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Engineering function

DELTA

Returns 1 if two numbers are equal and 0 otherwise.

Rarely usedDifficulty 1200 · ProficientUsage rank #340 of 520
Practice · 2 questions →

When to use it

Returns 1 when two numbers are equal and 0 otherwise: the Kronecker delta. A numeric equality test that can be summed.

The shape of it

Syntax
=DELTA(number1, [number2])

Worked examples

  • Equal

    =DELTA(5,5) → 1

    Equal.

  • Not equal

    =DELTA(5,4) → 0

    Not equal.

  • Count matching pairs

    =SUMPRODUCT(DELTA(A2:A10,B2:B10)) → 6

    How many pairs match.

Worth knowing

  • --(A1=B1) does the same for any type; DELTA is numbers only.
  • The second number defaults to 0, so DELTA(x) tests for zero.
  • Floating-point noise makes near-equal numbers unequal; ROUND first.

Where it goes wrong

  • #VALUE! for text arguments.
  • Exact comparison, so 0.1+0.2 and 0.3 give 0.

Related

CONVERTBIN2DECDEC2BINHEX2DECDEC2HEXERF

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