ROUND UP function: Manage it perfectly in 5 steps

Key information:

The ROUND function allows you to approximate a value to a given number of digits. This function allows you to round to the right or left of the decimal point.

How does it work?

Purpose: The ROUND function seeks to approximate a value by determining to a number of decimal places.
Characteristics: Allows you to simplify the numbers to facilitate calculations and have a more general perception of them. In addition, it allows rounding to the right and left of the comma.
Syntax: =ROUND(number; num_decimals)
Arguments:
- number: Value that will be rounded.
- num_decimals: The number of decimals to which you want to round.

Step 1: Understanding the ROUND function

Excel's ROUND function is used to approximate numbers to a given number of decimal places.

The decimal_num argument allows positive and negative numbers, each one represents a different action, let's see the cases.

Tip Ninja: Remember that a value is approximated upwards if the number is greater than or equal to 5, but if it is less than 5 the number is approximated downwards.

Let's look at a simple example. We want to approximate the following decimals to whole numbers.

As we know, it is rounded up if the decimal is greater than or equal to 5, we can see that 10.5 will be close to 11, on the other hand, 0.2 will be close to 0, because it is not big enough.

The results are the following:

Now that we know how ROUND works, let's see how to use it when the decimal_num argument is positive, negative, or zero.

Step 2: Round to whole numbers

As we saw previously, to approximate values to the first decimal, that is, transform to integers, we must indicate that the decimal_num argument is zero.

Let's look at an example. Suppose we have the weights of different fruits and we want to approximate it to kilos as a whole number.

Excel will evaluate whether the first decimal is greater than or equal to 5 and depending on that, it will transform it to an integer by increasing or decreasing its value.

The elements of the function are:

number: C3
decimal_num: 0

That is, the ROUND function is:

What it means is: “If the weight of the kiwi has a first decimal greater than or equal to 5, the ROUND function responds 6, but if it is less than 5, it responds 5”

The result we will obtain will be:

We can verify that the weight of the kiwi is 5.12, and by having a “1” in the first decimal, it is approximated downwards, that is, 5.

We do this for all fruits obtaining:

In the following video you will be able to see how ROUND is used and its difference with ROUND.MAS and ROUND.LESS.

Tip Ninja: If you want to learn more about these functions, we recommend visiting REDONDEAR.MAS and REDONDEAR.MENOS.

Step 3: Round Decimals

In this case, since we want to approximate decimals, the decimal_num argument of ROUNDDOWN must have a positive value.

Let's imagine that we have the distance of the following planets from the sun. We wish to approximate its distance in millions of kilometers according to different positive values of the decimal_num argument.

We will approximate Mercury to the first decimal, Venus to the second and so on.

For Mercury, as we approximate the first decimal, we must write a “0” in decimal_num.

That is, the ROUND function is as follows:

We carry out this procedure for the other planets:

Venus: Since we round to the second decimal, we must write a “1” in decimal_num.
Saturn: Since we round to the third decimal place, we must write a “2” in decimal_num.
Pluto: Since we round to the fourth decimal place, we must write a “3” in decimal_num.

What it means, in the case of Saturn, is: “If its third decimal, that is, “7”, is greater than or equal to 5, I increase the second decimal by one, but if it is less than 5, I keep it.”

The result we will obtain will be:

With this example, we can see the difference of using different positive values in the decimal_num argument of the function. Remember that the number of decimals is infinite, that is, the maximum is not 3.

Step 4: Round tenths

In this case, since we want to approximate tenths, the decimal_num argument of ROUNDDOWN must have a negative value.

Let's continue with the example of the planets. We wish to approximate its distance in millions of kilometers according to different negative values of the decimal_num argument.

We will approximate Mercury to 10, Venus to 100, Saturn to 1,000 and Pluto to 10,000.

For Mercury, as we approximate the tenth, we must write a “-1” in decimal_num.

That is, the ROUND function is as follows:

We carry out this procedure for the other planets:

Venus: Since we round to the hundredth, we must write a “-2” in decimal_num.
Saturn: Since we round to the thousandth, we must write a “-3” in decimal_num.
Pluto: Since we round to the ten-thousandth, we must write a “-4” in decimal_num.

What it means, in the case of Saturn is: "If its thousandth, that is, the "1", is greater than or equal to 5, I round to 2,000, but if it is less than 5, I round to 1,000."

Tip Ninja: If we are rounding to 1,000 and the number is less than 500, it will approximate 0, but if it is greater than 500, it will approximate 1,000. On the other hand, if the value is greater than 1,000, it will approximate to the nearest thousand unit, that is, if the number is 2,800, the ROUND function will respond 3,000.

The result we will obtain will be:

We can see that Mercury was rounded to 60 because its distance is greater than 10. On the other hand, Pluto, which has a distance less than 10,000, but greater than 5,000, was rounded to 10,000.

With this example, we can see the difference of using different negative values in the decimal_num argument of the function. Remember that the number of decimals is infinite, that is, the maximum is not -4.

Step 5: Formulas and functions within the ROUND function

Within the ROUND function we can perform mathematical operations, such as adding, subtracting and dividing or using additional functions. In this case, the additional operation or function must be included in the ROUNDNUM argument.

Let's look at an example. Suppose we have the total weight of the pears in grams and the number of pears, and we want to know the weight per pear rounded to the second decimal place.

To do this, we must divide the total weight by the number of pears and round the result of the division to the second decimal place.

The elements of the function are:

number: B3/C3
decimal_num: 2

That is, the ROUND function is:

The result we will obtain will be:

Therefore, each pear weighs 11.83 grams when rounded to the second decimal place.

Now, let's look at an example where we apply an additional function inside the ROUND function. Suppose we have the total weight of several fruits in grams and we want to add them, rounding the result to a whole number.