only an error message that says "Cannot connect to the server".
Can you please tell me the steps to access the Microsoft news server ?
Thanks !
Dan

"JoeU2004" wrote:

"Dan McGarigle" wrote:
How do I post a question that needs to show an equation that won't be
visually coherent when viewed by this text composer/viewer.

You appear to be using the MS Discussion Groups web interface. To my
knowledge, you cannot post attachments. I believe you are limited to
text
in your postings.

If you can use Outlook Express (Windows Mail in Vista) or Outlook (I
believe), you can post to the MSnews server directly. Then you can add
attachments. I presume the attachments, and maybe even the entire
posting,
are not visible to experts who use MSDG or Google Groups.
(Surprisingly,
some do.) But I think the majority of knowledgable people access the
MSnews
server directly. There should be sufficient critical mass for you to
get
some helpful responses.

But what is it about your "equation" (formula?) that makes you think it
cannot be viewed "coherently" in a text-only article?

Perhaps a viable alternative would be to copy-and-paste the formula
from the
Formula Bar, and for anything that is not "coherent" in English text,
perhaps you could just explain them, if they are relevant to your
question.

In fact, if they are not relevant to your question, perhaps you could
reduce
your problem to a formula that __can__ be posted "coherently" in
English
text without any special work.

If you do not get any satisfactory suggestions, as a last resort, you
can
send your Excel workbook to me with an explanation in email. If
nothing
else, I might be able to find a way for you to post the salient
information
in a text-only article. Send the workbook to joeu2004 "at"
hotmail.com.

PS: Other knowledgable people in these forums know how to post
"attachments" to public web sites; then you can put the URL into a
text-only
posting here. One of those people might be a better choice than I to
help
you one-on-one. That's why I would consider myself a "last resort".


----- original message -----

"Dan McGarigle" wrote in
message
...
Dear Excel
How do I post a question that needs to show an equation that won't be
visually coherent when viewed by this text composer/viewer.
Can I send a .jpg that shows the equation to someone ?
Thanks !
Dan