CEILING.MATH

This function will round a number upward to the closest whole number, or to the nearest multiple of significance.

Syntax:

CEILING.MATH(number, significance, mode)

number is required, and needs to be between -2.229E-308 and 9.99E+307.

significance is optional, and the multiple used for rounding number.

mode is optional, and does not affect positive numbers. For negative numbers, mode determines if number rounds toward or away from zero.

Example:

If A1 contains 20.5, and A2 contains 3:

CEILING.MATH(A1, A2)

returns 21

If A1 contains -9.6, and A2 contains 7:

CEILING.MATH(A1, A2)

returns -7

Number:

Significance:

Mode:

Result:

21

Application:

Calculating Shipping Boxes

A company sells custom-printed t-shirts. The t-shirts are packaged and shipped in boxes, and each box can hold a maximum of 10 t-shirts. When an order is placed, the company needs to calculate the number of shipping boxes required.

They can't use a simple division because they can't have a fraction of a box. For example, an order of 11 t-shirts would require two boxes, not 1.1 boxes. The CEILING.MATH function is the perfect tool for this.

Table:

	Order ID	Number of T-shirts	Box Capacity	Formula	Number of Boxes Required
	A	B	C	D	E
1	101	7	10	CEILING.MATH(7, 10)	1
2	102	10	10	CEILING.MATH(10, 10)	1
3	103	11	10	CEILING.MATH(11, 10)	2
4	104	25	10	CEILING.MATH(25, 10)	3
5	105	40	10	CEILING.MATH(40, 10)	4
6	106	41	10	CEILING.MATH(41, 10)	5

Explanation:

Order ID 101: The customer ordered 7 t-shirts. Since the box capacity is 10, the CEILING.MATH(7, 10) function rounds the number up to the nearest multiple of 10, which is 10. This means one box is needed.
Order ID 103: The customer ordered 11 t-shirts. The CEILING.MATH(11, 10) function rounds up to the nearest multiple of 10, which is 20. This indicates that two boxes are required to hold all 11 t-shirts.
Order ID 104: The customer ordered 25 t-shirts. The CEILING.MATH(25, 10) function rounds up to the nearest multiple of 10, which is 30. This means three boxes are needed (2 full boxes and 1 box with 5 t-shirts).

In this example, the CEILING.MATH function automates the calculation, ensuring that the company always allocates enough boxes for each order, avoiding the logistical problem of not having enough packaging.