MIN and MAX functions in Excel - Practice Problems & Coding Challenges

Challenge - 5 Problems

📊 Formula Result

intermediate

Find the minimum value in a range

Given the values in cells A1 to A5 as 10, 25, 7, 30, and 15 respectively, what is the result of the formula =MIN(A1:A5)?

A 7

B 10

C 15

D 25

💡 Hint

MIN function returns the smallest number in the range.

The smallest number among 10, 25, 7, 30, and 15 is 7, so MIN(A1:A5) returns 7.

📊 Formula Result

intermediate

Find the maximum value ignoring text

Cells B1 to B5 contain the values 12, "apple", 45, 8, and "banana". What does the formula =MAX(B1:B5) return?

A banana

B apple

C 45

D 12

💡 Hint

MAX ignores text and returns the largest number.

MAX only considers numeric values, so it returns the largest number 45.

❓ Function Choice

advanced

Choose the correct formula to find the smallest positive number

You have numbers in cells C1 to C6: -5, 0, 3, 7, -2, 4. Which formula returns the smallest positive number (greater than zero)?

A =MIN(C1:C6)

B =MAX(IF(C1:C6>0, C1:C6))

C =MAX(C1:C6)

D =MIN(IF(C1:C6>0, C1:C6))

💡 Hint

You need to filter only positive numbers before finding the minimum.

Option D uses an IF condition inside MIN to consider only numbers greater than zero, returning 3.

🎯 Scenario

advanced

Find the maximum value ignoring errors

Cells D1 to D5 contain: 10, #DIV/0!, 25, #N/A, 15. Which formula correctly returns the maximum numeric value ignoring errors?

A =MAX(IF(ISNUMBER(D1:D5), D1:D5))

B =MAX(IFERROR(D1:D5, 0))

C =MAX(D1:D5)

D =MAX(IF(ISERROR(D1:D5), 0, D1:D5))

💡 Hint

Use ISNUMBER to filter only numbers before MAX.

Option A filters only numeric values ignoring errors, returning 25 as the maximum.

❓ data_analysis

expert

Analyze the output of nested MIN and MAX functions

Given the values in cells E1 to E4 as 5, 15, 10, and 20, what is the result of the formula =MIN(MAX(E1:E4), 12)?

A 5

B 12

C 10

D 15

💡 Hint

First find the MAX, then compare it with 12 using MIN.

MAX(E1:E4) is 20. MIN(20, 12) returns the smaller value, which is 12.