ROUNDDOWN

Rounds a number down, toward zero, to a certain precision.

Syntax:

ROUNDDOWN(number, places)

returns number rounded down (towards zero) to places decimal places. If places is omitted or zero, the function rounds down to an integer. If places is negative, the function rounds down to the next 10, 100, 1000, etc. This function rounds towards zero.

Example:

ROUNDDOWN(1.234, 2)

returns 1.23

ROUNDDOWN(45.67, 0)

returns 45

ROUNDDOWN(-45.67)

returns -45

ROUNDDOWN(987.65, -2)

returns 900

Application:

Imagine you are a teacher, and you need to calculate the final grade for your students. The grading policy states that you must only consider the whole number portion of the average score, rounding down to the nearest integer. Here's an application of using the ROUNDDOWN function.

Let's say you have the following grades for a student named Alex in three different subjects:

	Subject	Test 1 Score	Test 2 Score	Test 3 Score	Average Score	Final Grade (Rounded Down)
	A	B	C	D	E	F
1	Math	85	92	88	88.333333333	88
2	Science	78	85	82	81.666666667	81
3	English	91	88	95	91.333333333	91

Here's how the spreadsheet would calculate the results:

Math:
- Average Score: (85+92+88)/3=88.333...
- Final Grade: ROUNDDOWN(88.333..., 0) results in 88.
Science:
- Average Score: (78+85+82)/3=81.666...
- Final Grade: ROUNDDOWN(81.666..., 0) results in 81.
English:
- Average Score: (91+88+95)/3=91.333...
- Final Grade: ROUNDDOWN(91.333..., 0) results in 91.

In this scenario, the ROUNDDOWN function ensures that any fractional part of the average score is completely discarded, giving a whole number as the final grade, which adheres to the specific grading policy.