Issues trying to solve for X using (goal seeking formula w/o using Goal Seek)

**dbpib** · 07-27-2012, 12:08 PM

Hello, I was looking to get your opnion on an issue i'm running into.

When using the goal seek function I can solve for X by setting a cell to a value. Is there any way to create a formula that can solve for X by setting a cell to equal another cell? Excel help.xlsx. I've (hopefully) attached a worksheet.

Want to build a formula to solve for E9 so that D9 = E5
Right now I can goal seek by manually plugging "14.47" to solve for value in E9 ($11.01) but would like to find a formula that solves for E9 automatically
Is there a way to create a formula that says make D9 = E5 by changing cell E9?

Thanks for the assistance.

**MrShorty** · 07-27-2012, 12:19 PM

the way I usually do it is to add another cell =d9-e5 (or =d9/e5), then have goal seek find the value of 0 (or 1) for this cell by changing X.

**dbpib** · 07-27-2012, 01:05 PM

Thanks for the quick reply. I am actually looking to build a formula that can goal seek without having to manually use the Goal Seek function. Not sure if it's possible.

**MrShorty** · 07-27-2012, 01:44 PM

I'm sure it is possible, the math behind these kind of problems is not magical nor poorly understood. It's more a question of how much know how and effort the spreadsheet programmer wants to put into the problem.

The formula in D9 does not look very complicated. It seems to me that it should be as simple as solving for E9 as a function of D9, then substituting E5 in for D9. This part of the problem is more about algebra than spreadsheet programming. Once the algebra is done, the spreadsheet programming should be simple.