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A pie chart shows the proportion of the whole that is contributed by each value in a single data series. The whole is represented as a circle (the “pie”), and each value is displayed as a proportional “slice” of the circle. You can use pie charts to represent sales figures propor­tionally by region or by product, or to show population data such as age ranges or voting patterns.

To create a pie chart, select your data, choose Insert, Pie, and click the pie chart type you want. In the pie chart gallery, notice that Excel includes an Exploded Pie type. In pie chart lingo, exploding a slice means separating that slice by some amount so that it appears on its own. This is a useful way to highlight a special slice. However, the Exploded Pie type explodes every slice, which isn’t that useful. If you want to explode just a single slice, you need insert a regular pie chart and then follow these steps:

1. Click the pie chart to select it.
2. Click any slice to select the series and then click the slice you want to explode. This should now be the only data point selected.
3. Choose Layout, Format Selection to display the Format Data Point dialog box.
4. In the Series Options tab, click and drag the Point Explosion slider towards the Separate end (to the right). You can also enter a percentage value in the associated text box.

NOTE

An explosion value of 100% means that the tip of the slice lies on the circumference of the pie. A value greater than 100% means the slice will be displayed completely outside of the pie.

5. If you want the exploded slice to display in a particular position within the chart, you probably need to rotate the pie. You do this by clicking and dragging the Angle of First Slice slider.
6. Click Close.

Figure 1 shows a pie chart that plots the proportions of Earth’s elements, with the Others slice exploded so that a shape can point out extra information about the slice’s value.

Figure 1 A pie chart showing the proportions of terrestrial elements, with the Others slice exploded.

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