How do I show range of data in an area chart?

[slycke]

I am trying to show various toxins across the bottom of a chart, and ranges
(from 0.001 to 1,000,000) on the left-hand side...OR whatever will work. I
have ppb-PID (0.01-1,000), IR (0.50-1,500), Electrochem (0.1-1,005), ppm-PID
(0.1-10,000), FID (0.75-50,000), Tubes (1-150,000), LEL (1.5-100,000), Oxygen
(1,000-150,000), and TC (10,000-1,000,000) and can't seem to find anyway to
portray CORRECTLY what I want to show. Thought perhaps a bar graph, then
thought probably an area chart would work--but I can't figure out how to
enter the ranges, since they're all different and don't have the same
starting point. Would appreciate any help--I've been wracking my brain for
days!

 

[Jon Peltier]

I would use a floating column (or bar) chart, not an area chart. You
could do a floating area chart, but the sloping lines would give the
false impression of linkage and possible interpolation between adjacent
categories. The data should be listed like this:

MIN RANGE
ppb-PID 0.01 999.99
IR 0.50 1499.50
Echem 0.1 1004.9
etc

Create a stacked column (bar) chart. Double click on the MIN series, and
on the Patterns tab, choose None for fill and for border, so it's
invisible. Now double click the value axis, and on the Scale tab, check
the Logarithmic Scale box.

For an illustrated example of a floating column chart, see this page:

http://peltiertech.com/Excel/Charts/FloatingColumns.html

- Jon
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Jon Peltier, Microsoft Excel MVP
Peltier Technical Services
Tutorials and Custom Solutions
http://PeltierTech.com/
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