Question

Interpreting a Histogram. In Exercises 5–8, answer the questions by referring to the following Minitab-generated histogram, which depicts the weights (grams) of all quarters listed in Data Set 29 “Coin Weights” in Appendix B. (Grams are actually units of mass and the values shown on the horizontal scale are rounded.)

Class Width and Class Limits Give the approximate values of the class width, and the lower and upper class limits of the class depicted in the bar farthest to the left.

Short answer

The approximate value of the class width is equal to 0.1 grams.

The approximate value of the lower class limit is equal to 5.5 grams, and that of the upper class limit is equal to 5.6 grams.

Step-by-step solution

Given information

A histogram is plotted for the weights of a set of quarters.

Calculate the class width and class limits

The leftmost bar of the histogram is plotted between 5.5 grams and 5.6 grams on the horizontal axis.

Thus, the lower class limit corresponding to the leftmost bar is equal to 5.5 grams, while the upper class limit is equal to 5.6 grams.

The width of the class is obtained by computing the difference between the upper and the lower class limits:

$$\begin{gathered} \text{Class}\text{width}=\text{Upper}\text{limit}-\text{Lower}\text{limit} \\ =5.6-5.5 \\ =0.1 \end{gathered}$$

Thus, the class width corresponding to the leftmost bar is equal to 0.1 grams.