Question: When I use this formula to import data

```
=iferror(INDEX(IMPORTHTML("http://www.thestreet.com/quote/GE/details/company-profile.html","table",3),8,1))

```

The result is `Sector: Industrial Goods`. I'd like to use the LEFT function to remove the `Sector:` text and show only `Industrial Goods`. I can't seem to get the syntax right. I can use this formula to show the length of the string:

```
=len(iferror(INDEX(IMPORTHTML("http://www.thestreet.com/quote/GE/details/company-profile.html","table",3),8,1)))

```

But can't figure out how to incorporate the LEFT function to get my result.

Answer: 
You want to look up the ore-per-fuel ratio for the chosen fuel type. This is usually done with [`vlookup`](https://support.google.com/docs/answer/3093318?hl=en). Specifically, the formula

```
=vlookup(C8, A2:C5, 3, False) 

```

looks up the content of C8 in the cells A2:A5 and returns the matching value from 3rd column of the indicated range (column C). Thus, your formula for Fuel Needed would be 

```
=B8/vlookup(C8, A2:C5, 3, False) 

```

More generally, whenever you want to have numeric information attached to some text strings, a lookup table can be created and used for this purpose.
Alternatively, you could use the `if` formula. For example,

`=if(C8="Wood",8,0)` means If the value of C8 (input) is "Wood" then output the number 8. Otherwise, output 0.

To do multiple items, you would use simply add a comma. For example: `=if(C8="Wood",8,0),if(c8="Some other Material",1,0),if(c8="Another thing",7,0)`

You can also of course combine this with math.
`=B8*(=if(C8="Wood",8),if(c8="Some other Material",1),if(c8="Another thing",7,0))`

*Just be careful with your parentheses!*