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Engineering using Spreadsheets

Engineering Unit Conversion in Excel


Unit conversion is a very common task for engineering work. I have often come across books and articles that describe the use of macros to write functions for conversion of temperature from °C to °F. It is often overlooked that Excel has a built in function for engineering unit conversion - the formula is CONVERT.

This function is available after the 'Analysis ToolPack' add-in is installed. The syntax of the function is CONVERT(number,from_unit,to_unit). To use this function to convert 32°F to °C, the formual will be
 
=CONVERT(32,"F","C")

Convert Formula

Though the list of units available for this function is by no means exhaustive, it is quite sufficient for many common conversions. The Excel help for this function lists the units available.