Question

The smallest and largest numbers in the data are 21 and 60 respectively. Find the range of the data.

Answer 1

Hint: In this question, we are given the smallest and the largest observation of some data and we have been asked to find out the range of the data. If you are aware about the formula of range, it says that the smallest observation should be subtracted from the smallest observation. Just subtract the two and you will have your range.

Formula used: Range = Largest observation – smallest observation.

Complete step-by-step solution:
The largest and the smallest numbers of the data are mentioned in the question and we have been asked to find the range of the data. Before finding the range, let us know what it is.
Range is the difference between the largest and the smallest observation of the data. It acts as an indicator of the dispersion of data. The bigger the value, the more scattered is the range and shorter the value, less scattered is the range. It is not a reliable indicator.
Now, let us move towards finding the range.
Smallest observation of the data -$21$
Largest observation of the data -$60$
Range = Largest observation – smallest observation.
Range = $60 - 21 = 39$

Therefore, the range of the given data is $39$.

Note: If in this question the entire data had been given, our first step would have been to arrange the entire data in ascending or descending order and then observe the smallest and largest observation out of them and the last step would have been to subtract them.