Prevent XY Scatter Plot Lines From Overlapping

[jeffe333]

Hi,

I'm using Excel 2013, and I'm trying to create a very simple XY scatter plot from two X values and two Y values. For some reason, when Excel draws this plot, the lines completely overlap. Is there a way to separate them or to prevent this from happening? I would like the lines side-by-side on the plot, if at all possible. Thank you!


Jeff

[MrShorty]

Perhaps I am misunderstanding but, especially on a scatter plot, there is going to only be one line that can connect two x values and two y values, no matter how you do it. The first "solution" that comes to mind is to use some kind of addition/subtraction "translation" function to move one copy of those lines so it doesn't overlap the other, and do it in a way that will not obscure the information that you need the chart to communicate. Without more detail, it is hard to give any specific suggestion.

[jeffe333]

Thanks for the reply, MrShorty. It's possible that I'm trying to do this incorrectly. Here's a rundown of what I'm trying to do:

This is part of my statistics homework, and I'm trying to graph information from data I've previously calculated. The problem refers to an experiment that was run, where mice had to maneuver through one of two mazes (a complex one or an easy one) in one of two conditions (a cold room or a warm room). Therefore, I have four means: 1) the mean time it took a mouse to maneuver an easy maze in a cold room, 2) the time it took a mouse to maneuver a complex maze in a cold room, 3) the time it took a mouse to maneuver an easy maze in a warm room, and 4) the time it took a mouse to maneuver a complex maze in a cold room.

The question asks us to plot the results in a line graph. On the X-axis, we are to plot cold versus warm rooms, and on the Y-axis, we are to plot the amount of time it took. We're supposed to create two separate lines, one for simple and one for complex mazes. Below, I've created a chart, so you can see the values and how they relate to the independent variables.

Temperature
Warm Cold
Maze Easy Mean = 6.0 Mean = 3.6
Difficult Mean = 6.4 Mean = 15.6

To give you an idea of what I'm looking to do, this was an image the instructor used in a PowerPoint during our last class. This is the basic principle of what I need to do w/ the data I have. I hope this information gives you a better idea of what it is I need to accomplish. Again, thank you for your help.


plot.png

[jeffe333]

Hmm...the formatting didn't work on the little table I was trying to create. Just so there's no confusion, the data I was trying to list is as follows:

easy maze/warm room: mean = 6.0
complex maze/warm room: mean = 6.4
easy maze/cold room: mean = 3.6
complex maze/cold room: mean = 15.6

Also, in attempting to create the scatter plot, I'd followed this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9kcoaE7pvM I'm not sure where she was able to get three distinctly separate lines, and I was only able to get two overlapping lines.

[MrShorty]

In the first post you refer to a scatter plot (numeric or value x axis), but it appears that what you really want is a line plot (category x axis). I might first suggest that you spend some time understanding the difference between line and scatter plot so you will be better able to tell when to use which kind of plot http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/ex...001054840.aspx

I would probably set up the table in the spreadsheet similar to what you have in post 3 (comma delimited):

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Then select those three columns, tell it to create a line chart, and see if that gives you what you want.

[jeffe333]

That doesn't seem to work. It only draw a single line directly along the x-axis.

[MrShorty]

Interesting. Can you explain exactly what you did (a sample spreadsheet might really help here)? In 2007, I simply selected the block of data, insert chart from the ribbon, and told it to insert a 2D line chart. Sometimes additional formatting is necessary, but to get a flat line suggests either that Excel is not recognizing the data correctly, or you are not inputting the data correctly.

Perhaps this will help explain some of the commands in 2013: http://blogs.office.com/b/microsoft-...xcel-2013.aspx

See if this file will help you.

[jeffe333]

I tried the same thing you did, but I think that it might have been the comma delimited data that it didn't like. I tried this new method of listing the data, and it works! Thanks so much for taking the time to guide me through this!