Participation Project #11 - Excel Solver

Add Solver to Excel

If you do not see solver at the end of your Data tab in Excel, you'll want to go to the File menu, and then down to options. You'll get a pop up window with an Add-ins menu. When you click this, you'll see an option to "Manage: Excel Add-ins" towards the bottom of the pop up. 

Once you click the Go button, you should have an option to check a box to add in the Solver. Make sure that the box is checked, and then click Ok. The solver will show up as a new section on your data ribbon. 

When you click on the Solver option, your window should look like this: 

In the Set Objective field, you want to put the reference to the cell you’re trying to put the value in. If the question says “change the value of the cell” that means you need to pick the Value Of option in the radio buttons. If it says you want to minimize the total value, pick the Min button. If you choose Value Of, you also have to put a value in the box that has a default zero in it, otherwise it’s going to set the value to 0.

An important note: Cell G16, which is the cell you’re setting to a number, has a formula in it. You’re changing the value of a different cell so that when this formula is calculated, the calculation is equal to a specific value, or a minimum.

Make sure you set the solving method to the correct one (it defaults to GRG Nonlinear).

To add a constraint, just click the Add button.

You can enter in multiple cells in both the By Changing Variable Cells and the Constraints.