4.722371E+21 is 4.7 followed by 21 zeros, ie,
4,700,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000.

You should expect a number this large if you are multiplying 2 by itself 480
times.

You can also simplify things greatly by using exponentiation. The formula

=2^480

will give you your answer. It's 3.1E144, so while your calculation was close,
you missed out on a few 2's.

--
Regards,
Fred


"reckyroo" <reckyroo@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:B4B3D251-5650-4B39-AD3D-6FFC0DF237E5@microsoft.com...
> Hi
> I haven't used excel for a long time and can't remember how to so much at all!
> I need to start with a number 1, multiply it by 2, then multiply that answer
> by 2, multiply that answer by 2 and carry on multiplying my answers by 2
> until I have done this 480 times. The answers that excel is throwing out is
> either as a decimal which is rounding it up and not giving a true answer, or
> the answer I get is 4.72237E+21 (which doesn't mean anything at all to me i'm
> afraid!)!
> Can anybody help me to get a true calculation, without rounding up etc?
> Any help would be much appreciated.
> Thanks
>