Part IV: Managing and Analyzing Data
FIGURE 32.3
Goal Seek has found a solution.Learning more about goal seeking
Excel can’t always find a value that produces the result that you’re seeking. Sometimes a
solution simply doesn’t exist. In such a case, the Goal Seek Status box informs you of that
fact.At other times, however, Excel may report that it can’t find a solution, but you’re pretty
sure that one exists. If that’s the case, you can try the following options:■ Change the current value of the By Changing Cell field in the Goal Seek dialog box
(refer to Figure 32.2) to a value that is closer to the solution and then reissue the
command.■ (^) Adjust the Maximum iterations setting on the Formulas tab of the Excel Options
dialog box (choose File ➪ Options). Increasing the number of iterations (or calcula-
tions) makes Excel try more possible solutions.
■ Double-check your logic and make sure that the formula cell does, indeed, depend
on the specified changing cell.
Like all computer programs, Excel has limited precision. To demonstrate this limitation, enter =A1^2 into cell A2.
Then use the Goal Seek dialog box to find the value in cell A1 (which is empty) that makes the formula return 16.
Excel comes up with a value of 4.00002269, which is close to the square root of 16 but certainly not exact. You
can adjust the precision for goal seeking on the Formulas tab of the Excel Options dialog box. (Make the Maximum
Change value smaller.)