Graph and types of Graph
Why use graphs to present data?
• Quick and direct
• Highlight most important facts
• Easy to understand
• Convince the reader
• Easy to remember
A good graph
• accurately shows the facts
• grabs the reader's attention
• complements or demonstrates arguments presented in the text
• has a title and labels
• is simple and uncluttered
• shows data without altering the message of the data
• clearly shows any trends or differences in the data
• is visually accurate (i.e., if one chart value is 15 and another 30, then 30 should appear to be
twice the size of 15).
Graph
• Graphs are effective visual tools because they present information quickly and easily. It is not
surprising then, that graphs are commonly used by print and electronic media. Sometimes, data
can be better understood when presented by a graph than by a table because the graph can
reveal a trend or comparison.
• Students also find that graphs are easy to use because graphs are made up of lines, dots and
blocks—all geometric forms that are simple and quick for students to draw.
• In the world of statistics, graphs display the relationship between variables or show the value
spread of a given variable or phenomenon.
• What is a graph?
• A graph is a visual representation of a relationship between, but not restricted to, two variables.
A graph generally takes the form of a one- or two-dimensional figure such as a scatter plot.
Although, there are three-dimensional graphs available, they are usually considered too
complex to understand easily.
• A graph commonly consists of two axes called the x-axis (horizontal) and y-axis (vertical). Each
axis corresponds to one variable. The axes are labelled with different names, such
as Price and Quantity.
• The place where the two axes intersect is called the origin. The origin is also identified as the
point (0,0).
Identifying the x-co-ordinate
The x-co-ordinate of a point is the value that tells you how far the point is from the origin on the
(horizontal) x-axis. In order to find the x-co-ordinate of a point on any graph, draw a straight line from
the point to intersect at a right angle with the x-axis. The number where the line intersects with the x-
axis is the value of the x-co-ordinate.
Figure 2 is a graph with two points, A and B. Identify the x-co-ordinate of points A and B.
Answer: The x-co-ordinate of point A is 50, and the x-co-ordinate of point B is 200.
Identifying the y-co-ordinate
The y-co-ordinate of a point is the value that tells you how far away the point is from the origin on the
vertical or y-axis. To find the y-co-ordinate of a point on a graph, draw a straight line from the point to
intersect at a right angle with the y-axis. The number where the line intersects the y-axis is the value of
the y-co-ordinate.
Identify the y-co-ordinate for point A and point B on Figure 3.
Answer: The y-co-ordinate of point A is 200, and the y-co-ordinate of point B is 50
Identifying points on a graph
Once you have determined the co-ordinates of a point, you can label the points using ordered pair
notation. This notation is simple—points are identified by stating their co-ordinates in the form of (x, y).
Note that you must plot the x-co-ordinate first as in Figure 2. The x- and y-co-ordinates for each of
points A and B are identified in Figure 4 below.
The x-co-ordinate of point A is 50 and the y-co-ordinate of point A is 200. The co-ordinates of point A are
therefore (50, 200).
The x-co-ordinate of point B is 200 and the y-co-ordinate of point B is 50. The co-ordinates of point B are
therefore (200, 50)
Plotting points on a graph
There are times when you will be given the coordinates of a point and will need to find its location on a
graph. This process is often referred to as plotting a point. The process for plotting a point is shown
below.
Plot the point (200, 150) using the following step-by-step approach.
Step 1
First, draw a perpendicular line extending out from the x-axis at the x-co-ordinate of the point. In the
example, the x-co-ordinate is at 200.
Step 2
Then, draw a perpendicular line extending out from the y-axis at the y-co-ordinate of the point, the y-co-
ordinate is at 150.
Step 3
Draw a dot where the two lines intersect. This is the point we are plotting (200, 150).
