A bar graph has spaces between the bars, while a histogram does not. A histogram often shows the frequency that an event occurs within the defined range. It shows you how many times that event happens.

For example, a histogram detailing the frequency of heights of pitchers in professional baseball will have an x-axis of height and a y-axis of frequency.

For example, the average height of a professional baseball pitcher is 6’2”, but there will obviously be exceptions. Because the ranges of height will likely be between 5’6” and mid 6’6”, the bins should only vary by about an inch or two. Another note on the ranges: the very first group may range from 5’6” to 5’8”, but it does not include 5’8”. Each group includes everything up to the beginning of the next group. [5] X Research source

For example, looking at the histogram, the number of players in the range of 6’0” to just under 6’2” is 50.

For example, let’s say you had 10 data points of the weight of cows on your farm: 1150, 1400, 1100, 1600, 1800, 1550, 1750, 1350, 1400, and 1300. These weights vary by hundreds of pounds, so you want your bins to vary by hundreds of pounds as well. Set bins every 200 pounds, starting at 1100 pounds going up to 1900 pounds. 1100-1300, 1300-1500, 1500-1700, 1700-1900 for a total of 4 bins.

Remember, if the value is equal to the boundary of a bin, it falls in the bin to the right. [9] X Research source For example, let’s say you had 10 data points of the weight of cows on your farm: 1150, 1400, 1100, 1600, 1800, 1550, 1650, 1350, 1400, and 1300. Sorting them into ascending order: 1100, 1150, 1300, 1350, 1400, 1400, 1550, 1600, 1650, 1800 Divide them into bins: 1100, 1150| 1300, 1350, 1400, 1400| 1550, 1600, 1650| 1800 Count the frequencies: Bin 1: 2, Bin 2: 4, Bin 3: 3, Bin 4: 1

For the weight of cows example, the x-axis will range from 1100- 1900 in increments of 200; the scale of the y-axis will range from 1 to 4 in increments of 1. The first bin, 1100-1300, has a frequency of 2, so draw a bar up to 2 and color it in. Directly next to the first bar, draw the second bar for the second bin which has a frequency of 4. The third bar goes up to 3 and the final bar goes up to 1.

For the example, the x-axis will be labeled something like “Weight of Cows in Pounds” and the y-axis will be labeled “Frequency”.