PLOTTING DATA FROM A CHART

When we work in a lab, especially in a Physics lab, we measure magnitudes. A

magnitude is everything that can be measured: lengths, time intervals, forces, angles,
speeds, are magnitudes. Happiness, love, disgust are not magnitudes.

Many times magnitudes are related to each other in such a way that changing one of
them, the other one changes in a very specific way. The faster the speed of a car, the
sooner it will drive you home. If you walk twice as fast you will move twice as far from
the starting point. We say that one of the magnitudes is a function of the other one: the
distance you move is a function of (depends on) the time you were moving. It also
depends on how fast you walked. The cost of heating some water to the boil, depends
on the mass of water you want to heat, its starting temperature, the power of the gas
flame, the time it took, and of course on the money you have to pay for each m3 of gas.

When scientists want to investigate about how a magnitude changes when another one
varies, they must be very careful to keep all other possible variables unchanged. That
makes our experiment valid.

The results of an experiment are reported in a chart or in a graph or plot.

RESULTS CAN BE SHOWN IN CHARTS

A chart will show the results of a set of experiments in an ordered sequence. Most times
each row (horizontal line) corresponds to the first, the second, the third, etc. experiment
and each column to the different variables or conditions that are been studied, the last
column showing the results. Columns must have a heading (“title”): the name or symbol
of the variable and the unit used for measuring it. A chart can also have columns that
show further information or some calculations made with the data you have obtained for
that particular experiment.
Suppose you are investigating about the time it takes to dissolve completely 10 g of salt
in 100 g of water at different temperatures. Your chart should look like this one:

Experiment Temperature Time (s)

Nr (°C)
1 20 145
2 30 120
3 40 85
4 50 68
5 60 44

The chart shows that the time taken depends on the temperature of the solvent (water).
Moreover, it decreases as the temperature grows higher. We say that this time is a
function of the temperature. You will study about functions in maths.

CHANGING A CHART INTO A GRAPH

To plot or draw a graph is to represent the information above visually. In physics and
chemistry, line graphs are by far the most vastly used. In the previous experiment you
have studied how to variables are related. you changed the water temperature and the
time changed “automatically”. The temperature in the case was the independent variable
(the one you arbitrarily changed) and the time the dependent variable. The independent
variable is represented along a horizontal line or axis and the different times are
represented along a vertical axis at right angles to the first one. These are frequently
called a pair of “Cartesian axes” or “Cartesian coordinates” or “orthogonal (right
angles) axes”.
Both axes are properly labelled with the name of the magnitude you are representing
and the unit that is being used. Next, a scale must be chosen to represent your
information. To do this, the axes are divided into regular intervals from a starting value
(say zero) at the intercept between them. The size of the intervals must be set, so that all
of your values can be included in the graph occupying at least an 80% of the total length
of the axis. The marks are assigned increasing values of the magnitude they represent:
Equal segments represent equal changes in the magnitude. Remember you are drawing
the axes and not yet the values you have obtained.

Graph paper (marked in mm) or squared paper are most convenient for plotting
purposes. Always use pencil for drawing graphs and never a pen or ball pen.

To plot the data you have recorded in the chart, you should follow the following
instructions

1- Draw the pair of Cartesian axes (two perpendicular

lines). The axes should be sized about 10 to 30 squares
long on each direction. In some cases longer axes can
be used but this is an adequate size for most purposes.
Smaller graphs are confusing and bigger are usually
anti aesthetic. The point at which both axes meet is
called the “origin” of the axes.

2- Write on the horizontal axis the symbol or name and

the unit of the independent variable (the one you
change freely) in this case “temperature / °C” and on
the vertical axis the name or symbol and the unit for
the other variable (the one that changes as a
consequence of your changing the first one) in this
case “time / seconds”

3- Draw the scales on the X axis. This is the most difficult thing about plotting.
Your data have to fix in the plot and don’t look too crowded at the same time.
Follow the following instructions:

 The origin is labelled “0”

 The first square should be labelled 1, 2 or 5 or

any multiple or sub multiple of these numbers.
(0.01 or 0.5 or 20 or 500) This is to make your
scale easy to work with.
  All other squares are equivalent: they represent the same interval or
change in the variable.

 The scale should be chosen so that you can draw the highest data you
have.

 Do the same for the Y axis.

Remember that the X and Y scales can be absolutely different. In our example, the
maximum temperature found is 60º. If the scale had been chosen so that 1 sq = 1ª we
should have used 60 sq! Too many! If it had been chosen as 10º the graph will look
too narrow (we would be using 6 sq. in a scale with more than 20 sq.) An
appropriate choice would be 2º or 5º. Squares will be marked: 2 4 6 8 10 12 and so
on, or 5 10 15 20 25 and so on up to 60 or 70.

Follow the same procedure for the Y axis. In this example we have labelled the Y
axes from 40 onwards. You can do this if your points start at a value far from the
“0” point and never go down. Start at a point slightly below your lowest
measurement.

4- Now draw a small cross at each of the points

defined by the chart with the data you have
previously recorded, e. g. for the third
experiment the cross (x) must be drawn where a
horizontal line drawn from time = 93 seconds
intercepts a vertical line drawn from the point at
40 °C in the temperature axis.

5- Join the points with a smooth line (no angles). If there is a point absolutely out
of the general trend don’t take it in account. It must be a mistake.

6- If a sequence of points show like this: 85 – 85.5 – 85 – 85.5 – 86 -85.5 don’t

draw a wavy line but draw a smooth line crossing an “average” position.
See how clearly the decrease of the time with increasing temperature is shown! You can
immediately infer that a point was not properly determined and the experiment can be
repeated for checking that nothing odd is happening. In case that the mischievous point
insists on being “there”, you should repeat the whole experiment. If the anomaly
persists, well … Start risking hypotheses about what’s going on and try them with new
experiments!!

Exercises.

The chart shows the solubility in water of two different substances (A and B ) Plot the
data in two separate graphs.

Temperature 0°C 10°C 20°C 30°C 40°C 50°C 60°C 70°C 80°C 90° 100°C

Solubility
0.56 0.56 0.67 0.78 0.91 1.1 1.32 1.72
(g/l) A

Solubility
60 66.7 73.9 81.8 88.7 96.0 106 120 132 153 160
(g/l) B

The following chart shows the stretching of a spring because of a pulling force
Plot them.

Stretch. Force
(dm) (N)
0.093 0.24
0.225 0.49
0.415 0,98
0.588 1.23
0.710 1,47