MEGA Elementary Education Multi-Content Practice Test

What type of chart would be best for comparing percentages of different categories?

1. Line graph

2. Bar graph

3. Pie chart

4. Histogram

The correct answer is: Pie chart

A pie chart is particularly well-suited for comparing percentages of different categories because it visually represents parts of a whole. Each slice of the pie corresponds to a category's percentage, allowing viewers to easily see the relative sizes of each category in relation to the total. This makes it straightforward to understand how each category contributes to the overall distribution. In contrast, while bar graphs can also display categorical data and allow for comparison, they are better for showing absolute values and can sometimes make percentage comparisons less intuitive than a pie chart. Line graphs tend to be more effective for illustrating trends over time rather than comparing discrete categories. Histograms are used for displaying the frequency distribution of numerical data and are not suitable for showing percentages of categorical data. Thus, for clearly demonstrating the percentages of different categories, the pie chart is the most effective choice.