Pictograph

There are many methods of representing statistical data pictorially. One of them is picture symbols or icons.

Interpreting the picture graph means drawing some conclusions from it.

In graph theory, a “Pictograph” is a graph that represent (numerical) statistical data through pictures symbols or icons. 

A pictograph is one of the simplest way to represent statistical data and pictograph is extremely easy for 
reading the data. Pictographs represent the frequency of data and symbols or icons that are relevant to the data.

Definition:

 A “Pictograph” represents statistical data through pictures and symbols of objects.

A pictograph is also known as a Picture graph or a Pictogram.

Let’s started with an example, which will show how to interpret data and explain in a pictograph.

Example 1: The following picture graph shows the number of cupcakes sold by 6 shops. Observe the Pictograph and answer the following questions.

Questions:

1. Which shop sold maximum number of cupcakes?

2. Which shop sold minimum number of cupcakes?

3. What is the total number of cupcakes sold by all 6 shops?

4. How many more cupcakes are sold by shop A than shop C?

Solution:

1. Shop E sell maximum number of cupcakes. 

Cupcakes sold by shop E = 7, but 1 represents 10 
cupcakes.

∴ Cakes sold by shop E = 7 x 10 = 70.

2. Shop D sold minimum number of cupcakes. 

Cupcakes sold by shop D = 1 = 1 x 10 = 10.

3. Shop C sold 20 cupcakes and shop A sold 50 cupcakes. 

So A sold 30 cupcakes more than C.

4. Total number of cupcakes sold by all 6 shops are 

50 + 30 + 20 + 10 + 70 + 60 = 240.

Example 2: In the below table, number of students present in class 5th to 10th in a day. Draw a pictograph to represent the given data.

Solution:

Example 3: The collection of flowers in different days of a week is shown below. Observe the 
Pictograph and answer the following questions.

Question:

(i) How many flowers collect on Sunday.
(ii) On which of the days minimum number of flowers are collected.
(iii) On which of the day maximum number of flowers are collected.
(iv) On which of the days same number of flowers are collected.
 (v) How many flowers are collected on Sunday to Saturday.

Solution:

(i) 10 flowers collected on Sunday.
(ii) Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday minimum number of flowers are collected.
(iii) Monday maximum number of flowers are collected.
(iv) Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday same number of flowers are collected.
 (v) 55 flowers are collected on Sunday to Saturday.

Example 4: Following pictograph shows the number of apples sold in four villages. Observe the Pictograph and answer the following questions.

Question:
(i) How many apples sold in village A.
(ii) In which village minimum number of apples are sold.
(iii) In which village maximum number of apples are sold.
(iv) In which village same number of apples are sold.
 (v) How many apples are sold in all four villages.

Solution:

(i) 40 apples sold in village A.
(ii) In village B minimum number of apples are sold.
(iii) In village A maximum number of apples are sold.
(iv) There is no any village where same number of apples are sold.
 (v) 100 apples are sold in all four villages.

Example 5: Following pictograph shows the number of cars sold in five villages. Observe the Pictograph and answer the following questions.                                    

Question:
(i) How many cars sold in village A.
(ii) In which village maximum number of cars are sold.
(iii) In which village same number of cars are sold.
 (iv) How many cars are sold in all five villages.

Solution:

(i) 3 cars sold in village A.
(ii) In village D maximum number of cars are sold.
(iii) In village B and E where same number of cars are sold.
(iv) 11 cars are sold in all five villages.

Note: When data are given in large numbers, parts of a symbol does not used for data or it is not applicable to represent the large number of data.

1. Pictograph – Advantage and Disadvantage of a pictograph