HARMEAN in Collabora Office: Harmonic Means and Equal-Distance Rate Examples

• Introduced: original Collabora release and launch date are not established by the reviewed sources.
• Availability: currently documented in Collabora Office 26.04 desktop help.
• Platform scope: online and mobile deployments are not inferred from this desktop-help release.
• Checked: October 14, 2026. Function-specific documentation and independent calculations; no native Collabora execution.

=HARMEAN(argument1;[argument2];...)

Collabora allows up to 255 arguments and explicitly ignores text and empty cells within data ranges. The dedicated help does not give a full zero/negative-input or error-code table. These worked examples therefore use positive numeric inputs.

A harmonic mean is not a generic replacement for every average of rates. Derive the total quantity and total exposure first; that determines whether the simple harmonic model matches the question.

Enter 2 in A2 and 8 in A3:

=HARMEAN(A2:A3)

Expected result: 3.2. The reciprocals are 1/2 and 1/8, totalling 5/8. Dividing the count two by 5/8 gives 16/5.

For these same values, the geometric mean is 4 and the arithmetic mean is 5. These are three distinct summaries, not rounding variations of one answer. GEOMEAN explains the product-based calculation.

Consider a fictional distance-and-time exercise: two segments are each 60 km, with speeds 30 km/h and 60 km/h. Their times are 2 hours and 1 hour, respectively. Total distance is 120 km and total time is 3 hours, so average speed is 40 km/h.

=HARMEAN(30;60)

Expected result: 40. The equal-distance condition is what makes the unweighted harmonic mean appropriate. This is a mathematical example, not a suggested journey or estimate of real traffic conditions.

Now use the same speeds for one hour each. Distances are 30 km and 60 km, totalling 90 km in two hours. The average is 45 km/h, the arithmetic mean.

HARMEAN(30;60) still describes 40, but that does not answer the equal-time question. A function cannot infer whether the rows represent equal distance, equal time or another weighting arrangement.

For a third scenario, travel 30 km at 30 km/h and 90 km at 60 km/h. The total is 120 km in 2.5 hours, giving 48 km/h. Neither unweighted 40 nor unweighted 45 is the correct total-distance/total-time answer for that setup.

For 20,80, the reciprocal sum is 1/20+1/80=1/16. Dividing two by that total gives expected harmonic mean 32, ten times the original 3.2.

For 6,6,6, the reciprocal sum is 1/2, so the mean is 6. The harmonic, geometric and arithmetic means are equal when all these positive inputs are equal; a blanket claim that the harmonic mean is always strictly smaller would be wrong.

Repeating 2,8 to make 2,8,2,8 doubles both the observation count and reciprocal sum. The harmonic mean stays 3.2. Duplicating records is still a data-quality concern even when this summary happens to stay unchanged.

Extend A2:A3 with text Pending and a genuinely empty cell. The range-ignore rule leaves the expected harmonic mean at 3.2. This documented exclusion is not proof that a numeric zero or formula returning empty text behaves identically.

The exact handling of zero, negative values, Boolean cells, numeric text, direct text arguments and source errors remains unverified here. Do not substitute another spreadsheet’s native error code. AVERAGE covers the additive alternative, but the data’s weighting still needs an explicit explanation.

• Collabora Office 26.04: HARMEAN.
• Editorial testing standards.

Complete function-specific documentation reviewed. Worked outputs are independent mathematical or explicitly documented rule controls, not application screenshots or native test results. Unresolved ordering, type and error boundaries retain their stated scope.