GAMMA

• How to use GAMMA formula?
• Examples of using GAMMA formula
• GAMMA formula not working?
• Similar formulas to GAMMA

Usage

Use the GAMMA formula with the syntax shown below, it has 1 required parameter:

=GAMMA(number)

1. number (required):
   The input value to evaluate the Gamma function at. Must be a positive number.

Examples

Calculate factorials of non-integer values

The Gamma function can be used to calculate factorials of non-integer values. For example, GAMMA(4.5) returns the value of 3.32335097045, which is equivalent to 4.5 factorial.

Calculate probabilities in statistical distributions

The Gamma function is used in many statistical distributions, such as the Gamma distribution and the Chi-squared distribution. The GAMMA function can be used to calculate probabilities of certain events in these distributions.

Common Mistakes

Incorrect argument type

One common mistake is to provide an argument that is not a number or a reference to a cell containing a number. Double-check that the argument you are providing is a valid number.

Invalid argument value

Another mistake is to provide an argument that is negative or zero. The GAMMA function requires a positive argument. Make sure the value you are providing is positive.

Incorrect number of arguments

A common mistake is to provide more than one argument to the GAMMA function. The GAMMA function only accepts one argument. Remove any extra arguments.

Incorrect function name

Another mistake is to misspell the function name as 'GAMMA'. Double-check that you are using the correct name 'GAMMADIST'.

Incorrect argument order

One mistake is to provide the argument in the wrong order. The GAMMA function only accepts one argument, so make sure that the argument is provided in the correct order.

Related Formulas

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

• GAMMALN

  The GAMMALN function returns the natural logarithm of the absolute value of the Gamma function, Γ(x). The Gamma function is defined as an extension of the factorial function to complex and real numbers. The function is commonly used in probability theory and statistics to compute probabilities and to model continuous distributions such as the chi-squared and F distributions.

• CHISQ.DIST

  The CHISQ.DIST function calculates the probability density function or the cumulative distribution function of a chi-squared distribution. This function is commonly used in hypothesis testing to determine the significance of the difference between expected and observed values. The output of this function can be used to make decisions about the null hypothesis.

• CHISQ.INV

  The CHISQ.INV function returns the inverse of the right-tailed probability of the chi-squared distribution. It is commonly used in hypothesis testing where the null hypothesis is that the observed data follows a chi-squared distribution. The function returns the value of the chi-squared random variable at which the cumulative distribution function equals the given probability. This function is useful for finding critical values after performing a chi-squared test.

• EXPON.DIST

  The EXPON.DIST function returns the exponential distribution of a specified random variable, x, given a specified lambda, LAMBDA. The exponential distribution is commonly used to model the time between events in a Poisson process. The function returns the probability density function or the cumulative distribution function of the exponential distribution depending on whether the cumulative argument is set to TRUE or FALSE. This function is useful for analyzing reliability data and can be used to determine the probability that a component will fail before a certain time.

Learn More

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