St e m - an d - Leaf Pl o t s
A stem -and-leaf plot is a display of data th at uses th e digits of th e d ata values. To
m ake a stem -and-leaf plot, separate each n u m b e r into a stem an d a leaf. A stem
an d leaf for the n u m b e r 2.39 is show n at th e right.
You can use a stem -an d -leaf plot to organize data. The data below describe the
price for the sam e n otebook at several stores.
N otebook Prices: $2.39 $2.47 $2.43 $2.21 $2.33 $2.28 $2.26
all digits
to the le ft of
last d ig it
last
'd ig it
— 2.3 | 9 '
I t
stem leaf
2.2 1 6 8
Use the firs t tw o 2.3^39
d ig its fo r the "s te m s ." 2.4 3 7
Use th e corresponding last
digits for the "leaves."
A rrange th e num bers in order.
Key: 2.4 | 3 means 2.43
You can use a back-to-back stem -an d -leaf plot to display two related d ata sets. The
stem s are b etw een two vertical bars, an d th e leaves are on each side. Leaves are
in increasing order from the stems. In th e back-to-back stem -an d -leaf p lot below,
3 14 11 represents a com m ute tim e of 43 m in in Town A a n d a co m m u te tim e of
41 m in in Town B.
r i
Daily Commute (min)
Town A Town B
6 6 4 3 4 1 1 4 5 7
9 8 6 4 4 4 5 0 2 2 2 4
5 2 1 0 6 4 5 8 9
8 7 6 6 4 2 7 3 6 7 9 9 9
Key: 7 3 means 73
2 7 | 3
2 7 means 72
,Y:;c
Ex e r c i se s
Make a stem -and-leaf plot for each set of data.
1. 18 35 28 15 36 10 25 22 15
3. 785 776 788 761 768 768 785
2. 18.6 18.4 17.6 15.7 15.3 17.5
4. 0.8 0.2 1.4 3.5 4.3 4.5 2.6 2.2
5. Make a back-to-back stem -an d -leaf plot of th e test scores
of the two classes below.
Class A: 98 78 85 72 94 81 68 83
Class B: 87 91 79 75 90 81 82 100
c
PowerAlgebra.com Skills H andbook 813