Microsoft KB Archive/27817

{| = Excel: #NUM! Error Returned with 68881 Math Coprocessor =
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Last reviewed: October 31, 1994

Article ID: Q27817

SUMMARY
There is an underflow error that is returned from a 68881 math coprocessor (as built into the Macintosh II and onto accelerator boards that use the 68020 coprocessor and the 68881 math chip).

When a number is entered in the range of 10^-20 or less (10 to the negative 20th power or smaller) and then the number is raised to a power less than 1, #NUM! will be returned as the answer even though Excel can handle numbers as small as 2.225E-308.

MORE INFORMATION
The largest positive number that can be used is 1.798E308, and the smallest number that can be used is 2.225E-308. If a number is entered that does not fall in this range, Excel stores the number as text.

For Macintosh computers using the 68881 math coprocessor, this calculation error is a known problem:

A1: &quot;1e-20&quot; A2: &quot;=A1^0.08333&quot;      This will display #NUM! in A2. Microsoft is researching this problem and will post new information here as it becomes available.
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