A 100% Stacked Area Chart is a built-in Excel chart type, with data plotted as areas and stacked so that the cumulative area always represents 100%. Stacked Area charts can show progression and composition over time, and the 100% Stacked Area Chart is meant to show the percentage that each component contributes when the cumulative total is not important.
In the example above, the number formatting used for percentages is 0% (no decimal places). As a result, the numbers don’t add up to exactly 100 in some cases. To show numbers that do add up to 100, increase the number of decimal places displayed.
Pros
- Can show trends over periods of time
- Can show component contribution changes over time
Cons
- Non-intuitive presentation may be unfamiliar to many
- Hard to read as data series are added
A scatter plot is a built-in chart type in Excel meant to show the relationship between two variables. A scatter plot works by placing one variable on the vertical axis and a different variable on the horizontal axis. Each piece of data is then plotted as a discrete point on the chart. In a scatter plot, both the X and Y axis display values – an XY chart has no category axis.
By convention, the X axis represents arbitrary values that do not depend on another variable, referred to as the independent variable . Y values are placed on the vertical axis, and represent the dependent variable.
Pros
- Can show the relationship of one variable to another
- Visual display of correlation
- Ideal for many types of scientific data
Cons
- Not as well understood as many other chart types
- Suitable only for data where correlation is expected
