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Making Connections Glossary
bar graph  
  A bar graph is a set of rectangular bars that have height proportional to the number of data elements in each category.  Each bar stands for all of the elements in a single distinguishable category (such as “red”).  Usually all of the bars are the same width and separated from each other.  (Also see histogram.)

base of a geometric figure  
  (a) The base of a triangle: any side of a triangle to which a height is drawn.  There are three possible bases in each triangle.  (b) The base of a trapezoid: either of the two parallel sides.  (c) The base of a parallelogram (including rectangle, rhombus, and square): any side to which a height is drawn.  There are four possible bases.  (d) The base of a solid: also see cone, cylinder, prism, and pyramid.
base of an exponent  
  When working with an exponential expression in the form ab, a is called the base.  For example, 2 is the base in 25.  (5 is the exponent, and 32 is the value.)  (Also see exponent.)
bimodal   
  A set of numbers that has two modes.
boundary point  
  The endpoint or endpoints of a ray or segment on a number line where an inequality is true.  For strict inequalities (that is, inequalities involving < or >), the point is not part of the solution.  Boundary points may be found by solving the equality associated with the given inequality.  For example, the solution to the equation 2x + 5 = 11  is x = 3, so the inequality 2x + 5 ≥ 11  has a boundary point at 3.  The solution to that inequality is illustrated on the number line below.  A boundary point is also sometimes called a “dividing point.”

box-and-whisker plot  
  A graphic way of showing a summary of data using the median, quartiles, and extremes of the data.