SMALL function

In this article I will discuss about a very tiny function, SMALL(). As the name of the function indicates it is used to find or display the n’th smallest number.

Please note it should not be confused with the MIN function. MIN function returns the smallest number from a given range, SMALL function also do the same but the difference is that you can specify the n’th smallest number to display. For example, suppose given a number series as 24, 65, 33, 89; and I use MIN function to get the smallest number from these numbers, I will get 24 as the smallest number.

But, suppose if I need the second smallest number out of these numbers then what should I do ?

The answer is 33, the second smallest number out of these numbers 24, 65, 33, 89. It is easily identifiable by judging these numbers but suppose there are one thousand numbers and out of these we need the second smallest number; it is difficult.

The working of SMALL function is very similar to LARGE function, the only difference is LARGE function displays the largest data among set of numbers or array whereas the SMALL function displays the smallest number.

Here we will use the function SMALL. Let’s discuss the function.

Syntax :

=SMALL(array, k)

Parameters or Arguments

array

A range or array from which you want to return the nth smallest value.

k (nth_position)

The position from the smallest to return.

Example :

Let suppose we have four Zone’s target as shown below; now, if you need to find out that Zone which has the second smallest target value, you must use the SMALL function. The below picture will clarify the this.

How to use SMALL function

Hope this article was helpful. 
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Count Blank Cells - COUNTBLANK Function

Today in this article I will discuss about the excel function COUNTBLANK, a very small inbuilt function in Microsoft Excel.

In the last article, we discussed about How to Count Not Blank Cells in Excel.

In this article, we will learn How to Count Blank Cells, in some compound formula it becomes necessary to learn these small functions to simplify the existing excel formula.

Let us first discuss about COUNTBLANK then we will discuss where can we use it and how we can implement this function.

Description

As the name suggest the Microsoft Excel COUNTBLANK function counts the number of cells that are empty.

Note : As COUNTBLANK count the cells that are blank, if any space is present in any cell it will not be counted because space is also a character and space ‘alone’ is not visible to bare eyes. Therefore, it is better to use TRIM function while using COUNTBLANK Function if you are not sure that all visible empty cells are not containing any ‘space’.

Syntax

The syntax for the COUNTBLANK function in Microsoft Excel is:

=COUNTBLANK(range)

Parameters or Arguments

range

The range of cells to count empty cells.

Returns

The COUNTBLANK function returns a numeric value.

How to use COUNTBLANK Function in Excel ?

1.   Select a cell, then

2.   Type ‘=’ sign in that cell or in the formula bar

3.   Type ‘COUNTBLANK(‘ or type COU, a drop down list will appear, select COUNTBLANK, press TAB button

4.   Select the range or alternatively you can type the range as we do in the basic SUM function. Hit enter.

5.   Done.

How to use COUNTBLANK function to count Blank cells in Excel

How to use COUNTBLANK & COUNTA function to count Blank and Not Blank cells in Excel

We can use COUNTBLANK nested with other functions like INDEX or SUMPRODUCT, we will discuss it in another article in details with examples.

I hope this article is informative & you enjoyed this article.

Thank you for reading…