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25 views9 pages

Minor Project

Uploaded by

maachonobody
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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MINOR PROJECT

Introduction

Excel includes powerful tools to perform complex mathematical calculations, including what-
if analysis. This feature can help you experiment and answer questions with your data, even
when the data is incomplete. In this lesson, you will learn how to use a what-if analysis tool
called Goal Seek.

Goal Seek
Whenever you create a formula or function in Excel, you put various parts together to
calculate a result. Goal Seek works in the opposite way: It lets you start with the desired
result, and it calculates the input value that will give you that result. We'll use a few
examples to show how to use Goal Seek.

To use Goal Seek (example 1):


Let's say you're enrolled in a class. You currently have a grade of 65, and you need at least a
70 to pass the class. Luckily, you have one final assignment that might be able to raise your
average. You can use Goal Seek to find out what grade you need on the final assignment to
pass the class.
In the image below, you can see that the grades on the first four assignments are 58, 70, 72,
and 60. Even though we don't know what the fifth grade will be, we can write a formula—or
function—that calculates the final grade. In this case, each assignment is weighted equally,
so all we have to do is average all five grades by typing =AVERAGE(B2:B6). Once we use
Goal Seek, cell B6will show us the minimum grade we'll need to make on that assignment.
. Select the cell with the value you want to change. Whenever you use Goal Seek, you'll
need to select a cell that already contains a formula or function. In our example, we'll
select cell B7 because it contains the formula =AVERAGE(B2:B6).
. A dialog box will appear with three fields. The first field, Set cell:, will contain the
desired result. In our example, cell B7 is already selected.

The second field, To value:, is the desired result. In our example, we'll enter 70
because we need to earn at least that to pass the class.

The third field, By changing cell:, is the cell where Goal Seek will place its answer. In
our example, we'll select cell B6 because we want to determine the grade we need to
earn on the final assignment.
. When you're done, click OK.

. The dialog box will tell you if Goal Seek was able to find a solution. Click OK.
. The result will appear in the specified cell. In our example, Goal Seek calculated that
we will need to score at least a 90 on the final assignment to earn a passing grade.

To use Goal Seek (example 2):


Let's say you're planning an event and want to invite as many people as you can without
exceeding a budget of $500. We can use Goal Seek to figure out how many people to invite.
In our example below, cell B5 contains the formula =B2+B3*B4 to calculate the total cost of
a room reservation, plus the cost per person.
a room reservation, plus the cost per person.
. Select the cell with the value you want to change. In our example, we'll select cell B5.

. From the Data tab, click the What-If Analysis command, then select Goal Seek from
the drop-down menu.

. A dialog box will appear with three fields. The first field, Set cell:, will contain the
desired result. In our example, cell B5 is already selected.

The second field, To value:, is the desired result. In our example, we'll enter 500
because we only want to spend $500.

The third field, By changing cell:, is the cell where Goal Seek will place its answer. In
The third field, By changing cell:, is the cell where Goal Seek will place its answer. In
our example, we'll select cell B4 because we want to know how many guests we can
invite without spending more than $500.
. When you're done, click OK.

. The dialog box will tell you if Goal Seek was able to find a solution. Click OK.
. The result will appear in the specified cell. In our example, Goal Seek calculated the
answer to be approximately 18.62. In this case, our final answer needs to be a whole
number, so we'll need to round the answer up or down. Because rounding up would
cause us to exceed our budget, we'll round down to 18 guests.
As you can see in the example above, some situations will require the answer to be a whole
number. If Goal Seek gives you a decimal, you'll need to round up or down, depending on the
situation.

Other types of what-if analysis


For more advanced projects, you may want to consider the other types of what-if analysis:
scenarios and data tables. Instead of starting from the desired result and working
backward, like with Goal Seek, these options allow you to test multiple values and see how
the results change.

Scenarios let you substitute values for multiple cells (up to 32) at the same time. You
can create as many scenarios as you want and then compare them without changing
the values manually. In the example below, we're using scenarios to compare different
venues for an upcoming event.
Data tables allow you to take one or two variables in a formula and replace them with
as many different values as you want, then view the results in a table. This option is
especially powerful because it shows multiple results at the same time, unlike
scenarios or Goal Seek. In the example below, we can view 24 possible results for a car
loan.
Challenge!
● Open our practice workbook.
● Click the Challenge tab in the bottom-left of the workbook.
● In cell B8, create a function that calculates the average of the sales in B2:B7.
● The workbook shows Dave's monthly sales amounts for the first half of the year. If he
reaches a $200,000 mid-year average, he will receive a 5% bonus. Use Goal Seek to
find how much he needs to sell in June in order to make the $200,000 average.
● When you're finished, your workbook should look like this:

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