To draw a polar graph:
A | B | |
1 | 0.157 | 1 |
2 | 0.314 | 2 |
3 | 0.471 | 3 |
4 | 0.628 | 4 |
5 | 0.786 | 5 |
6 | 0.942 | 5 |
7 | 1.100 | 4 |
8 | 1.257 | 3 |
9 | 1.414 | 2 |
10 | 1.571 | 1 |
You may not understand the relationship between the
numbers and the plot, but notice that you created the
graph in the same way you made a line or bar chart.
However, the X data in column A is actually the angle
with respect to the positive X axis. A value of zero
in this column would cause data to be plotted along
the X axis, while a value of approximately
(1.571...) would plot data along the Y axis. Values
between 0 and
plot data along rays between the X
and Y axis.
The distances along these rays at which the data points are placed are determined by the values in column B (which would be the column of Y data if this were a line graph). The data values in column A are an increasing sequence of angles with respect to the X axis, and the values in column B increase then decrease to move the plotted points away from and then closer to the graph origin. This creates the crude clover leaf.
For polar graphs, the angular measurement and radial components correspond to the X and Y coordinates in a line graph, respectively. With this perspective, you can manipulate polar graphs just as you would line graphs. In fact, all the options available with line graphs can be used with polar graphs except: