Maximum deviation

[Chris Iverson]

Greetings,
I¹m using Excel 11.1. Any help I can get would be appreciated.

I have a group of numbers that is centered on zero, from minus 1.5 up to
positive 1.5. I need a formula or function that will return the maximum
deviation from zero, whether it is positive or negative.

An ideas?

Thanks
Chris

 

[Bernard Rey]

I have a group of numbers that is centered on zero, from minus 1.5 up to
positive 1.5. I need a formula or function that will return the maximum
deviation from zero, whether it is positive or negative.

Let's say the values are in cells A1:A250. If, in the result cell you type:
=MAX(ABS(A1:A250))

and validate with the Command-Enter key sequence, you'll see the formula
changed to {=MAX(ABS(A1:A6))} in the edit box (the braces indicating that
it's an array formula). It should display the max deviation from zero in the
result cell. But it'll only give you the absolute value. Not the sign...

If you edit the formula, you will have to validate it with the Command-Enter
(or Control-Caps-Enter) sequence to keep it as an array formula and have the
{} braces back.