Hello,
I am trying to use Solver to find out if there are numbers in a data set that add to a specific number. For example, I am trying to use Solver to find out if there are are numbers in the set 2, 3, 7, 15, 26, and 44 that add up to 5.
I read on several other sites how this could be done. Using the data set above, let us imagine that I have put 2 in Cell A1, 3 in Cell A2, 7 in Cell A3, 15 in Cell A4, 26 in Cell A5, and 44 in Cell A6. These websites would tell me to enter =sumproduct(A1:A6) in Cell B7, causing the sum of the six numbers (97) to appear. Then, the sites would tell me to run Solver in the following way: Set Objective: $B$7 to value of 5 by changing variable cells $B$1:$B$6 subject to the constraints $B$1:$B$6 = binary. I would use the Simplex LP solver. Solver would then tell me that it has found a solution, display a "1" in the cells next to the 2 and the 3 (which, when added together, make 5), and a "0" next to the cells with the numbers 7, 15, 26, and 44.
That is what is supposed to happen. However, after running Solver a few times, when I do the exact same thing, one of two things happens. Either Solver will tell me that there is no feasible solution, or Solver will tell me that it has found a solution and then display zeroes in all of the variable cells as though there were no feasible solution. If Solver tells me that there is a feasible solution and I run Solver on the data set a second time, Solver tells me that there is no feasible solution when I run the test a second time.
Any help on this matter will be greatly appreciated. Please let me know if there are any questions, and thank you for your help.
