Scatter graphs

Scatter graphs show xy data points. Typically you use scatter graphs to show the relationship between two sets of numeric values. Non-numeric values, such as string and DateTime datatypes, do not display correctly.

Scatter graphs do not use categories. Instead, numeric values are plotted along both axes—as opposed to other graphs, which have values along one axis and categories along the other axis.

For example, the following data shows the effect of speed on the mileage of a sedan:

Speed

Mileage

10

12

20

18

30

21

40

23

50

26

60

26

70

24

80

20

Here is the data in a scatter graph:

The graph plots miles per gallon on the value or y axis and Speed on the Category or x axis. Small squares indicate individual data points in a curve that reaches its maximum at 55 to 60 miles per hour.

You can have multiple series of data in a scatter graph. You might want to plot mileage versus speed for several makes of cars in the same graph.