Circle graphs and Venn diagrams are types of graphs that can be used to show relationships within a data set or between data sets. In this section, you will explore how to interpret and use circle graphs.

Circle Graphs

Source: w:en:User:Nv8200p, Mansfield Dam.gif, Wikimedia Commons

The Lower Colorado River Authority maintains a chain of six reservoirs, or man-made lakes, along the Colorado River. These six reservoirs are collectively called the Texas Highland Lakes and are very important sources of drinking water for people who live in Central Texas and farmers throughout the Colorado River valley. These lakes are also great places for summer fun!

The table shows the capacity, when full, of each of the six lakes in acre-feet. An acre-foot is an amount of water that will cover 1 acre of land to a depth of 1 foot. Think of it as a square prism with a base area of 1 acre and a height of 1 foot.

Before making a circle graph of these data, answer the following questions.

• From the data in the table, which lake has the largest capacity? How do you know?
  
  Interactive popup. Assistance may be required.

  Check Your Answer

  Lake Travis, since its capacity is the only one greater
  than 1,000,000 acre-feet
• What is a reasonable estimate of the total capacity of the Texas Highland Lakes?
  
  Interactive popup. Assistance may be required.

  Need a hint?

  What operation does the clue word “total” suggest? Interactive popup. Assistance may be required.

  Check Your Answer

  Since we need a reasonable estimate, we may round to the nearest thousand. The total capacity can be found by adding the capacities of the six lakes together. 876,000 + 133,000 + 7,000 + 1,135,000 + 14,000 + 25,000 = 2,190,000 acre-feet
• About what percent of the total capacity does Lake Travis, a major source of drinking water in Central Texas, hold?
  
  Interactive popup. Assistance may be required.

  Need a hint?

  Divide the capacity of Lake Travis by the total capacity, and then convert to a percent. Because the question asks “about,” you may use an estimate with rounded values to make the arithmetic easier. Interactive popup. Assistance may be required.

  Check Your Answer

  Since we need a reasonable estimate, we may round to the nearest thousand.
  Capacity of Lake Travis over Total Capacity Capacity of Lake Travis Total Capacity ≈ 1,135,000 over 2,190,000 1,135,000 2,190,000 ≈ 52%

The following table contains the data from the previous table in a format that will make it easy to copy and paste into the circle graph builder interactive.

Click the image below to open a circle graph generator in a new window.

• Copy the data from the Capacity of Texas Highland Lakes table above and paste it into the data box in the circle graph generator.
• Be sure to give the graph an appropriate title.
• Click the Plot/Update button to view your line graph.

Need additional directions?

Which two lakes hold the most capacity in the Texas Highland Lakes system?

Need a hint?

Which two slices of the circle graph are the largest?

Check Your Answer

Lake Travis and Lake Buchanan

Which lake holds more than half of the total capacity of the Texas Highland Lakes system? How can you tell?

Need a hint?

Which slices of the circle graph is larger than a semicircle?

Check Your Answer

Lake Travis, because its slice is larger than half of a circle.

How does the circle graph help you to see the relative size of each part of the system at a glance?

Need a hint?

What does each slice of the circle graph represent?

Check Your Answer

The size of each slice of the circle represents the fraction (or percent) of the system that each individual lake holds. The circle graph as a whole lets you quickly see how the size of each slice compares to the sizes of the others.

Practice

1. The United Kingdom is composed of England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Wales. The table shows the population of each of these four countries.
   

   Population of the United Kingdom
   Country	Population (millions)
   England	52.23
   Northern Ireland	1.80
   Scotland	5.22
   Wales	3.01

    

   Which of the following circle graphs best displays this data?

   
   Interactive popup. Assistance may be required.

   Need a hint?

   Look for benchmarks such as quarter circles or half circles. Interactive popup. Assistance may be required.

   Check Your Answer

   Graph D