Excel: LCM() Function Returns Wrong Result

ID: Q90432

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Excel for Windows, version 4.0
Microsoft Excel for the Macintosh, version 4.0

SYMPTOMS

In version 4.0 of Microsoft Excel, if you include a number that is greater than or equal to 50,000,000 (approximately), the LCM() function may return a result that is much larger than it should be.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in the versions of Microsoft Excel listed above. This problem was corrected in version 5.0 of Microsoft Excel for Windows.

MORE INFORMATION

The LCM() function returns the Least Common Multiple of a group of up to 29 integers. If one of the numbers in the group is greater than or equal to 50,000,000, LCM() may return an incorrect value.

The Least Common Multiple is the smallest positive integer that is divisible by all of the numbers in the group.

Example

A1: 35
A2: 91
A3: 50000000
A4: =LCM(A1:A3)

The answer returned is 35 times too big.

REFERENCES

"Microsoft Excel Function Reference," version 4.0, page 251

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Last Reviewed: March 29, 1999