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Charts
A chart is a picture of numbers. Different charts make different things easy to see.
The same data, three ways
Tweak the values — every chart updates.
A
12
B
8
C
15
D
6
E
10
Bar
Pie
Line
Three workhorses
- Bar chart — compares amounts. Easy to spot who has the most.
- Pie chart — shows parts of a whole. Best when slices are clearly different.
- Line chart — shows change over time or sequence.
Pick the right chart
If you're comparing categories (like fruit sales), use bars. If you're showing percentages of a whole (like budget breakdown), use a pie. If you're showing a trend (like temperature by hour), use a line.
Reading a chart well
- Look at the axes and units first. Don't trust shapes — trust the scale.
- Watch out for axes that don't start at 0 — they exaggerate differences.
- 3D pie charts distort the angles. Flat is fairer.
Histograms vs bar charts
A histogram looks like a bar chart but the bars touch. It groups continuous data (like heights) into ranges. A bar chart shows discrete categories (like colors).