#Scatter plot maker series#

In a line chart, category data is distributed evenly along the horizontal axis, and all value data is distributed evenly along the vertical axis. Line charts can display continuous data over time, set against a common scale, and are therefore ideal for showing trends in data at equal intervals or over time.

#Scatter plot maker series#

These charts are useful to show the relationships among the numeric values in several data series, and they can plot two groups of numbers as one series of xy coordinates. Scatter charts are commonly used for displaying and comparing numeric values, such as scientific, statistical, and engineering data. The available scaling options also depend on the type of axis that you use. The scaling options of a category axis are limited compared with the scaling options of a value axis. A date axis displays dates in chronological order at specific intervals or base units, such as the number of days, months, or years, even if the dates on the worksheet are not in order or in the same base units. A text axis displays text only (non-numerical data or numerical categories that are not values) at evenly spaced intervals. To display the numeric values along the horizontal axis with greater flexibility, you can change the scaling options on this axis the same way that you can change the scaling options of a vertical axis.īecause the horizontal axis of a line chart is a category axis, it can be only a text axis or a date axis. Neither of these data points is the first data point displayed in the chart - instead, the first data point for each data series refers to the values in the first data row on the worksheet (cell A2 and B2).īecause the horizontal axis of a scatter chart is always a value axis, it can display numeric values or date values (such as days or hours) that are represented as numerical values. The particulate y value of 137 (cell B9) and the daily rainfall x value of 1.9 (cell A9) are displayed as separate data points in the line chart.

This is a good example of when not to use a line chart.Ī line chart distributes category data evenly along a horizontal (category) axis, and distributes all numerical value data along a vertical (value) axis. Because categories were not provided in the data, they were automatically generated, for example, 1, 2, 3, and so on. The horizontal axis of a line chart only shows evenly spaced groupings (categories) of data. This is because a line chart only has one value axis (the vertical axis). In a line chart, however, the same daily rainfall and particulate values are displayed as two separate data points, which are evenly distributed along the horizontal axis. These numbers represent the values in cell A9 and B9 on the worksheet.

The first data point to appear in the scatter chart represents both a y value of 137 (particulate) and an x value of 1.9 (daily rainfall). These data points may be distributed evenly or unevenly across the horizontal axis, depending on the data.

The chart displays points at the intersection of an x and y numerical value, combining these values into single data points. Often referred to as an xy chart, a scatter chart never displays categories on the horizontal axis.Ī scatter chart always has two value axes to show one set of numerical data along a horizontal (value) axis and another set of numerical values along a vertical (value) axis.

In a scatter chart, the daily rainfall values from column A are displayed as x values on the horizontal (x) axis, and the particulate values from column B are displayed as values on the vertical (y) axis. For example, when you use the following worksheet data to create a scatter chart and a line chart, you can see that the data is distributed differently. The main difference between scatter and line charts is the way they plot data on the horizontal axis.