What is a Pictograph?

A Pictograph is a diagram or a figure representing data through pictures.

For example, below is a pictograph showing the number of books in a cupboard.

Pictograph example 1

Each row represents different shelves of the cupboard, and every picture of a book represents a single book. From this representation of data we get the following information:

A pictograph not only helps to interpret the given data but also helps to answer the questions related to it very easily.

For example, looking at the pictograph we can know that the maximum number of books are in row 4. Or we can find the total number of books in the cupboard as 22.

This shows that it is easier to understand a given situation or data with the help of pictures. In fact, pictographs give us the flexibility of representing large quantities of an item with a single picture of it.

Let us understand this with an example.

The pictograph below represents the number of wristwatches manufactured on different days of the week.

Pictograph example 2

1. On which day was the maximum number of wristwatches manufactured?

2. On which day were the minimum number of wristwatches manufactured?
3. How many watches were manufactured on Wednesday?
4. What is the total number of wristwatches manufactured in a week?

Solution:

As per the given information, a picture of a complete wristwatch represents 100 wristwatches. This means the picture of a half wristwatch represents 50 wristwatches.

• Maximum number of wristwatches manufactured on Friday
• Minimum number of wristwatches manufactured on Wednesday
• The number of watches manufactured on Wednesday is 200
• Total number of wristwatches manufactured in a week

= 600 + 750 + 200 + 600 + 1050 + 550 = 375