Creating a TI 83 histogram will save you time normally wasted drawing a paper histogram. In addition, if you make a data entry mistake, correcting it on a TI 83 is a breeze (where on paper, one arithmetic mistake might ruin your whole histogram). Let’s say you have a list of the heights of New York City’s tallest buildings. Here’s how to put it into the TI 83 and turn it into a histogram in a jiffy.

Sample problem: Make a histogram depicting the top 20 tallest buildings in New York City. The heights of the top 20 buildings (in feet) are: 1250, 1200, 1046, 1046, 952, 927, 915, 861, 850, 814, 813, 809, 808, 806, 792, 778, 757, 755, 752, and 750.

Step 1: Enter the data into a list. Press the Stat button. Enter the first number (1250), and then press Enter. Continue entering numbers, pressing the Enter button after each entry.

Step 2: Press 2nd, then Y= to choose “Stat Plot.”

Step 3: Press Enter to choose plot “1.”

Step 4: Press Enter. This selects “On.”

Step 5: Press the down arrow key (the arrow keys are at the top right), then press the left arrow key twice. Your cursor should be flashing over the histogram option, which is the top right option in the list.

Step 6: Arrow down to XList and enter the name of the list you entered your data in Step 1. If this is your first time building a list, you most likely entered the data in “L1,” which is the default list. If “L1″ is not showing, press 2nd 1 to choose “L1.”

Step 7: Arrow down and then type “1″ for “Freq.”

Step 8:Press Zoom, then 9. This will bring up a graph of the histogram on your screen.

Tip #1: Press the Trace button, and arrow back and forth from left to right. This will display the number of items in each category (n=), as well as the upper and lower class limits.

Tip # 2: To change the class width, press Window and change the Xscl. For example, if you want a class width of 100 (probably the most suitable for the above data), change “Xscl” to “100.”