EXP
EXP(number) raises e (about 2.71828) to a power and inverts LN. Worked examples, compound growth, and where it overflows. Matches Excel.
Syntax
EXP(number)| Argument | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|
number | Required | The exponent to raise e to. |
Examples
Every example below was executed against VisiGrid engine 0.54.0 — not
transcribed from another vendor's documentation. Reproduce any of them with vgrid calc.
| Formula | Result | Notes |
|---|---|---|
=EXP(1) | 2.72 | e itself, shown to two decimal places. |
=EXP(0) | 1 | |
=EXP(LN(5)) | 5 | EXP undoes LN. |
=1000*EXP(0.05*10) | 1648.72 | 1,000 compounded continuously at 5% for ten years. |
Getting e
There is no E() function. EXP(1) is how to get the constant, and the full
value is kept even though the cell shows two decimal places.
Continuous compounding
Interest compounded annually uses POWER:
1000*POWER(1.05,10) is 1,628.89. Compounded continuously it becomes
1000*EXP(0.05*10), which is 1,648.72. The gap between the two is the most
that compounding more often can ever add.
Inverse of LN
EXP and LN undo each other. That makes EXP the last
step of any calculation done in log space — average log returns, a regression
fitted to logged values — to bring the answer back to ordinary units.
Excel compatibility
Matches Excel.