How to Use Goal Seek in Google Sheets to Solve Equations
Some equations are easy to solve, but some require pen, paper, and mathematical prowess. But regardless of the equation’s complexity, rapidly solving numerous equations is a chore.
That’s where Goal Seek takes the burden off your shoulders. Goal Seek automatically finds the desired result of a formula by adjusting the input values.
Goal Seek works by using an iterative process to find a value that makes the result of the formula equal to a specified value. Although Goal Seek isn’t built into Google Sheets, you can still get it by installing the extension.
How to Install Goal Seek for Google Sheets
Goal Seek is a built-in feature in Excel, but that’s not the case with Google Sheets. Despite that, Google has developed an official Goal Seek add-on which you can install from the Google Marketplace.
Once the add-on is installed, you can use Goal Seek in your Google Sheets documents.
How to Use Goal Seek in Google Sheets
With the Goal Seek add-on installed, it’s possible to use it to solve any equation. Goal Seek runs on three parameters:
Goal Seek needs an equation to work with. The equation must have a variable present in another cell. Rather than using variables such as X or Y, you can refer to the cell containing the variable. This way, you can use Goal Seek to alter that variable cell’s value until the equation equals your desired value.
For instance, if you want to solve A2 + 5 = 7,Set Cellwill beB2,To Valuewill be7, andBy Changing Cellwill beA2. Once you set up the parameters, a single click will yield the answer.
You can use Goal Seek to solve various equations. Moreover, using Google Sheet’s graphing capabilities, you can graph values and elicit the graph’s equation to find the x-value for different y-values. Let’s see these in action.
Solving Equations
To automatically solve an equation with Goal Seek, you must input two factors manually: the equation and the variable. Your equation should be based on cell references rather than letters. This way, Google Sheets can alter the variable until it finds the desired result.
For example, suppose you want to solve the equation x² + 4x - 10 = 35. The first step is to translate this equation into a Google Sheets formula.
The target value cell serves as a reminder; it won’t play a role in Goal Seek. Now that your equation is set out, it’s time to use Goal Seek to find the proper variable.
Goal Seek will now try different values and solve the equation. If you got 5 in cell A2 and your equation cell’s value equals the target cell, then you got it right!
Finding X Values From a Graph
Agraph’s trendlineis always linear. If your equation is linear, then the trendline will superimpose the graph. In these cases, you can elicit the trendline equation and use it to calculate different values with Goal Seek.
In the example above, you can see the absorbance of different sample solutions under a spectrometer. There’s also a solution with an unknown concentration.
The unknown solution’s absorbance reading is 0.155. The goal is to calculate the solution’s concentration using Goal Seek. First, you need to graph the data.
Now you’re able to see the equation for the graph. All that is left is to convert the equation into a formula and solve it with Goal Seek.
In this example, theSet CellisB6, theTo Valueis0.155, and theBy Changing ValueisA6. Once you click Solve, Google Sheets will calculate the unknown solution’s concentration.
Solve Problems Quickly with Goal Seek in Google Sheets
Goal Seek is a powerful Google Sheets extension that can solve your equations for you. Goal Seek works by altering the variable until it reaches the desired result. For Goal Seek to work correctly, you must translate your equation into a formula that Google Sheets can understand.
You can use Goal Seek on any formula. This also includes linear graph lines. All you need to do is to graph your data, elicit the equation from the trendline, and use Goal Seek on the graph equation.
Spreadsheet tools such as Google Sheets exist to make life easier. With Goal Seek in your tool shed, you can now leave the calculations to Google Sheets and focus on the important stuff.
You can do many cool things with custom functions in Google Sheets. Here’s how to use Google scripts to create a function.
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