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Stem and Leaf Plot in R

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A Stem and Leaf Diagram, also called as Stem and Leaf plot, is a special table where each numeric value is split into a stem (First digit(s) ) and a leaf (last Digit). For example, 57 will split into 5 as stem and 7 as leaf. In this article we will show you, How to make a Stem and Leaf plot in R Programming language with example.

Syntax of a Stem and Leaf Plot in R

The basic syntax to draw the Stem and Leaf chart in R Programming is as shown below

stem(x, scale = 1, width = 80, atom = 1e-08)

Following are the list of arguments supported by the Stem and Leaf chart in R programming language:

  • x: Please specify the data on which you want to draw the Stem and Leaf Plot. Here, you have to use the numeric vector, or a list containing numeric vector.
  • scale: Please specify the scale you want to use for your plot.
  • width: It is optional but you can use this to specify the desired width of a plot. By default it is 80
  • atom: It is a tolerance

Before we get into the example, let us see the diagrammatic representation of Stem and Leaf plot. From the below screenshot you can see that, first we declared a variables 10, 15, 22, 25, 28, 23, 29, 31, 36, 45, 48. From those values, First digit is assigned to stem and last Digit is leaf.

Stem and Leaf Plot in R Programming 4

Create a Stem and Leaf Plot in R Programming

In this example we will show you, How to make a Stem and Leaf plot using the ChickWeight data set, which is provided by the R Studio. If your requirement is to import data from external files then, I suggest you to refer R Read CSV article to understand the importing of csv file.

R CODE

# Make a Stem and Leaf Plot in R Programming

ChickWeight

# Drawing Stem and Leaf Plot
stem(ChickWeight$weight)

OUTPUT

Stem and Leaf Plot in R Programming 1

ANALYSIS

ChickWeight data set will return the output as a List. So, we are using the $ to extract the data from List.

stem(ChickWeight$weight)

From the above screenshot you can see that, ChickWeight data set has numbers like: 25, 29, 29, ……., 341, 361, 363

Use Scale for Stem and Leaf Plot in R

In this example we will show you, How to use the scale argument inside the stem function.

R CODE

# Make a Stem and Leaf Plot in R Programming

ChickWeight

# Drawing Stem and Leaf Plot
stem(ChickWeight$weight, scale = 2)

OUTPUT

Stem and Leaf Plot in R Programming 2

Change width of a Stem and Leaf Plot

In this example we will show you, How to change the width of a Stem and Leaf chart in R Programming.

R CODE

# Make a Stem and Leaf Plot in R Programming

ChickWeight

# Drawing Stem and Leaf Plot
stem(ChickWeight$weight)
stem(ChickWeight$weight, width = 100)

OUTPUT

stem and leaf plot in r programming 3

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