Need help with graphing in Excel 2003

[soarinjohn]

Hello. I am fairly handy in using Excel but I am stuck on a graph problem.
I am essentially trying to graph a US yield curve that has the following x axis year points: 0, .08, .25, .50, 1.0, 2.0, 5, 10.0, and 30.0. When I create the graph using values for the y axis, the x axis is uniformally scaled such that my 5 year point looks like it is 2/3rd the way down the curve instead of where it would be... .16 down the path on the x axis. How do I control (or scale) the x-axis so the points plot where I want them instead of uniformly being distributed as is the default case. I do not want to create "dummy" interpolated points to trick the x-axis based on all the different ways I will be shaping the curves I need to graph.

Thanks in advance for the help.

John

 

[Jon Peltier]

You must have dates for the X axis. First make sure the cells contain dates and not text that looks like dates. Apply the general horizontal alignment to the cells, and if they are left-aligned, they contain text (numbers, including dates, are right aligned). If they have a date format, use Data menu > Text To Columns to convert this column of pseudo-dates to a column of real dates. In the last step of the wizard, select date for the target range format, then select the order of the apparent dates (MDY or whatever).

Now if you make a Line chart, the dates should be proportionally spaced. If not, go to Chart menu > Chart Options > Axes, and under Category (X) Axis, choose "Time Scale".

Once the values are true numerical dates, you could also make an XY chart, but the axis format will not be as nice.

You may also want to make a step chart instead of a regular line chart. If so:
http://peltiertech.com/Excel/ChartsHowTo/StepChart.html
http://peltiertech.com/WordPress/2008/05/23/line-chart-vs-step-chart/