Formula needed to determine higher figure and subtract lower

**tizwas** · 03-04-2011, 05:50 AM

Hi.. I'm an excel newbie and so would be grateful for any help with my question;

a b c

100 50
100 150

I want to get an answer for c. I need to start with col a as that is my base fig. Sometimes the figure in b is lower than a and sometimes it's higher so I need a calculation that determines which is the higher figure a or b and then subtracts the lower figure and displays it in c.
I do not want a negative figure. Does this make sense?

Chris.

**Domski** · 03-04-2011, 05:56 AM

Hi,

Try this:

=MAX(A1:B1)-MIN(A1:B1)

Dom

**MrExcelPro** · 03-04-2011, 05:57 AM

Put this formula in cell C1
=IF(A1>B1,A1-B1,B1-A1)

**tizwas** · 03-04-2011, 07:50 AM

I get this message #VALUE!

**Domski** · 03-04-2011, 07:57 AM

For which formula?

Dom

**tizwas** · 03-04-2011, 08:27 AM

Sorry... to the other one... To yours I get 0 which is wrong! The only thing I am changing is the a,b,c my columns are f,i,and k for c. Which is where I put your formula... Where am I going wrong?

Chris.