Solved Examples and Worksheet for Interpreting Line Plots

Q1The line plot gives the number of attempts made by Serena,Maria, Venus and Anna to hit a target. Who made the least number of attempts to hit the target?

A. Anna
B. Venus
C. Serena
D. Maria

Step: 1
On a line plot, the number of times a data value occurs in a data set is indicated by cross marks above that value on a number line.
Step: 2
In the plot the number of cross marks above the name Venus is 1, which is the least.
Step: 3
So, Venus made least number of attempts to hit the target.
Correct Answer is :   Venus
Q2The line plot shows the number of hours Jeff spent watching TV each day in a week. Calculate the number of hours he did not watch TV on Wednesday.

A. 5
B. 19
C. 20
D. 15

Step: 1
The number of cross marks above each day in the graph represent the number of hours Jeff spent watching TV on that day of the week.
Step: 2
From the graph, Jeff spent 5 hours watching TV on Wednesday.
  [There are 5 cross marks for Wednesday, in the graph.]
Step: 3
There are 24 hours in a day.
Step: 4
So, the number of hours Jeff didn't watch TV on Wednesday = 24 - 5 = 19
  [Subtract 5 from 24.]
Correct Answer is :   19
Q3The line plot shows the number of stamps of various countries collected by Sam. What is the average number of stamps per country collected by him?


A. 4
B. 7
C. 6
D. 5

Step: 1
The number of stamps of each country collected by Sam is indicated by the number of cross marks over each country's name.
Step: 2
The number of stamps of the 6 countries collected by Sam are 10, 5, 8, 3, 6 and 4.
  [Count the number of cross marks over each country name.]
Step: 3
Average of the number of the stamps = sum of the number of stampsnumber of countries.
  [Formula for average.]
Step: 4
= 10+5+8+3+6+46 = 366 = 6.
  [Substitute and simplify.]
Step: 5
So, Sam collected an average of 6 stamps per country.
Correct Answer is :   6
Q4The line plot shows the number of chocolates that each student of a class has. How many more chocolates does Mitch have than Catherine?

A. 4
B. 0
C. 5
D. 3

Step: 1
The number of cross marks above each name indicates the number of chocolates the student has.
Step: 2
From the plot, the number of chocolates Mitch has = 9
  [Count the number of cross marks above the name, Mitch.]
Step: 3
The number of chocolates Catherine has = 4
  [Count the number of cross marks above the name, Catherine.]
Step: 4
Difference between the number of chocolates that Mitch and Catherine have = 9 - 4 = 5
  [Subtract 4 from 9.]
Step: 5
So, Mitch has 5 more chocolates than Catherine.
Correct Answer is :   5
Q5The number of health surveys conducted in New Jersey between January and June are shown in the line plot. In which month were the maximum number of surveys conducted?


A. April
B. June
C. January
D. May

Step: 1
The number of health surveys conducted in each month is indicated by the number of cross marks above the month in the plot.
Step: 2
The more the number of cross marks, the more number of health surveys were conducted.
Step: 3
From the graph, the number of cross marks for the month of May is the maximum.
  [There are 9 cross marks for May.]
Step: 4
So, the maximum number of health surveys were conducted in the month of May.
Correct Answer is :   May
Q6Stephanie counted the number of lights arranged on a Christmas tree. The number of each of the different colored lights is given in the line plot. How many more orange colored lights were there on the tree than green colored lights?

A. 3
B. 6
C. 4
D. 5

Step: 1
The number of lights of a particular color is indicated by the number of cross marks over the color, in the line plot.
Step: 2
From the plot, the number of orange colored lights on the tree is 9.
  [Count the orange colored cross marks.]
Step: 3
From the plot, there were 5 green colored lights on the tree.
  [Count the number of green colored cross marks.]
Step: 4
The difference between the number of orange and green colored lights = 9 - 5 = 4
  [Subtract the number of green lights from the number of orange lights.]
Step: 5
So, there are 4 more orange colored lights on the Christmas tree than the green colored lights.
Correct Answer is :   4
Q7The line plot represents the number of fruits plucked from each tree. How many more bananas were plucked than apples?

A. 7
B. 2
C. 3
D. 4

Step: 1
The number of cross marks above each tree represents the number of fruits plucked from that particular tree.
Step: 2
Number of bananas plucked = 7
Step: 3
Number of apples plucked = 3
Step: 4
Difference between the number of apples and bananas plucked = Number of bananas plucked - Number of apples plucked
= 7 - 3 = 4
  [Substitute and subtract.]
Step: 5
So, 4 more bananas were plucked than apples.
Correct Answer is :   4
Q8Katie counted the number of lights arranged in a club. The number of lights of different colors she counted was in the line plot. How many more blue-colored lights were there in the club than green-colored lights?

A. 6
B. 5
C. 4
D. 3

Step: 1
The number of lights of a particular color is indicated by the number of cross marks of the color, in the line plot.
Step: 2
From the graph, the number of blue colored lights in the club is 10.
  [Count the blue colored cross marks.]
Step: 3
The number of green colored lights in the club is 5.
  [Count the number of green colored cross marks.]
Step: 4
The difference between the number of blue and green colored lights = 10 - 5 = 5
  [Subtract the number of green lights from the number of blue lights.]
Step: 5
So, there are 5 more blue colored lights in the club than the green colored lights.
Correct Answer is :   5
Q9The line plot represents the number of students obtaining different grades in a sample of students in a school. If there are a total of 156 students in the school, find how many students obtained a C.

A. 26
B. 78
C. 13
D. 39

Step: 1
Let s be the total number of students obtaining a C in the school.
Step: 2
Number of students obtaining a C in the sampleNumber of students taken as sample = Total number of students obtaining a C in the schoolTotal number of students in the school
Step: 3
212 = s156
  [Write a proportion.]
Step: 4
12 x s = 2 x 156
  [Write the cross products.]
Step: 5
s = 2 × 15612
  [Divide by 12 on both sides.]
Step: 6
s = 26
  [Simplify.]
Step: 7
So, there are about 26 students obtaining a C in the school.
Correct Answer is :   26
Q10The line plot shows the number of students who got an 80% on a Math exam in their respective grades. How many more students of 7th grade got an 80% than those of 8th grade who got an 80%?

A. 5
B. 2
C. 4
D. 3

Step: 1
The number of cross marks above each grade represent the number of students in the particular grade who got an 80% on their exam.
Step: 2
The number of students of 8th grade student who received an 80% is 3.
  [The number of cross marks above the number 8 is 3.]
Step: 3
The number of students of 7th grade who received an 80% is 6.
  [The number of cross marks above the number 7 is 6.]
Step: 4
Difference between the number of students of 8th and 7th grades who got 80%
= 6 - 3 = 3
  [Subtract 3 from 6.]
Step: 5
So, 3 more student(s) of 7th grade got 80% than those of 8th grade.
Correct Answer is :   3
Q11The line plot shows the opinions of the students in a class on whether a test can be conducted or not. How many students agreed for the test?

A. 4
B. 2
C. 3
D. 5

Step: 1
The number of cross marks over each name represent the number of students who have the particular opinion.
Step: 2
From the plot, the number of cross marks over the number of students who agreed for the test is 3.
Step: 3
So, the number of students in the class who agreed for the test is 3.
Correct Answer is :   3
Q12An assignment was given to six students to write as many words as they can starting with the letter M. The number of words written by each of them were given in the line plot. Find the difference between the number of words written by David and Catherine.

A. 5
B. 4
C. 7
D. 6

Step: 1
The number of words written by each of the students is indicated by the number of cross marks over the name of the student, in the plot.
Step: 2
From the plot, the number of words written by David is 9 and that by Catherine is 4.
  [Count the number of cross marks over each name.]
Step: 3
The difference between the number of words written by David and that by Catherine = 9 - 4 = 5
  [Subtract the smaller number from the larger number.]
Correct Answer is :   5
Q13The line plot represents the types of shoes Sam has. Find the number of walking shoes Sam owns from the line plot.


A. 6
B. 9
C. 7
D. 5

Step: 1
The number of shoes is represented using cross marks above the line.
Step: 2
The number of cross marks above running shoes is 6.
Step: 3
The number of cross marks above walking shoes is 9.
Step: 4
The number of cross marks above tennis shoes is 7.
Step: 5
So, the number of walking shoes Sam owns is 9.
Correct Answer is :   9
Q14The line plot represents the varieties of fruits present in a bag. How many Mangoes are there in the bag?


A. 1
B. 4
C. 2
D. 3

Step: 1
In a line plot, the number of times a data value occurs in the data set is indicated by cross marks above the respective data value on the number line.
Step: 2
The cross mark above Mango is 1.
Step: 3
So, the number of Mangoes in the bag is 1.
Correct Answer is :   1
Q15The number of toy cars with Ted and his friends Jack and Tom are shown in the line plot. Who has the maximum number of toy cars?


A. Tom
B. Ted
C. Jack

Step: 1
The number of cross marks above each boy′s name indicates the number of toy cars each boy has.
Step: 2
Looking at the line plot, we learn that Jack has the maximum number of toy cars.
  [The number of cross marks above the name 'Jack' is 6.]
Correct Answer is :   Jack