For two equal sized vectors, how to create a new vector containing the max (or min) of either vector at each index?

Question

If I have the following two equal sized vectors,

x <- c(1,2,3,4,5)

y <- c(5,4,3,2,1)

I would like to compare x and y at every corresponding index and return another vector of the same size containing the maximum (or minimum) at each index, so the third vector would return

5 4 3 4 5