Expressing a ratio in its lowest common form

  • Thread starter Thread starter Guest
  • Start date Start date
G

Guest

I wish to express the contents from 2 cells as a ratio.

I have the formula

=+H16&":"&H22

where H16 = 14,883 and H22 = 2,871

Can EXCEL calcualte the ratio in its lowest common denominator (ie - 5:1)?
 
I do not believe you can, you would need to determine the greatest common denominator, which is not at Excel function. You may be able to determine what that simplified ratio would be however. There is not a failsafe method, but you can try Format>Cells>>Fraction>>Up to three digit

IF the ratio can be simplified to a three digit denominator, then this should do it. We will want to verify this though by either typing in the ratio it shows and seeing if there is a difference between that and your original cell or dividing say the original numerator by the new numerator and checking if the result is an integer.

This simplifies 2871/14883 to 87/451 which is an exact answer, i.e. 451:87 is your desired result.
 
Back
Top