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CRITBINOM

The CRITBINOM function calculates the smallest value of x for which the cumulative binomial distribution is less than a specified value. This function is commonly used in statistical analysis to find the minimum number of successes required in a certain number of trials to achieve a desired level of confidence.

Usage

Use the CRITBINOM formula with the syntax shown below, it has 3 required parameters:

=CRITBINOM(num_trials, prob_success, target_prob)
Parameters:
  1. num_trials (required):
    The number of trials in the binomial distribution. Must be a positive integer.
  2. prob_success (required):
    The probability of success for each trial. Must be between 0 and 1, inclusive.
  3. target_prob (required):
    The desired cumulative probability for x. Must be between 0 and 1, inclusive.

Examples

Here are a few example use cases that explain how to use the CRITBINOM formula in Google Sheets.

Calculate the minimum number of successes required in a certain number of trials

Suppose you want to know how many successful sales calls you need to make out of 20 total calls in order to have a 90% chance of closing at least one sale. You can use CRITBINOM to find the minimum number of successes required.

Determine the probability of achieving a certain number of successes

If you know the number of trials and the probability of success for each trial, you can use CRITBINOM to find the probability of achieving a specific number of successes.

Calculate the risk of a certain outcome

Suppose you are a doctor and you want to know how many patients you need to treat with a certain drug in order to have a 95% chance of seeing at least one negative side effect. You can use CRITBINOM to find the minimum number of patients required.

Common Mistakes

CRITBINOM not working? Here are some common mistakes people make when using the CRITBINOM Google Sheets Formula:

Incorrect order of arguments

Make sure to input the arguments in the correct order: num_trials, prob_success, target_prob.

Non-numeric input

Ensure that all input values are numeric and do not contain any non-numeric characters or extra spaces.

Invalid range

Ensure that the input values for num_trials, prob_success, and target_prob are within a valid range.

Target probability too high or low

The target probability must be between 0 and 1. Check that you have inputted a value within this range.

Wrong formula for task

Double-check that CRITBINOM is the correct formula for the task you are trying to accomplish. There may be a different formula that better fits your needs.

Related Formulas

The following functions are similar to CRITBINOM or are often used with it in a formula:

  • BINOMDIST

    The BINOMDIST function calculates the probability of a certain number of successes in a fixed number of trials given a constant probability of success for each trial. This function is commonly used in statistical analysis and hypothesis testing.

  • NEGBINOMDIST

    The NEGBINOMDIST function calculates the probability of having a certain number of failures (num_failures) before a certain number of successful outcomes (num_successes) occur, given the probability of success in a single trial (prob_success). This function is often used in statistical analysis to model the number of failures before a certain number of successes in a sequence of independent and identically distributed Bernoulli trials.

Learn More

You can learn more about the CRITBINOM Google Sheets function on Google Support.