What type of graph illustrates data by dividing a circle into segments to show proportions?

A pie graph is designed to visually represent data in the form of a circle, where the entire circle represents the total value or whole of a dataset, and each segment or slice illustrates a portion of that whole. The size of each slice is proportional to the quantity it represents, making it easy to compare parts of the data to each other and understand how they contribute to the overall total.

For example, if you were representing the distribution of time spent on different activities in a day, each activity could be represented as a slice of the pie, with larger slices indicating activities that occupy more time. This format allows for quick visual interpretation of how significant each category is relative to the total.

Other types of graphs serve different purposes: bar graphs display data with rectangular bars to compare different groups, line graphs show trends over time with connected points, and histograms are used for frequency distribution of quantitative data. Each of these alternatives provides specific insights but lacks the proportionate visual representation characteristic of a pie graph.