N

Returns the numeric value.

Syntax:

N(value)

returns the numeric value of value if possible. It returns the logical values TRUE and FALSE as 1 and 0 respectively.

N() is not intended to convert text to a number - use the VALUE() function instead.

Example:

N(123)

returns 123, because 123 is (already) a number.

N(TRUE)

returns 1.

N(A3)

where A3 contains FALSE, returns 0.

Application:

Using the N function in a Spreadsheet

Imagine you are managing a product inventory spreadsheet for a small business. You have a column for "Product Status," which contains text values, and you need to perform a calculation on these statuses to determine a "Stock Adjustment Value." You decide that 'Discontinued' products should have a value of -10, 'On Backorder' should be 0, and any other status should be 1. The N function can help you with this by converting the text status into a number that you can then use in a formula.

Scenario: You need to calculate the "Stock Adjustment Value" for each product based on its status.

Table:

	Product ID	Product Status	N Function's Intermediate Result	Stock Adjustment Value (Calculated)
	A	B	C	D
1	P-101	In Stock	0	1
2	P-102	Discontinued	0	-10
3	P-103	On Backorder	0	0
4	P-104	In Stock	0	1
5	P-105	Re-stocked	0	1
6	P-106	50	50	1

Explanation:

Column B (Product Status): Contains text values describing the status of each product.
Column C (N Function's Intermediate Result): This column demonstrates how the N function works.
- N will return 0 for any text value.
- N will return the number itself if the cell already contains a number.
- Note: The N function itself is limited. It's more useful for converting Booleans to numbers (TRUE becomes 1, FALSE becomes 0) or for a specific type of formula where you want to ensure a cell's content is treated as a number.
Column D (Stock Adjustment Value): This is the ultimate goal of the example. We can't directly use the N function to get our desired values (-10, 0, 1) from the text. The N function is not an IF statement.
The Correct Approach: As the table shows, the correct and most common way to get a numeric value from a text string is to use an IF statement or a lookup function. The N function is not the ideal tool for this specific task.