Solving Equations w/ Fractions using Excel

Is this Excel or algebra? This should be a fairly simple algebra problem, and I would first suggest you review some algebra: http://www.purplemath.com/modules/solvelin.htm this is a 4 page tutorial (multi-step equations like the one you show appear on page 3) that should answer this as an algebra question. Once the algebra question is solved, programming into Excel (if it is even necessary at that point) should be straightforward.

I guess it is up to you. I don't know what a "messy number" is or what it means to avoid it (or why you would want to avoid it if it is the solution to the problem). I am also not convinced that Solver is faster, especially for an algebra problem this simple. The time it takes to manually call Solver each time you need the equation solved, or the time it takes to learn the programming needed to automate Solver will generaly, in my experience, make Solver a much "slower" solution to simple algebra problems like this.

Solver can certainly solve a problem like this. I would usually rewrite it as a "root finding problem" (3-x/4)-(3-x/5)-20=0. Enter an x in a cell. Enter the formula on the left side (referring to the x cell), then call Solver (or Goal Seek) and tell it to set the formula cell to a value of 0 by changing x. If the 3, 4, 5, and 20 are potentially changeable parameters, enter those values in their own cells so they can easily be changed, then refer to them in the formula.

There are certainly scenarios where the algebra becomes complex enough to make the Solver approach more efficient, but I find that the algebra must be pretty complex (or something I am going to only do once) for me to prefer Solver over an algebraic solution based on time and programming effort.

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