In addition to chart types, you'll need to understand how to read a chart. Charts contain several different elements—or parts—that can help you interpret data.
Identifying the parts of a chart
In addition to chart types, you'll need to understand how to read a chart. Charts contain several different elements—or parts—that can help you interpret data.
Click the buttons in the interactive below to learn about the different parts of a chart.
- Chart Title: The title should clearly describe what the chart is illustrating
- Vertical Axis: The vertical axis (also known as the y axis) is the vertical part of the chart. Here, the vertical axis measures the value of the columns. In this example, the measured value is each genre's total sales.
- Horizontal Axis: The horizontal axis (also known as the x axis) is the horizontal part of the chart. Here, the horizontal axis identifies the categories in the chart. In this example, each genre is placed in its own group.
- Legend: The legend identifies which data series each color on the chart represents. In this example, the legend identifies the different months in the chart.
- Data Series: The data series consists of the related data points in a chart. In this example, as we can see in the legend, the yellow columns represent net sales in February.