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Line Graph Help

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  1. #1
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    Line Graph Help

    I was doing a logging of data for a battery life test for a laptop.

    I randomly checked on the laptop and recorded the remaining battery% based on the laptops reading and the current time.

    The upper part of this images is those data points.
    \1

    Later on I created the bottom data by multiplying by 1440 to get minutes and then subtracted 635 to get 0 as my starting point.

    So my final 2 data points for my graph are the Battery % and the On Time.

    When I graph them I get a line graph that looks like this:
    \1

    This is not my desired result :/ That sharp drop looks like there was a change in the battery life rate for some reason and its because I was gone for an hour at the park with the kids while the laptop ran. Excel is just mapping the data 1:1 and does not understand that the bottom axis is "time" and that I want it to take the data I gave it and map it over time to give me a average line based on all data. The kind of stuff they made us do all the time in school.

    I feel like excel can do this just that I am not doing something right. I tried to go into the charts axis labeling options and tell it to use a preset interval of say 10 or 20 but it has no effect on the graph at all it just blanks out the axis labels.

    So if you guys understand what I am trying to do, can you help me?

    Thanks.

  2. #2
    Forum Expert mrice's Avatar
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    Re: Line Graph Help

    I suspect that you are using a line graph and you should be using a scatter plot.
    Martin

  3. #3
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    Re: Line Graph Help

    I second mrice's suggestion.

    A line graph can have a time axis, but the smallest unit it can show on that are days. If your units are smaller than days, you should use a XY Scatter chart, which will allow more precise placements of your data points on a time X axis.
    Last edited by npamcpp; 05-13-2012 at 06:42 AM.

  4. #4
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    Re: Line Graph Help

    I'll give it a shot and see what happens, but you understand what I am trying to do right?

    I want the time line to be even pacing. So that the time is constant not jumping directly to the time my data point comes from.

    Edit: Yep it works! Thanks guys. Not sure the logic behind scatter vs line.

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