Histograms

Objective To be able to interpret histograms fully

Interpreting Histograms.
If you are presented with data in histogram form, then it can be useful to construct the information that would have been in the frequency table. This enables you to find out the frequency for each class and the total sample size. 10 9 8 frequency density 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 116
Recorded Speeds of Cars on a Motorway

From the histogram find: 1.The frequency for each class interval.

Area = class width x frequency density

2. The total sample size.

30 x 0.8 = 24 20 x 5.8 = 116 30 x 8.5 = 255

255 Sample size = 443

40 x 1.2 = 48

Remember: The frequency for 48 24 each class is simply 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120 the area of its bar. Speed mph

Example Question 1:The histogram shows the distances walked by some ramblers on the Lake District at the weekend. How many ramblers were in the sample?

Distance Walked by Ramblers Area = class width x frequency density

Remember: The frequency for each class is simply the area of its bar. 1x4=4 1x3=3

frequency density

2 4 1

3 x 4 = 12

12
6 6

2x3=6 3x2=6

Sample size = 31 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Distance (Miles) 9 10

Question 2: The histogram shows the heights of plants as measured by Clare in a green house at a local garden centre. How many did she measure in total?

1.0 0.9 0.8 0.7 frequency density 0.6 14 0.4 0.3 5 0.2 0.1

Heights of Plants Area = class width x frequency density

Remember: The frequency for each class is simply the area of its bar. 10 x 0.5 = 5 20 x 0.7 = 14 15 x 0.6 = 9

0.5 9 20 Plants measured = 54 6

25 x 0.8 = 20 30 x 0.2 = 6

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 height (cm)

Interpreting Histograms
Question 3: The histogram shows the speed of cars on a motorway. Use the key to calculate the frequency for each class interval and the total sample size. Recorded Speeds of Cars on a Motorway

key = 10 cars 0.2

3 x 10 = 30 11.2 x 10 = 112 25.5 x 10 = 255 4.8 x 10 = 48

Sometimes a key may be given rather than a scaled frequency density axis.

We simply count the squares using the key to find the area of each bar.

112

Keys
255

Sample size = 445

48

Remember: The frequency for each class is simply the area of its bar.

30

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120 Speed mph

Question 4: The histogram shows the distances walked by some ramblers in the Yorkshire Dales at the weekend. How many ramblers were in the sample?

Distance Walked by Ramblers key = 5 ramblers 0.2

Remember: The frequency for each class is simply the area of its bar. 8 x 5 = 40 5.4 x 5 = 27

2 7 4 0

19.2 x 5 = 96

96
58

11.6 x 5 = 58 4.8 x 5 = 24 24 9 10

Sample size = 245 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Distance (Miles)