Consider the set {4, 5, 7, 7, 8, 8, 12, 13, 13, 15, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26, 27, 27, 37, 43}. What would be an appropriate interval to make a histogram with the data?

1 Answer
Oct 9, 2016

The appropriate interval is #4 - 11#, #12 - 19#, #20 - 27#, #28 - 35#, and #36 - 43#.

Explanation:

To find the appropriate interval, you need to know how large the range of elements in the set is. To find this range, subtract the number just below the smallest element of the set from the largest element of the set.

#43 - 3 = 40#
Therefore, the range of elements that will be illustrated in the histogram is 40.

Now, you need to know the square root of the number of elements in the set. This set has 19 elements. The #sqrt 19 ~~ 4.4#. Because it is much more convenient to use a whole number, round up to 5. This tells us we will have 5 intervals. Each #40 -: 5 = 8#, each interval will have a width of 8.

The intervals for the histogram will be:
#4 - 11#, #12 - 19#, #20 - 27#, #28 - 35#, and #36 - 43#.