Bar Chart

Also add — Properties of Bar Chart, Uses of Bar Chart, here also add - how to read a bar chart 

A bar chart, also called a bar graph, is a visual representation of numerical data using rectangular bars. Each bar has the same width but different heights, depending on the values they represent. Bar charts are widely used in statistics to organize data effectively.

Bar charts are unique and different from other types of charts due to the following properties:
 

• Bar charts use rectangular bars that are drawn either vertically or horizontally.
   
• Every bar chart must have equal space and width between each bar. 
   
• The height of a bar chart must be equal to the data it is representing .
   
• A bar chart always has two axes, the x-axis and the y-axis.

Some uses of a bar chart are: 
We use bar charts to compare between different categories of data. It is easy and convenient to understand the data.
Bar charts are used to show large data which makes it a good time saving tool.
It helps understand the patterns of data over a long time.

Now you know what bar charts are used for and the properties of bar charts. Let us now learn how to read a bar chart:

First, we look at the title of the chart, as this tells you what the bar chart is all about.

• Check the axes, the x-axis will tell you what the categories are and the y-axis represents the values or numbers.
   
• Now read the bars, each bar’s height or length represents the value of the category.
   
• Compare each bar, if the bar is taller than represents a higher value and the shorter bars represents a lower value. 

We know how to read bar charts, so let us now look into how to create a bar chart. The steps to create a bar chart are as follows:

Step 1: On the graph, write the title of the bar chart. For example,“ Favorite subject in class”.


Step 2: Draw the x-axis (horizontal) and the y-axis (vertical).


Step 3: Label the axes. The X-axis can be labeled as Favorite subjects and the Y-axis can be labeled as the Number of students.


Step 4: Label the subjects such as math, physics, biology, etc. on the horizontal axis.


Step 5: Write the scale on the vertical axis equivalent to the given data.


Step 6: Draw the rectangular bars with equal gaps. The height will be equal to the data represented.

When it comes to bar charts, we have a few different types. Here are some of the types of bar charts that we use:
 

• Horizontal Bar Charts — When data is represented via horizontal lines on graphs, these are called horizontal bar charts. In this type of bar chart, we represent the categories on the x-axis and y-axis.
  The y-axis shows the representation of data horizontally.
   
• Vertical Bar Charts — The commonly used bar charts where the data is represented vertically. The bars are drawn vertically on the x-axis.
   
• Vertical (or Horizontal) Grouped Bar Charts — Also known as the clustered bar charts. It represents discrete values for two or more categories that contain data. Each category is represented using different colors. 
   
• Vertical (or Horizontal) Stacked Bar Charts — Stacked bar charts or composite bar charts show the division of the whole bar chart into different parts. To easily identify the categories in graphs we use different colors and labels

Bar charts and histograms are often confused with one another, they both use bars to represent data. Here are a few differences between bar charts and histograms:

 

Bar charts are widely used in the real world as it is an effective way to compare data. Here are a few real-life applications of bar charts:
 

• Population comparison: Governments use bar charts to compare populations between cities or countries.
  
   
• Statistics of sports: Team managers and sports analysts use bar charts to compare players’ performance over a season.
  
   
• Website Traffic Analysis: Digital marketers track trends that could help in optimizing marketing efforts by identifying peak traffic days.