Richard asks…
Need help with the RATE function in MS Excel?
I am trying to find the interest rate of a loan using this function, 60 monthly payments, $92 monthly payment and the initial loan amount was $4,495. When I put in =RATE(correct cell for nper, correct cell for pmt and I am guessing that PV is the initial loan amount), all i get is the #NUM! error.
I just changed the $4,495 to a negative and got 1%, so that’s wrong still?
I changed it to your way and it was also 1%, so does that mean that you just have to make one of them negative or is this just a coincidence?
Michael answers:
The 92 should be negative.
Using your values initially returned 1%, but this is a rounded figure. If you click the “Increase Decimal” button, it will show that it is 0.7%.
If you used a -4495 and still got 1%, then it probably doesn’t matter which one is negative. Whenever I use this function I make the payment negative because I would be “paying out” that amount.
Laura asks…
How do I create a PMT formula in Excel?
I have looked up the PMT formula (Pmt( interest_rate, number_payments, PV, FV, Type )), but I am not sure where to plug my numbers in. The question I am trying to solve is below:
In cell H4, enter a PMT function to calculate the monthly payments based on the amount to be financed. Assume that the loan period will be 60 months, and make the reference to the amount to be financed (in F4, which is 0.0) a negative value in the function (so that your result will display as a positive value). Format cell F4 using the Currency style with two decimal places. The principal is $30290.
And here is what I think the formula should look like: Pmt(0.0, 60, 30290, FV, Type ); assuming that I FV & type are optional.
Please help (:
Michael answers:
What is the interest rate???
=PMT(interest rate/month,60,-F4)
F4=principal balance
Charles asks…
Thermodynamics Question!?
Question:
The mercury manometer shown in the figure is attached to a gas cell. The mercury height h is 120 mm when the cell is placed in an ice-water mixture. The mercury height drops to 30 mm when the device is carried into an industrial freezer.
picture link
http://session.masteringphysics.com/problemAsset/1073972/3/knight_Figure_16_50.jpg
What is the freezer temperature in Celsius?
——————–
My thoughts:
1. the volume of the gas should be negligible because of a hint that is given with the question. (The right tube of the manometer is much narrower than the left tube. What reasonable assumption can you make about the gas volume?)
2. Using the ideal gas law (PV = nRT), and with V constant, the only variables I would worry about are P and T.
3. The temperature of ice water is 0 celsius and thus 273 kelvin.
4. My attempt was ratio of pressure equals the ratio of temperature. so, (30mm/120mm) * 273K = 68.25 which is -204.75 Celsius. This answer is however wrong though. I don’t know what i’m doing wrong.
5. Does it matter that pressure is measured in mm here? How would one convert this mm measurement to pressure in Pascals?
Michael answers:
Set up the ideal gas law for both situations:
P1*V = n*R*T1
P2*V = n*R*T2
Amount of gas is unchanged, and any change in volume is neglected.
Gather and separate variables:
P1/T1 = n*R/V
P2/T2 = n*R/V
Equate the parts which are unchanged:
P1/T1 = P2/T2
Solve for T2:
T2 = T1*P2/P1
NOW, to discuss the units:
All temperatures must be in absolute scales (Kelvin or Rankine), and obviously both the same units.
All pressures must be ABSOLUTE pressures. Because the top of the manometer is exposed to the background air rather than a vacuum, the pressures in units of mmHg are gauge pressures, not absolute pressures.
It doesn’t matter what units you eventually use for pressure, as long as they are the same, and as long as you use absolute pressure.
How to get absolute pressure from gauge pressure:
P_abs = Pbg + Pgauge
Thus:
P1 = Pbg + P1g
P2 = Pbg + P2g
Substitute:
T2 = T1*(Pbg + P2g)/(Pbg + P1g)
Data:
T1:=273.15 K; Pbg:=760 mmHg; P1g:=120 mmHg; P2g:=30 mmHg;
Results:
T2 = 245.2 Kelvin, which translates to T2 = -27.9 Celsius
Steven asks…
how do you add an npv function into vba for cash flows?
I have interest rate as 10% and future value of 1,000. I’ve already done everything in VBA that allows excel to show 10 years of present values, future values and compounding factors. I just don’t know how to add a function in for NPV so that a specific cell would add up all the present values that were already calculated with the formula pv = fv / (1+irate) ^ 1 using VBA and not excel’s npv function or sum of values.
Michael answers:
You have several options here
1- Use the mathematical way to calculate the NPV
2- Use some temporary cells to set the values and use NPV in another cell do calculation, then read the result
3- And the one I used a lot is to use WorkSheetFunction object to use Excel function in VBA, like this
NewValue = Worksheetfunction.NPV( MyRate, MyAmount, etc)
If none of those helped, that means I didn’t get your question right, reply me here.
VBAXLMan
Maria asks…
i cannot open my yahoo mail?
the problem started 2 days ago.i can sign in to yahoo.but when i tried to click on inbox my browser says it is unable to connect.i have tried in IE,OPERA,FIREFOX,GOOGLE CHROME…same thing happens.but i can open my firneds yahoo mail and view inbox..THE PROBLEM IS WITH MY ID..(PV.JAYARAJ@YAHOO.COM)..i am now in UK..and i have told my friend who is in bagrain to check my mail,he can open it from there…and here also i can view inbox from my cell phone..i hav tried my friends system in UK ..problem is still der..i cant view inbox..browser fails..its amazing…mystery…anyone can help???
Michael answers:
What we have here is a multinational problem: your question was posted on Yahoo India, your mail account is American, and you are currently in the UK – maybe that’s what got the Yahoo servers confused. After you tried so many other options, I believe that maybe you get redirected internally in the Yahoo system. Check these explanations taken from the Yahoo help pages, see if they help you any:
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If that doesn’t help either, send a mail to email support: mail@cc.yahoo-inc.com, explain all the steps you’ve taken so far.
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