Pictographs

What Is a Pictograph?

The pictograph meaning can be explained as the way to represent data by depicting it through images is known as a pictograph. Every image is representing a number of something or units of the data. The representation of the data can be in the form of symbols or pictures.

This is a basic pictograph example.

This is an example which shows the data of a number of red boxes sold on each day of the week.

Some examples of Pictograph in Maths can be: 

Example 1: 

The data shows the number of apples sold individually in the months of April and May.

We can represent this data in the following manner by using a pictograph: 

Here one represents 5 apples. 

Example 2: 

The data shows the number of ice creams sold by shops A, B and C. 

We can represent this data in the following manner by using a pictograph: 

Here, one represents 6 ice creams. 

Example 3: 

We can represent this data in the following manner by using a pictograph: 

Here, represents 1000 cars.

Pictographs and problem sums 

Pictographs can also be a part of certain problem sums.  

Example 4: 

We have data on the flavour of ice-creams sold by Shop ABC in one day. 

Let us make a pictograph to understand this situation and answer the questions beneath: 

Let us try to interpret the information given in the data by answering some questions: 

1. Which is the best-selling flavour of ice cream at Shop ABC? 

Ans) Chocolate is the best-selling flavour of ice cream at Shop ABC.

2. Which is the least-selling flavour of ice cream at Shop ABC? 

Ans) Strawberry is the least-selling flavour of ice cream at Shop ABC.

3. What is the total number of ice creams sold in a day? 

Ans) the total number of ice creams sold is 33.

Different methods of pictorial representation

There are various other methods for representing data through pictorial ways. They are bar graphs, line charts or line graphs and pie charts.

1. Bar Graph 

A bar graph is a very simple graph which is used to compare different entities.  It is very easy to show the changes in some properties of a subject over time using a bar graph. They are widely used in the industry today for presentations and reports. They allow identifying different trends and patterns of the data from their bar graphs.

Let us take an example to understand the bar graph: 

This data can be plotted in a bar graph as follows: 

2. Line Graph 

It is also known as a line chart and is used to understand the change in the value of something over a period of time. The data is plotted as data points in the (x, y) format. It has two axes. The horizontal axis and the vertical axis. It is a straight line connected by data points. It is commonly used to make forecasts and predictions in the industry today. 

This is an example of a line chart or a line graph

3. Pie chart 

A pie chart is a circular representation of data depicting a pie. It is divided into slices to represent the numbers and their proportions in the whole data. Generally, they are used for representing percentage data. They can summarize a large amount of data and depict it in a visual manner easily.

Example: It is a depiction of the number of animals of each type on a farm.

Do You Know

1. Pictographs were used by many ancient cultures for their writing systems. As a matter of fact, many languages have a direct line of descent from pictographs. 

2. Pictographs are widely used as ideograms and memory aids.