Which of the following best describes a histogram that represents Blanca's lap times for the three days of practice?

• A. A line graph connecting the lap times recorded each day in chronological order.
• B. A bar graph where each bar represents a different day of practice and the bars are separated by gaps.
• C. A bar graph where the horizontal axis shows intervals of lap times and the vertical axis shows the frequency of laps in each interval, with bars touching each other.
• D. A pie chart showing the proportion of total laps completed on each day.

Answer: (C)

Verified step by step guidance

1. Understand what a histogram represents: it is a graphical display of data using bars to show the frequency of data points within specified intervals (bins).
2. Recognize that in a histogram, the horizontal axis represents intervals or ranges of the data values (in this case, lap times), not individual categories or days.
3. Note that the bars in a histogram touch each other to indicate the continuous nature of the data intervals, unlike bar graphs where bars are separated to represent distinct categories.
4. Compare the options given: a line graph connects points over time, a bar graph with separated bars represents categorical data, and a pie chart shows proportions of a whole, none of which match the definition of a histogram.
5. Conclude that the correct description of a histogram is the one where the horizontal axis shows intervals of lap times, the vertical axis shows frequency, and the bars touch each other to represent continuous data.