Microsoft Excel: Show Results As Fractions

Problem: You work in an industry that reports values in fractions. Stockbrokers are used to dealing in eighths. As shown in Fig. 1297, tire engineers still measure tread depth in thirty-seconds of an inch.

Strategy: There are number formats for fractions. There are nine standard fractional formats available in the Format Cells dialog box, as shown in Fig. 1298.

Beyond the seven shown in Fig. 1298, Excel offers standard formats for tenths and hundredths. Unfortunately, there is not a standard format for thirty-seconds.

There probably is a custom numeric format to handle thirty-seconds. Here is how to figure it out.

1) Select the standard format for sixteenths, as shown in Fig. 1299.

2) Then, in the Category list, scroll down and select Custom. As shown in Fig. 1300, you will see that the custom number format code for sixteenths is # ??/16.

3) From this, you can deduce that # ??/32 might be a valid number format.

Click into the Type: box and change the 16 to 32. The Sample area will immediately confirm that you have hit upon the correct format for thirty-seconds, as shown in Fig. 1301.

As shown in Fig. 1302, you can use this style of custom numeric format to build fractions in any format that your industry regularly uses.

Summary: Excel can display formula results as fractions.

Commands Discussed: Format – Cells – Numeric – Fractions; Format – Cells – Numeric – Custom

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