Different results for formula in Matlab and Excel

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I derived a formula using a long calculation and it gives satisfactory answer (1759) when variables are replaced in Matlab
f__prime_c=4000;
kd=44.928;
epsilon_o=2*4000/(57000*sqrt(4000));
epsilon_ct=0.003;
epsilon_c=0.001264;
epsilon_ult=0.003;
z=150;
double((3*f__prime_c*kd*(epsilon_c^3-3*epsilon_c^2*epsilon_o+2*epsilon_o^3))/(500*epsilon_o^2*epsilon_ct)-(9*f__prime_c*kd*(-epsilon_ct^2+epsilon_o*epsilon_ult)*(-z*epsilon_ct^2+2*epsilon_ult+epsilon_o*epsilon_ult*z))/(1000*epsilon_ct*epsilon_ult^2))
But when I bring the same equation in a cell in excel ,answers is different.
I had made sure that replacement is correct but everytime I replace variables with cells or even with numerical values in excel ,answer is different from Matlab.
The Numerical values for variables are same in matlab and excel.
Any apparent reasons for the problem?
Btw answer is 1759 in matlab and -4332 in excel
  6 Comments
Osama Anwar
Osama Anwar on 21 Apr 2021
The problem is in Bn but I can't figure it out.
I have compared the excel values with matlab values but still unable to figure out the real cause.
Osama Anwar
Osama Anwar on 21 Apr 2021
1st pic is of the cell with variable names (R72) and second one is using cell values (S72)

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Accepted Answer

Steven Lord
Steven Lord on 21 Apr 2021
The problem is operator precedence. Here are the rules for operator precedence in Microsoft Excel and here are the rules for MATLAB. In Excel negation (unary minus) takes precedence over exponentiation so -epsilon_ct^2 is evaluated as (-epsilon_ct)^2 while in MATLAB unary minus is at precedence level 4 while exponentiation is at levels 2 and 3 so -epsilon_ct^2 is -(epsilon_ct^2).
epsilon_ct = 0.003;
resultFromMATLAB = -(epsilon_ct^2)
resultFromMATLAB = -9.0000e-06
resultFromExcel = (-epsilon_ct)^2
resultFromExcel = 9.0000e-06
When I modified the formula in Excel to use parentheses like resultFromMATLAB above its answer agreed with the answer from MATLAB. Or you could rewrite that term slightly to reduce the need for parentheses, since subtraction is lower than exponentiation in both Excel and MATLAB.
epsilon_o=2*4000/(57000*sqrt(4000));
epsilon_ct=0.003;
epsilon_ult=0.003;
term1 = epsilon_o*epsilon_ult-epsilon_ct^2
term1 = -2.3426e-06
term2 = -(epsilon_ct^2) + epsilon_o*epsilon_ult
term2 = -2.3426e-06
term3 = (-epsilon_ct)^2 + epsilon_o*epsilon_ult
term3 = 1.5657e-05

More Answers (2)

Jan
Jan on 21 Apr 2021
It looks, like you have a typo in the code you have typed in Excel.
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Osama Anwar
Osama Anwar on 21 Apr 2021
Excel file

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