C Exercises: Print out the difference of the maximum and minimum values of these four numbers

Last update on September 18 2025 12:35:40 (UTC/GMT +8 hours)

Find the difference between max and min of 4 numbers

Write a C program that accepts 4 real numbers from the keyboard and prints out the difference between the maximum and minimum values of these four numbers.

Note: Use 4-decimal places.
Test data and expected output:
Input: 1.54 1.236 1.3625 1.002
Output: Difference is 0.5380

Pictorial Presentation:

Sample Solution:

C Code:

#include <stdio.h>
int main() {
    // Declare variables to store four numbers
    double a1, a2, a3, a4;
    double max, min;

    // Prompt user to input four numbers
    printf("Input four numbers: \n");
    scanf("%lf%lf%lf%lf", &a1, &a2, &a3, &a4);

    // Find the maximum among the four numbers
    if (a1 >= a2 && a1 >= a3 && a1 >= a4)
        max = a1;
    else if (a2 >= a1 && a2 >= a3 && a2 >= a4)
        max = a2;
    else if (a3 >= a1 && a3 >= a2 && a3 >= a4)
        max = a3;
    else
        max = a4;

    // Find the minimum among the four numbers
    if (a1 <= a2 && a1 <= a3 && a1 <= a4)
        min = a1;
    else if (a2 <= a1 && a2 <= a3 && a2 <= a4)
        min = a2;
    else if (a3 <= a1 && a3 <= a2 && a3 <= a4)
        min = a3;
    else
        min = a4;

    // Calculate and display the difference between max and min
    printf("Difference is %0.4lf\n", max - min);

    return 0;
}

Sample Output:

Input four numbers: 1.54 1.236 1.3625 1.002 
Difference is 0.5380

Flowchart:

For more Practice: Solve these Related Problems:

• Write a C program to find the maximum and minimum of four numbers using nested ternary operators.
• Write a C program to compute the range (max minus min) of four floating-point values.
• Write a C program to determine the difference between the highest and lowest numbers in an array of four elements.
• Write a C program to find the max and min of four numbers using a user-defined function.

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