Bar diagrams

A bar diagram (also called a column diagram) shows values as bars. The bars must have equal width and equal spacing; shade or colour them to tell them apart.

Kinds of bar diagram:

• Simple bars: one bar for each value, such as the monthly rainfall of a city.
• Line and bar: two variables with two Y-axes, such as temperature as a line and rainfall as bars on the same graph.
• Multiple bars: two or more bars side by side for each year, to compare, such as the literacy of the total, male and female population.
• Compound (component) bars: one bar divided into parts, to show the components of a total, such as thermal, hydro and nuclear power within total electricity generation.

Side by side to compare, stacked to show the parts.