Example - how to create histograms in Excel: Direct calculation of statistics:

J. M. Cimbala mean = 1.025 or use STDEV function:

st. dev = 0.066620082 or st. dev = 0.06662008
number x deviation dev squared
1 1.1 0.075 0.005625 Or use Excel's built-in statistics package ( Tools-Data Analysis-Descriptive Statistics-OK ).
2 1.2 0.175 0.030625 Specify Input Range (cells B5 to B22), specify Output Range (cell F9), and select Summary Statistics.
3 0.95 -0.075 0.005625 Note: The first time you use this option in Excel: File-Tools-Add-Ins...-Analysis ToolPak.
4 1.04 0.015 0.000225
5 1.06 0.035 0.001225 Column1
6 0.95 -0.075 0.005625 Note: Office 2007 and later - Everywhere I say Tools,
7 0.97 -0.055 0.003025 Mean 1.025 Go instead to the Data tab. In the Analysis area, click on Data Analysis.
8 1.03 0.005 2.5E-05 Standard Error 0.015702504 If first time using the Analysis ToolPak, do this:
9 1.01 -0.015 0.000225 Median 1.015 File-Options-Add-Ins...-Analysis ToolPak-Go.
10 0.94 -0.085 0.007225 Mode 0.95 Then, the Data Analysis option should appear.
11 0.99 -0.035 0.001225 Standard Deviation 0.066620082
12 1.02 -0.005 2.5E-05 Sample Variance 0.004438235
13 1.03 0.005 2.5E-05 Kurtosis 1.363485884
14 0.97 -0.055 0.003025 Skewness 1.057523264
15 1.08 0.055 0.003025 Range 0.26
16 1.11 0.085 0.007225 Minimum 0.94
17 1.01 -0.015 0.000225 Maximum 1.2
18 0.99 -0.035 0.001225 Sum 18.45
Count 18
To use Excel's built-in histogram generation package:
( Tools-Data Analysis-Histogram-OK ), specify Input Range (cells B5 to B22), specify Output Range (cell C27), and turn on Chart Output.

Bin Frequency
Frequency
Frequency

0.94 1 Histogram
1.005 6
8
8.0
1.07 7
6
6.0
1.135 3 Frequency
4
4.0
More 1
2
2.0
0.0
0
0.94
0.94 1.005
1.005 1.07
1.07 1.135
1.135 More
More
Note: The number on the x-axis represents the
Bin
Bin
tick mark to the right of that number.

Modifications to the chart to make it more "engineering-like":

First, copy and paste to the right 8
Make it bigger (drag corner with mouse)
If gray background, double click on it & select white 7
Frequency

Remove title (right click on plot - Chart Options, remove title)

In same options box, change x axis title to "x" 6
Remove legend (also in Chart Options)
Make the histogram areas filled in completely without gaps - 5
(double click on an area, Options, set Gap Width=5% )
4
Check Sturgis rule: J=1+3.3log(n) (log base 10)
# bins = 5.14239926684091 3

(The number of bins displayed is 5, which agrees) 2

Specifying your own bins: 1

(Let's choose some bins that are "cleaner" numbers)
0
Maximum value in each bin 0.94 1.005 1.07 1.135 More
0.9 (x <= 0.9) x
0.95 (0.9 < x <= 0.95)
1 (0.95 < x <= 1) To create a histogram with these bin values specified:
1.05 (1 < x <= 1.05) Select Tools-Data Analysis-Histogram-OK.
1.1 (1.05 < x <= 1.1) Set the Bin Range to the column at left, choose D63 as Output Range, and turn on Chart Output, OK.
1.15 (1.1 < x <= 1.15)
1.2 (1.15 < x <= 1.2) Bin Frequency
Frequency

0.9 0 Histogram
0.95 3
1 4 8.0
6.0
1.05 6 4.0 Frequency
1.1 3 2.0
1.15 1 0.0
1.2 1
More 0
Bin
Again, clean up the chart so it looks more presentable:
Frequency

7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
0.9 0.95 1 1.05 1.1 1.15 1.2
x

Notice that the axis labels are in the wrong place! The label "0.9" should be under the tick mark to its right.
The simplest way to modify the tick mark position is to click on the axis, and then click on the"Aligh Text Right" icon in the top toolbar.
I also added vertical gridlines: Chart tools-Layout-Gridlines-Primary Vertical Gridlines-Major Gridlines.
A cleaner looking, final histogram is shown below.
Frequency

0
0.9 0.95 1 1.05 1.1 1.15 1.2