Small & Large

Two widely used functions in Excel are the functions min and max.  Variations on these two functions are the statistical functions small and large.

Skill Builder:  Using the Min Function

If you are interested in finding the smallest function in a range, you may want to use the function min.  

1.	Click	In the Cell where you want your minimum value to 
		appear.

2.	Type 	The function notation =min(range)

3.  	Hit	Enter.  The minimum function will appear.

Note:  All of the statistical functions can be used on rectangular shaped areas also.

If you would like to find a number other than the smallest number in a range, you can use the small function.   This function allows you to specify which number you want to locate.  For example, you can specify that you would like to know what the second smallest number in a range is.

Skill Builder:  Using the Small Function

1.	Click	In the Cell where you want your small value to appear.

2.	Type 	The function notation 
		=SMALL(range, the number you want located).  

		For instance, if your range was from F5-H9 and you 
		wanted to located the second smallest number in the 
		range, you would enter 
		=SMALL(F5:H9,2)

		If you would like to locate the 3rd smallest number 
		you would type the range followed by a common and 
		then the number 3, for the 4th smallest you would type 
		a 4, etc.

3.  	Hit	Enter.  The value you are looking for will appear.  In 
		this example, the second smallest number will appear.

The Max and Large functions work similarly.  If you are looking for the largest number, you would use the large function.  However, if you are looking for the 2nd largest or 3rd largest number, you will use the large function.

Skill Builder:  Using the Large Function

1.	Click	In the Cell where you want your large value to appear.

2.	Type 	The function notation 
		=LARGE(range, the number you want located).  

		For instance, if your range was from F5-H9 and you 
		wanted to located the second largest number in the 
		range, you would enter 
		=LARGE(F5:H9,2)

		If you would like to locate the 3rd largest number you 
		would type the range followed by a common and then 
		the number 3, for the 4th largest you would type a 4, etc.

3.  	Hit	Enter.  The value you are looking for will appear.  

These functions are a good complement to the min and max functions.