Creating Circle Graphs

Challenge

In this activity, you will learn how to create a pie chart (pie charts are also referred to as circle graphs) in Excel. You will format the chart and copy it and paste it in a Word document and a PowerPoint slide.

Circle Graphs and Excel

·  Open a blank spreadsheet in Microsoft Excel.

Nutrition Data

All charts in Excel must be generated from data. To step through the process of creating a pie chart, you will use nutritional data for the United States and Asia.

·  In the Excel worksheet, type in the headings and data as shown below:

US
Carbs / 50%
Protein / 25%
Fat / 25%

Creating a Pie Chart

To create a pie chart with the nutrition data:

·  Select cells A2 to B4.

·  From the Insert menu, choose Chart….

·  In the Chart Wizard - Step 1 of 4 - Chart Type dialog box, in the Chart Type: list box, choose Pie.

·  Click Finish.

Formatting the Pie Chart

You can format the pie chart to appear however you want. The steps below provide a few suggestions on formatting the chart.

·  Click on the chart and drag it under cell A6.

·  Right-click on the legend and from the pop-up menu, choose Clear.

·  Click on the pie chart to select the entire chart.

·  Click on the Carbs section.

·  Right-click on the Carbs section and from the pop-up menu, choose Format Data Point….

·  In the Format Data Point dialog box, click the Patterns tab.

·  In the Area section, choose a color that represents carbohydrates.

·  Click the Data Labels tab.

·  In the Data labels section, select Show label and percent.

·  Click OK.

Reposition the Data Label

·  Click on the Data Label and drag it into the Carbs section of the pie chart.

Format the Protein Section

·  Select the Protein section of the pie chart and right-click on it.

·  From the pop-up menu, choose Format Data Point….

·  In the Format Data Point dialog box, click the Patterns tab and in the Area section, choose a color that represents protein.

·  Click the Data Labels tab, and in the Data labels section, select Show label and percent.

·  Click OK.

·  Click on the Data Label and drag it into the Protein section of the pie chart.

·  Repeat the steps above to format the Fat section.

Chart Title

To insert a title for the pie chart:

·  Right-click on the Chart Area and from the pop-up menu, choose Chart Options….

·  In the Chart Options dialog box, click the Titles tab and in the Chart title: text entry box, type US Diet.

·  Click OK.

·  To format the title, right-click on the title and from the pop-up menu, choose Format Chart Title….

·  From the Format Chart Title dialog box, click the Font tab.

·  In the Font Style: list box, choose Bold and in the Size: list box, choose 10.

·  Click OK

Resize the Chart Area

To resize the chart area:

·  Click on the Chart Area.

·  Click on the black handle in the lower right corner of the Chart Area and drag to resize.

Copying the Chart to a Word Document

After you have formatted the chart you can copy it and paste it into a Word document. To copy your chart:

·  Click on the Chart Area.

·  From the Edit menu, choose Copy.

·  Open a blank document in Microsoft Word,

Pasting the Chart in a Word Document

Charts in Excel may change; the data may change, size and color may change. To paste the chart into a Word document so that it will automatically reflect changes made to the chart in Excel:

·  From the Edit menu, choose Paste Special….

·  In the Paste Special dialog box, select Paste link:.

·  In the As: list box, select Microsoft Excel Chart Object.

·  Click OK.

Resizing the Chart in Word

To resize the chart in the Word document:

·  Click on the chart.

·  Click on the black handle in the lower right corner of the chart and drag.

·  Drag the chart to a desired location in the document.

Copying the Chart to a PowerPoint Slide

You can also copy the chart to a PowerPoint slide.

·  Open a blank slide show in Microsoft PowerPoint.

·  Once in Normal view, from the Edit menu, choose Paste Special…. (To get to Normal view, click here.)

·  In the Paste Special dialog box, select Paste link

·  In the As: list box, select Microsoft Excel Chart Object and then click OK.

·  Save the Word and PowerPoint documents in your folder.

Making Changes to the Pie Chart

You will make changes to the pie chart and notice how those changes are reflected in the Word document and PowerPoint slide:

·  Return to the Excel worksheet.

·  Right-click on the pie chart and from the pop-up menu, choose Chart type….

·  In the Chart Type dialog box, click the Standard Types tab.

·  In the Chart sub-type: section, choose a different style.

·  Click OK.

·  Click on the section labels and drag to appropriate locations.

·  Return to the Word document and PowerPoint slide. Notice that the changes made to the chart in Excel have been made to the other charts.

Create Another Pie Chart

To compare the data, you may want to create another pie chart. To create a pie chart showing the Asian Diet:

·  Return to the Excel worksheet.

·  Type in the headings and data as shown:

US / Asia
Carbs / 50% / 60%
Protein / 25% / 20%
Fat / 25% / 20%

·  Select cells A2 to A4.

·  On the keyboard, hold down Ctrl and then select cells C2 to C4.

·  From the Insert menu, choose Chart….

·  In the Chart Wizard - Step 1 of 4 - Chart Type dialog box, in the Chart Type: list box, choose Pie.

·  Click Finish.

·  Format the chart so that it is formatted the same as the pie chart for US Diet.

·  Copy and paste the chart into the Word document.

Write an Analysis

Write a short paragraph that describes the data represented in the pie charts. Consider the following:

·  What is the same about the US and Asian diets? What is different?

·  Can you tell from the pie charts which country has a healthier diet?

·  Is the pie chart a good way to represent this data?

·  How would your own diet compare?