Stop simplifying fractions automatically

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Level 1

8 points

Stop simplifying fractions automatically

Hi,

I'm using Numbers '09 (duh, that's why I'm here) and I'm trying to type in a male/female ratio for 45/55. Yes, my college search needs organization via spreadsheets. =P However, it keeps simplifying it to 9/11! Is there any way I can stop this?

MacBook Pro 13", MacBook Pro 17" (late 2007, broken), Mac OS X (10.6)

Posted on Sep 28, 2009 3:03 PM

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Answer 1

Badunit

Level 7

30,540 points

Sep 28, 2009 3:38 PM in response to travelerawd

Instead of typing it in as a number, type it in as text. Put an apostrophe before the number so it is '55/45 (the apostrophe will get dropped and the cell will be text) or pre-format the cell as text. However, while you may be able to use the value for the normal add, subtract, multiply, and divide operations it will not work in some functions (such as SUM). You may want another column/row (which can be hidden) that has the numerical value using the VALUE function.

Message was edited by: Badunit

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