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Stem and leaf plots review

Stem and leaf plots

A stem and leaf plot displays numerical data by splitting each data point into a "leaf" (usually the last digit) and a "stem" (the leading digit or digits).
For example, the buyer for a chain of department stores counted the number of pairs of boots at each of the stores and made a stem and leaf plot for the data. Here is the dataset and the stem and leaf plot:
Dataset: 17, 18, 20, 25, 28, 34, 34, 37, 38, 50
Stem and leaf plot:
1    7  82    0  5  83    4  4  7  84  5    0\begin{aligned} &1~~|~~7~~8\\ &2~~|~~0~~5~~8\\ &3~~|~~4~~4~~7~~8\\ &4~~|\\ &5~~|~~0\\ \end{aligned}
Key: 1, space, vertical bar, space, 8 represents a store that had 18 pairs of boots.
Want to learn more about reading stem and leaf plots? Check out this video.

Creating a stem and leaf plot

Here's how to make a stem and leaf plot step by step. We'll use the same dataset as before. Here it is again:
17, 18, 20, 25, 28, 34, 34, 37, 38, 50
Step 1: Split each data point into a stem and a leaf. The stem is everything before the final digit, and the leaf is the final digit. Write the stems in a vertical column and don't skip stems just because they don't have any data.
start color #11accd, 1, end color #11accd, vertical bar, 7, start color #11accd, 1, end color #11accd, vertical bar, 8, start color #11accd, 2, end color #11accd, vertical bar, 0, start color #11accd, 2, end color #11accd, vertical bar, 5, start color #11accd, 2, end color #11accd, vertical bar, 8, start color #11accd, 3, end color #11accd, vertical bar, 4, start color #11accd, 3, end color #11accd, vertical bar, 4, start color #11accd, 3, end color #11accd, vertical bar, 7, start color #11accd, 3, end color #11accd, vertical bar, 8, start color #11accd, 5, end color #11accd, vertical bar, 0
Our start color #11accd, start text, s, t, e, m, s, end text, end color #11accd are the tens digits:
1  2  3  4  5  \begin{aligned} &1~~|\\ &2~~|\\ &3~~|\\ &4~~|\\ &5~~|\\ \end{aligned}
Step 2: Write each leaf next to its corresponding stem. The start color #1fab54, start text, l, e, a, v, e, s, end text, end color #1fab54 should go from smallest to largest. Our leaves are the ones digits.
1, vertical bar, start color #1fab54, 7, end color #1fab54, 1, vertical bar, start color #1fab54, 8, end color #1fab54, 2, vertical bar, start color #1fab54, 0, end color #1fab54, 2, vertical bar, start color #1fab54, 5, end color #1fab54, 2, vertical bar, start color #1fab54, 8, end color #1fab54, 3, vertical bar, start color #1fab54, 4, end color #1fab54, 3, vertical bar, start color #1fab54, 4, end color #1fab54, 3, vertical bar, start color #1fab54, 7, end color #1fab54, 3, vertical bar, start color #1fab54, 8, end color #1fab54, 5, vertical bar, start color #1fab54, 0, end color #1fab54
1    7  82    0  5  83    4  4  7  84  5    0\begin{aligned} &1~~|~~7~~8\\ &2~~|~~0~~5~~8\\ &3~~|~~4~~4~~7~~8\\ &4~~|\\ &5~~|~~0\\ \end{aligned}
Step 3: Give a key that explains what a stem and leaf represent.
1    7  82    0  5  83    4  4  7  84  5    0\begin{aligned} &1~~|~~7~~8\\ &2~~|~~0~~5~~8\\ &3~~|~~4~~4~~7~~8\\ &4~~|\\ &5~~|~~0\\ \end{aligned}
Key: 1, space, vertical bar, space, 8 represents a store that had 18 pairs of boots.
Want to learn more about creating stem and leaf plots? Check out this video.

Example: Reading stem and leaf plots

A zookeeper published the following stem-and-leaf plot showing the number of bears at each major zoo in the country:
0  1    8  82    1  3  6  6  7  7  93    1  74    1  4  5  75    0  3\begin{aligned} &0~~|\\ &1~~|~~8~~8\\ &2~~|~~1~~3~~6~~6~~7~~7~~9\\ &3~~|~~1~~7\\ &4~~|~~1~~4~~5~~7\\ &5~~|~~0~~3\\ \end{aligned}
Key: 1, space, vertical bar, space, 8 represents a zoo that has 18 bears.
Problem A
  • Current
How many of the zoos have exactly 26 bears?
  • Your answer should be
  • an integer, like 6
  • a simplified proper fraction, like 3, slash, 5
  • a simplified improper fraction, like 7, slash, 4
  • a mixed number, like 1, space, 3, slash, 4
  • an exact decimal, like 0, point, 75
  • a multiple of pi, like 12, space, start text, p, i, end text or 2, slash, 3, space, start text, p, i, end text
zoos

Want to practice more problems like this? Check out this exercise on reading stem and leaf plots.

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