Pie chart displays incorrect percentage number. Need a fix, urgently! HELP!

Hi Mike,

Numbers charts whatever data you supply and choose to include in the chart. With pie charts, the segment labels can be the numeric values or those values shown as a percentage (not percentile) of the total.

Without seeing what data you are supplying to the chart, it's difficult to determine what is actually happening here. Can you post a screen shot that includes both the (selected) chart showing the error and the data table used to produce that chart.

Regards,

Barry

the values you have used for your pie chart cause what you are percieving as a problem.

you are using the values 100 and 22 as the slices for the pie.

The total is 122 (100 + 22), and the percentage for each value (of the total) is:

100/122 = 0.819672 => 82%

22/122 = 0.18033 => 18%

don't calculate the percent yourself. use the actual numbers 1100 and 5000.

As Wayne correctly notes, the chart is showing slices representing the two numbers 0.22 and 1.00 (22% and 100%), and labeling each with the percentage of the total (1.22) that each represents.

A pie chart always represents 100% as the 'whole pie'. In this case, your 'whole pie' appears to be $5000, and you want to represent $1100 as 22% of that whole pie.

That can be done, but the other, larger slice of the pie must be the portion necessary to make a total of $5000 when added to the $1100:

Here H6, the cell showing 3900,, contains the formula =F6-G6, which subtracts the 22% value (1100) from the 100% value (5000) to determine the value necessary to make the whole pie represent 100% (ie. $5000).

Regards,

Barry

If you want the slices to show the numbers from your table:

• Select the chart,
• Go to the Chart Inspector
• Where it says "Format", choose "same as source data"

The size of each slice will continue to be determined the same way, as a percentage of the whole pie. The only thing different will be how the slices are labeled.

An accurate representation of these values, using the pie chart convention and having 5000 represent 100%, would look like this:

Remember: In a pie chart, the full circle is ALWAYS the whole pie, and the whole pie is ALWAYS 100% of the pie.

Regards,

Barry