1.32 Energy consumption. The U.S. Energy Information Administration reports data summaries of various energy statistics. Let’s look at the total amount of energy consumed, in quadrillions of British thermal units (Btu), for each month in a recent year. Here are the data: 15
ENERGY
| Month |
Energy (quadrillion Btu) |
Month |
Energy (quadrillion Btu) |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 9.58 | July | 8.23 |
| February | 8.46 | August | 8.21 |
| March | 8.56 | September | 7.64 |
| April | 7.56 | October | 7.78 |
| May | 7.66 | November | 8.19 |
| June | 7.79 | December | 8.82 |
(a) Look at the table and describe how the energy consumption varies from month to month.
(b) Make a time plot of the data and describe the patterns.
(c) Suppose you wanted to communicate information about the month-to-month variation in energy consumption. Which would be more effective, the table of the data or the graph? Give reasons for your answer.