How to fill cells from a maximum to minimum

Question

Hi very simply if I have a column of twenty cells and in cell 1 I put the number 1 and in cell 20 I put the number 20 is there a way numbers can automatically fill the cells 2-19 with the appropriate increments?  I know you can drag a corner of two cells and it will continue the pattern but I have two values in mind an upper and a lower and want to fill the gap between the two.
Thanks

Answer 1

"I wanted to award the top mark of 20 points and slowest time or more of 1 point and just spread the gap evenly across points 2-19."
How does a participant get a time that is "more" than the "slowest time"? (see NOTE appended)
Using the described method of assigning points, here's an example.
For two races, each with three competitors, the points awarded could be (rounded or truncated from) the calculated values below:
Note that the 'best' times and the 'second best' times in both races are the same. Only the time of the slowest runner (and the consequent score of the 'second best') are different.
If the (huge) difference in score for an identical performance when compared with the winning time is acceptable, here's a solution that will calculate those results directly from the list of times (in seconds, expressed as a decimal number).
Notes:
Columns C, D and E are independent calculations, each using the in column B. C shows the raw point value; D shows the same calculation with the result truncated to show only the integer part, E shows the same calculation with the result rounded to the nearer integer value. See the scores for Runners 4, 7, 9 (and others) for differences when reducing the point values to whole number values.
For test and demonstration purposes, I entered the fastest and slowest times in the first two cells of column B, and generated the rest using the RANDBETWEEN function. The entered scores can be in any order. Runners who did not participate, or did not finish should have their column B cell left empty.
Formulas: The three formulas are identical except for truncating or rounding parts (shown in bold). Pick the one that best suits your needs. They're placed in the top row containing race times, and filled down from there.
C2: =IF(LEN(B)>0,1+19*(MAX(B)-B)/(MAX(B)-MIN(B)),"")
D2: =IF(LEN(B)>0,INT(1+19*(MAX(B)-B)/(MAX(B)-MIN(B))),"")
E2: =IF(LEN(B)>0,ROUND(1+19*(MAX(B)-B)/(MAX(B)-MIN(B)),0),"")
Regards,
Barry
NOTE: Your mention of 'the slowest time or more' might offer a way around the score variation noted above. The organization governing F1 racing introduced a new rule recently restricting qualifying times to those less than seven per cent slower than the fastest time in the qualifying rounds. A similar rule, defining a floor value at and below which finishers will be awarded a single point would also make points above that floor dependent only on the runner's performance relative to the race winner.
Here's an example, using the same three-runner races shown above, but with the 'floor' set at 50% more than the winning time.
Formula (in row 2, then filled down)
B2: =IF(LEN(A)>0,IF(A>1.5*MIN(A),1,1+(19)*(1.5*MIN(A)-A)/(1.5*MIN(A)-MIN(A))),"")
Copied to column D, the A references are replaced with D.
Conversion to integer values would use the same modifications as shown above.
The results seem a fairer reflection of the second and third place times wrt the winning times in the two races.
B.