Basic Functions
Intermediate

ABS for a tolerance check

Too high and too low are the same problem: too far from the target.

Task:

Bottles are filled to 500 ml and quality control allows 3 ml either way. In C2:C7 show OK when a sample is within tolerance and Reject when it is not.

Interactive Spreadsheet

Read about ABS

Hints

+5 XPno-hints bonus

Solve it on your own to keep the bonus. Each hint gets one step closer to the formula.

Variations of ABS

0/3

The same formula in the other shapes it takes at work.

  1. ABS Function

    How far off you are, not which direction.

    Core
    Beginner
  2. ABS for a tolerance check

    Too high and too low are the same problem: too far from the target.

    Intermediate
  3. ABS for a percentage error

    How wrong was the forecast, ignoring which way it was wrong?

    Intermediate

The data in this exercise

This is the grid you start with. Cell references in the task — B6, C2 — point at the row numbers and column letters below.

7 rows × 3 columns6 cells you fill in
ABC
1SampleFill (ml)Result
2S1501.2
3S2496.4
4S3503
5S4504.1
6S5497.8
7S6499.9
What this exercise teachesMay contain the answer

Without ABS you need two tests joined by AND — above 497 and below 503 — and it is easy to get one bound wrong. Taking the absolute difference turns "within 3 either side" into a single comparison, which is how the rule is actually stated.