Question

Which of the following aggregate functions would generate an error when used on a column with a non-numeric data type?

O MAX()
O MIN()
O SUM()
O COUNT()
O AVG()

Answer 1

The aggregate function that would generate an error when used on a column with a non-numeric data type is SUM(). It requires numerical input to calculate a total sum, whereas functions like MAX(), MIN(), and COUNT() can work with non-numeric data, and AVG() also needs numeric data for averaging.

Step-by-step explanation:

Among the aggregate functions listed (MAX(), MIN(), SUM(), COUNT(), AVG()), the function that would generate an error when used on a column with a non-numeric data type is SUM().

The SUM() function calculates the total sum of a numeric column.

If you attempt to use SUM() on non-numeric data, like text or dates, it will result in an error because those data types cannot be summed up.

In contrast, MAX() and MIN() functions can be applied to non-numeric data types to find the maximum or minimum value based on alphabetical or chronological order, respectively.

The COUNT() function simply counts the number of rows that match a criterion, and this works with any data type. Lastly, AVG(), like SUM(), requires numeric data as it calculates the average value.