Question

Explain the 'ROUND' function in Excel.

Hint:

Use \texttt{ROUND(number, num\_digits)} to control precision. \begin{itemize} \item \texttt{num\_digits $>$ 0}: Rounds right of decimal (decimal places). \item \texttt{num\_digits = 0}: Rounds to nearest whole number. \item \texttt{num\_digits t; 0}: Rounds left of decimal (nearest 10, 100, etc.). \end{itemize} Excel also has \texttt{ROUNDUP} (always rounds away from zero) and \texttt{ROUNDDOWN} (always rounds towards zero).

Answer 1

The `ROUND` function in Excel is used to round a number to a specified number of digits. It follows standard rounding rules, where digits 5 and above are rounded up, and digits below 5 are rounded down.
Syntax:
\texttt{ROUND(number, num\_digits)}
Arguments:
1. `number` (Required): The number that you want to round. This can be a specific number, a cell reference containing a number, or a formula that results in a number.
2. `num\_digits` (Required): The number of digits to which you want to round the `number`.
* If `num\_digits` is positive (e.g., 2), the number is rounded to that many decimal places to the *right* of the decimal point.
* If `num\_digits` is zero (0), the number is rounded to the nearest *integer*.
* If `num\_digits` is negative (e.g., -1, -2), the number is rounded to the specified number of places to the *left* of the decimal point (e.g., to the nearest 10, 100, etc.).
Examples:
* \texttt{=ROUND(123.456, 2)} returns \texttt{123.46} (Rounds to 2 decimal places)
* \texttt{=ROUND(123.456, 0)} returns \texttt{123} (Rounds to the nearest integer)
* \texttt{=ROUND(123.456, -1)} returns \texttt{120} (Rounds to the nearest 10)
* \texttt{=ROUND(127.456, -1)} returns \texttt{130} (Rounds to the nearest 10)
* \texttt{=ROUND(123.456, -2)} returns \texttt{100} (Rounds to the nearest 100)
The `ROUND` function is essential for presenting numerical data with a consistent level of precision and for performing calculations where intermediate rounding is required.