Hello. If I understand the question correctly...
If A1 holds your number, then perhaps a helper column at B1 with
=MOD(A1,36)

The number of small boxes:
=MOD(1042848, CEILING(B1/6,1) + 12)

And the number of large boxes:
=FLOOR(A1/36,1) + (B1 18)

HTH. :)
--
Dana DeLouis
Win XP & Office 2003


"Gixxer_J_97" wrote in message
...
i did forget one part to it - if there's more than 3 small boxes, they can
be
consolidated into 1 large box

sorry to be a pain =)

"Tim Williams" wrote:

Divide number of bags by 36 and round down = number of large containers
Divide remainder by 6 and round up if not exact = number of small
containers

Sounds like a homework assignment.

Tim.


"Gixxer_J_97" wrote in message
...
i have 2 size shipping containers that are available
the large can hold up to 36 bags of product and the small up to 6 bags
how would i go about creating an algorithm that would calculate how
many
(the least number) small and large boxes i would need to use?

I've gotten this far:

Bags Small Large
1-6 1 0
7-12 2 0
13-18 3 0
19-24 0 1
25-30 0 1
31-36 0 1
37-42 1 1
43-48 2 1
49-54 3 1
55-60 0 2
61-66 0 2
67-72 0 2
73-78 1 2
79-84 2 2
85-90 3 2
91-96 0 3
97-102 0 3
103-108 0 3
109-114 1 3
115-120 2 3
121-126 3 3
127-132 0 4
133-138 0 4
139-144 0 4
etc etc

and now i'm a bit stuck - any help is greatly appreciated

thanks!