PIE CHARTS & BAR GRAPHS

Lets take a look at the difference between pie charts and bar graphs, and how to interpret each. Pie Charts A pie chart is a way of summarizing a set of categorical data. A pie chart is a circular chart divided into a series of segments illustrating proportion. Each segment represents a particular category. The area of each segment is the same proportion of the circle as the category is of the total data set. It is named for its resemblance to a pie which has been sliced. A display of a typical pie chart is below:

_______________________________________________________________________ Example: Create a pie chart displaying the percentage breakdown of the ingredients used to bake a cake. For our cake, 60% is cake mix, 5% eggs, 10% milk, 4% oil and 21% icing. Solution:

_______________________________________________________________________ Bar Graph A bar graph (or bar chart) is a graph with rectangular bars (plotted either vertically or horizontally) with lengths proportional to the values that they represent. Bar graphs are used for plotting discrete data (not continuous data). Discrete data is data whose possible values are isolated points on the number line. For example, data such as the number of children in families

or the number of fish caught by fishermen is discrete data. In contrast, continuous data is data such as length or weight, which, in theory, can be measured to any degree of accuracy. A display of a typical bar graph is below:

or _______________________________________________________________________ Example: Create a bar graph displaying the amount of fruit sold in one day at a certain small grocery store. 137 apples were sold, 53 oranges, 23 pears, and 12 pineapples. Solution:

________________________________________________________________________ Example: Create a bar graph displaying the amount of fruit sold in two days at a certain small grocery store. On day 1: 137 apples were sold, 53 oranges, 23 pears, and 12 pineapples. On day 2: 143 apples were sold, 32 oranges, 43 pears, and 8 pineapples. Solution:

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