Idiot\'s Guides Basic Math and Pre-Algebra

268 Part 4: The State of the World

Each town is going to be represented by a wedge of the circle, and the size of that wedge should

be the same fraction of the circle. To make sure it’s right, you need to find the number of

degrees for each fraction of the circle and then get a protractor to measure the angles correctly.

(Computer software can do a lot of the work for you, but it’s good to know how to do it by hand.)

Multiply the fraction of the school times 360 to find the number of degrees in each wedge, and

then carefully divide the circle, using a protractor.

Home Towns of County High Students

Town Number of Students Fraction of the School Number of degrees

Arlington 274 2055274 = 152 152 360 ^48

Buxton 685 2055685 =^1313360 ^120

Carleton 137 2055137 = 151 151 360 ^24

Dover 411 2055411 =^1515360 ^72

Eatontown 548 2055548 = 154 4

15

360  96

The final circle graph should look like this.

Colors can help to emphasize the different

wedges, but the drawing and the labels

should be clear enough to make the infor-

mation clear without colors.

County High Enrollment by Town

Carleton, 137

Arlington,

274

Dover, 411

Eatontown, 548

Buxton, 685