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P_Leandri's avatar
P_Leandri
Copper Contributor
Feb 10, 2023

Geomean producing unexplained #NUM!

I'm getting the #NUM! error when I try to calculate the Geometric Mean of a column of values. I've confirmed there's no values <= 0 and cleared blanks, but it doesn't help. I can successfully calcula...
Excel
Formulas and Functions
  • JoeUser2004's avatar
    JoeUser2004
    Feb 10, 2023

     

    (Edited with a simpler demonstration)

     

    P_Leandri 

     

    It does not take much to demonstrate a situation where GEOMEAN of 2060+ data points returns #NUM.

     

    Select A2:A2067, type 1.41, then press ctrl+Enter (not ctrl+shift+Enter) to enter 1.41 into all cells.

     

    Note that =GEOMEAN(A2:A2066) returns 1.41.  But =GEOMEAN(A2:A2067) returns #NUM.

     

    The reason is =PRODUCT(A2:A2066) returns 1.372E+308 (rounded).

     

    But =PRODUCT(A2:A2067) returns #NUM because 1.41*1.372E+308 would be 1.935E+308 (rounded), which exceeds the limit of 64-bit binary floating-point of less than 1.80E+308.

     

    A work-around is:

    =10^AVERAGE(LOG(A2:A2067))

     

    If the range might have non-numeric data or empty cells:

    =10^AVERAGE(IF(ISNUMBER(A2:A3000),LOG(A2:A3000)))

     

    The latter formula must be array-entered in some versions of Excel.

     

    -----

    If that does not solve your problem, you should be able to attach an example Excel file by clicking "browse" at the bottom of the Reply window.

     

    Alternatively, upload an example Excel file that demonstrates the problem to a file-sharing website, and post a download URL that does not require that we log in.


    I like box.net/files; others like dropbox.com. You might like onedrive.live.com because it uses the same login as this forum.

     

    If you cannot post the actual URL, edit the beginning of it so that it does not look like a bona fide URL.  For example, the URLfor this thread is

    techcommunity dot microsoft dot com /t5/excel/geomean-producing-unexplained-num/m-p/3739059#M180397 .

     

    PS....  But if you ``can't create a link due to organisation restrictions``, I would imagine you cannot click "browse", either.  The only other option might be to email the example Excel file.  But your org might restrict even those attachments.  (sigh)

Detlef_Lewin's avatar
Detlef_Lewin
Silver Contributor
Feb 10, 2023

P_Leandri 

You first step should be to consult the help article on the function and not asking a question on a forum.

 

if any data point ≤ 0, GEOMEAN returns the #NUM! error value.



  • P_Leandri's avatar
    P_Leandri
    Copper Contributor
    Feb 10, 2023

    Detlef_Lewin 

    Hi Detlef, thank you for this advice. However, I did read the help article and that was the first thing that I checked.  NONE of the input values were <= 0! If you check my post, you will see that I actually said this in my explanation. For the record, the values vary between 0.02 and 39.64. 

    So, if you have a more useful solution, I'd be glad to hear it.

    • Detlef_Lewin's avatar
      Detlef_Lewin
      Silver Contributor
      Feb 10, 2023

      P_Leandri 

      Could you share your workbook?

       

      • P_Leandri's avatar
        P_Leandri
        Copper Contributor
        Feb 10, 2023

        Detlef_Lewin 

        Happy to share, but can't see how to do this. Is there supposed to be an icon to upload files in this system?

         

        Can't create a link due to organisation restrictions. 

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