Excel: Logarithmic Scale Defaults Are Documented Incorrectly

Last reviewed: November 3, 1994
Article ID: Q78663

SUMMARY

The section labeled "Logarithmic Scale" on page 465 of the "Microsoft Excel User's Guide" for version 3.0 states:

   If all data values are zero or less, the minimum is set to 0.1 and
   the maximum is set to 1.

This is incorrect. Attempting to format the y-axis scale to logarithmic with such data values will return the following error message:

   Negative or zero values cannot be plotted correctly on log charts.

This is because the log of values less than or equal to zero is undefined mathematically.

REFERENCES

"Microsoft Excel User's Guide," version 3.0, page 465

KBCategory: kbother
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Additional reference words: 3.00

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Last reviewed: November 3, 1994
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