What is the primary use of a bar graph?

A bar graph is primarily used to represent and compare categorical data. This type of graph organizes data into distinct categories where each category is represented by a bar. The length or height of each bar is proportional to the quantity it represents, making it easy to visualize and compare the amounts across different categories.

For instance, if you were to use a bar graph to compare the sales numbers of different product types (like electronics, clothing, and furniture), each product type would have its own bar. This visualization allows viewers to quickly assess which product categories are performing better or worse compared to each other.

While trends over time can be effectively illustrated with line graphs, bar graphs excel in presenting discrete data points in a way that highlights differences between categories clearly. Therefore, the primary function of a bar graph is to make categorical comparisons clear and accessible.