GCSE · Data representation

Bar charts & pie chartsExam-style questions

Why a bar chart carries the frequency in its height while a pie chart carries only the share in its angle — so two identical-looking pies can stand for wildly different numbers — and how to convert between frequency and angle both ways.

Start practising Read the lesson

11 questions · GCSE (Higher) level · mark scheme and worked solution on each · no sign-up to try

DifficultyAll Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5

1
The bar chart shows the number of lunches sold in a school canteen on each of four days.

(a) Write down the number of lunches sold on Wednesday.

(b) Work out the total number of lunches sold over the four days.

(c) The bars on this chart are drawn with gaps between them. Explain why.
Level 3 · 4 marksTry it
2
A pie chart shows how $720$ people travelled to a music festival.

(a) The sector for 'train' has an angle of $150°$ . Work out the number of people who travelled by train.

(b) $96$ of the people cycled. Work out the size of the angle of the sector for 'cycled'.

(c) The organisers also want a diagram showing, side by side, how many people used each type of transport this year and how many used it last year. Explain why a dual (comparative) bar chart would show this better than two pie charts.
Level 3 · 5 marksTry it
3
A kiosk drew a pie chart of the flavours of ice cream it sold one afternoon.

The sector for mint has an angle of $54°$ and represents $12$ ice creams.

(a) Work out the total number of ice creams sold that afternoon.

(b) $30$ of the ice creams sold were vanilla. Work out the size of the angle of the sector for vanilla.
Level 3 · 4 marksTry it