How to calculate percentage of value inside arbitrary range? So pardon if this is a simple question...
I have a slider that returns a value in a given range, so:
min: 174
max: 424
slider current value: 230

I want to treat my min value as 0% and my max value as 100%. What formula can I use to calculate the percentage for my slider in this given range?
 A: $$
\frac{{n - 174}}{{424 - 174}} \times 100.
$$
In your example, $n=230$.
A: The full range is from $174$ to $424$.  The distance between these is $424-174$, which is $250$.
The current value of the slider is $230$.This is $230-174$, that is, $56$ larger than the minimum possible value.  
We are interested in the ratio $56/250$.  A calculator shows that $56/250=0.224$.
We want to express $0.224$ as a percentage.  To do that, we multiply $0.224$ by $100$. The result is $22.4$. So the required percentage setting for $230$ is $22.4\%$.
Since we will not always be dealing with the setting $230$, let's generalize a little.  Suppose that the slider setting is $S$. (In your question, $S=230$.)
Assume that $174 \le S \le 424$.  
Then the distance from $S$ to the minimum $174$ is 
$$S-174.$$
The ratio of this distance to the full distance $474-174$ is
$$\frac{S-174}{424-174}.$$
To turn this into a percentage, multiply by $100$.
The answer is
$$\left(\frac{S-174}{424-174}\right)\times 100 \:\:\%.$$
Reality check: It is quite easy to make mistakes, I have done it hundreds of times.  So let's see what answer we get from the above formula when $S=174$. Substitute $174$ for $S$. We get $0\%$. Good.  Let's see what answer we get if we put $S=424$. Substitute. We get $100\%$.  In general, spot checks of this kind do not guarantee that a formula is correct, but they are good evidence that we have not made a horrible blunder. (In linear cases, such as this one, two spot checks in fact do guarantee correctness.)
Now let us adjust the formula so that we can deal with a different situation, where the minimum setting is $m$ and the maximum setting is $M$. Let $m\le S \le M$.  Then the percentage that corresponds to the setting $S$ is given by
$$\left(\frac{S-m}{M-m}\right)\times 100 \:\:\%.$$
The reasoning that gives this formula is exactly the same as the one we used for the concrete numbers you supplied. 
Now that we have a formula that gives the percentage $P$ when we know the setting $S$, we can use a little algebra to get a formula that gives the setting $S$ if we are told the desired percentage $P$.  If you have need of such a formula, and have difficulty deriving it, please leave a message.
A: Wow, thank you, I tried to work this out for quite a while.
$B_2=MAX$
$A_1=MIN$
$D_1=\dfrac{B_2-A_1}{A_2-A_1}~$ — This is the result of your formula.
E1 = IF (D1 < 50%, -(1-2*D1), ABS(1-2*D1))
Using this I can use the above in Excel to get the exact $50\%$ as $0,$ and anything lower or higher generates a positive or negative $\%$ leading to the min or max numbers.
Using your numbers in your example
$$\begin{align}
299 &= 0\%\\
174 &= -100\%\\
424 &= 100\%
\end{align}$$
Hope this helps someone else.
