It seems spreadsheets & dinosaurs on a collision course. How else can you explain Jon’s XKCD Velociraptor problem solved with Excel and now this. Debby, an alert reader of our blog sent me this email yesterday.
I need an algebraic formula to solve this in Excel
I have 5 heads, 5 bodies, 4 arm sets, 4 leg sets and 3 tails. I need to see if I can create 1000 dinosaurs from these, and if that’s too many AND I need the 5 digit groupings to prove it and create them.
basically Xa*Xb*Xc*Xd*Xe=1000 – I’m not supposed to go over 1200. […] And then I want the 5 digit combinations if possible – right now they are trying to do the combinations by hand – would be awesome if we could do it in Excel.
Ladies & gentlemen, let’s fire up Excel
There are two problems to solve.
(1) How many dinosaurs can be made?
(2) Listing of all such dinosaurs.
The first one is easy.
We just multiply the number of heads, bodies, arms, legs & tails. I know this sounds biologically impossible. But in math everything is possible. So we get =5x5x4x4x3 = 1200
That means, given the body part variations, we can generate 1,200 dinosaurs. Some of them may be hideous, but 1,200 of them nevertheless.
Making 1200 dinosaurs in Excel
This is very simple. We just use the MakeDinosaur() formula in Excel.
Of course, I am kidding. There is no MakeDinosaur(). Instead, we can use the all powerful INDEX().
Let’s say, we have listed the various parts in a range like this:
Now, each of those ranges are conveniently named as heads, bodies, arms, legs and tails.
Next, in an empty column, we list 1200 running numbers. Side note: we could do away with this step and use ROWS() function. But dinosaurs don’t mind helper columns.
Let’s say, these running numbers are in H4:H1203.
We now use our T-rex sized INDEX formula.
=INDEX(heads,(H4-1)/240+1) & INDEX(bodies,MOD((H4-1)/48,5)+1) & INDEX(arms,MOD((H4-1)/12,4)+1) & INDEX(legs,MOD((H4-1)/3,4)+1) & INDEX(tails,MOD((H4-1),3)+1)
This generates all combinations of dinosaurs.
Let’s dissect the t-rex. Shall we?
- The formula is a concatenation of five INDEX functions.
- Each fetching one body part viz head, body, arm, leg or tail
Head portion:
Formula: INDEX(heads,(H4-1)/240+1)
What it does? There are 5 head choices and 1200 possible dinosaurs. That means, each type of head is attached to 240 (1200/5 = 240) dinosaurs.
So, we simply take the number in H4, divide it with 240 and figure out which head to use.
Body portion:
Formula: INDEX(bodies,MOD((H4-1)/48,5)+1)
What it does? So we now have 240 possible dinosaurs with a given head. And we have 5 types of body. That means 48 dinosaurs per each type of body given a head type.
We could use INDEX(bodies, MOD(H4-1,240)/48 +1) to get the corresponding body number.
Alternatively, we can use the simplified version INDEX(bodies,MOD((H4-1)/48,5)+1)
Why does it work? That is for you to figure out. There is a reason we are not extinct yet.
Remaining parts:
We use similar logic to fetch other body parts.
Download the dinosaurs
Download the 1,200 dinosaurs. Be careful, #14321 is a bit loony. She almost bit my shift key.
How would you make ’em dinosaurs?
Of course, we could use VBA, other formulas to make these nasty reptiles. What would you do if someone asks you create a few dinosaurs? Share your recipe in the comments.
Stop stomping & start succeeding @ spreadsheets
Do you resort to manic stomping and rampage when a spreadsheet goes astray? Take things into control. Sharpen your spreadsheet skills. Check out below pages:
23 Responses to “Learn Top 10 Excel Features”
What it looks like if excel without formula?? 🙂
It would be not excel it would just be fancy tables in which you could just use power point. (Chandoo) would Access be an alternative?
Awesome piece of work!!!
Great article.
Chandoo - my biggest interest in the article was the awesome word-graphic at the top - where did you go to get it done into a shape?
@Rich.. thank you. I used http://www.tagxedo.com/ to generate this word cloud. I took all the comments in the original post, pasted them in tagxedo website and set up the shape etc.
Awesome Chandoo.. You need always needs coffee to start up with. BTW , how did u created the Heart Shaped picture filled with High Repetitive text in it .. Please put it on your Next blog ...
Chandoo, good article. I’ve added a link to it from Connexion – our collection of the most useful and interesting spreadsheet-related articles from the web. See http://www.i-nth.com/resources/connexion
Hi,
Just one small question. Where the hell have been I in the past for not discovering this website sooner?
I've lost a job interview recently where even though I had the subject knowledge, I was not upto their mark in Excel.
Thank you for all the free tips, guidance and for creating this forum environment.
[PS: I've just been through the site for the 1st time, and have signed up for the newsletter. You can expect pretty stupid questions from me soon]
Hy Chandoo, you always inspire me with to explore something new in excel. This data structure table is only for excel 2007 or compatible to 2010. I recently installed latest excel version 2013 in my System and experience problems regarding operating according to previous one. I'm waiting your article relates to that excel version.
Thanks
Awesome article Mr. Chandoo and that is a awesome heart shaped pic you created. Great tips as well.
[...] Learn Top 10 Excel Features | Chandoo.org – Learn Microsoft Excel Online. [...]
Chandoo is awesome..
Thanks, i got better, And i always get 90.50 in my grade card but now i get 96.50 i improved because of the tutorials you gave, Thank You Very Much Chandoo Guy.
Hi chandoo, i am intersted in seeing the video or step by step done procedure of analysing the comments and presenting in the data percentage steps. I think this one would be first step in finding out how generally happens data calculation. Thank you.
As well i would like to know how to get that black shape art of your face which i see in chandoo. I am interested in making it for me.
Nice to see the features considered by Excel users to be most useful. It might be a good idea to also analyze StackOverflow Excel questions to see what keywords appear most often.
Here are my top 10 Excel Features (for advanced users):
http://www.analystcave.com/excel-10-top-excel-features/
Thanks a ton for this it totally helped with my homework ????
Very good effort
Thank you for this. Lots of learning in the links you've provided for this septuagenarian.
Pls send me new post
Dude, your humor ? ?
Loved your work.
Hello Sir,
I am Sanjeev Khakre and i from Indore City, India , I am your big follower and i have watch your videos and learnt a lots of excel trick or function and many more . thanks so much for all of your excellent support.
Your excel knowledge is real awesome.
Thanks
Sanjeev
Your work is excellent but pls willing to know more details about the features of microsoft excel
Chandoo Would Access be a better alternative than VB?