Exploding slices in Matplotlib - Practice Problems & Coding Challenges

Challenge - 5 Problems

❓ Predict Output

intermediate

Output of pie chart with exploding slices

What will be the output of this code snippet that creates a pie chart with one slice exploded?

Matplotlib

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
sizes = [15, 30, 45, 10]
labels = ['A', 'B', 'C', 'D']
explode = (0, 0.1, 0, 0)  # only 'B' is exploded
plt.pie(sizes, labels=labels, explode=explode, autopct='%1.1f%%')
plt.show()

A A pie chart with all slices exploded equally and percentages shown.

B A pie chart with slice 'A' exploded and no percentages shown.

C A pie chart with slice 'B' slightly separated from the rest, showing percentages for all slices.

D A pie chart with slice 'D' exploded and no labels shown.

💡 Hint

Look at the explode tuple and which slice it affects.

The explode tuple has 0.1 only for the second slice 'B', so only that slice is separated. autopct shows percentages for all slices.

❓ data_output

intermediate

Number of exploded slices in pie chart

Given the explode parameter below, how many slices will be exploded in the pie chart?

Matplotlib

explode = (0.2, 0, 0.3, 0, 0)

A 2

B 1

C 3

D 0

💡 Hint

Count the non-zero values in the explode tuple.

The explode tuple has two non-zero values: 0.2 and 0.3, so two slices will be exploded.

🔧 Debug

advanced

Identify the error in pie chart explode parameter

What error will this code raise when trying to plot a pie chart with explode parameter?

Matplotlib

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
sizes = [20, 30, 25]
labels = ['X', 'Y', 'Z']
explode = (0.1, 0.2)  # length mismatch
plt.pie(sizes, labels=labels, explode=explode)
plt.show()

A TypeError: explode must be a list

B ValueError: 'explode' must be same length as 'sizes'

C No error, pie chart plots correctly

D IndexError: tuple index out of range

💡 Hint

Check if explode length matches sizes length.

The explode tuple length is 2 but sizes length is 3, causing a ValueError about length mismatch.

🚀 Application

advanced

Creating a pie chart with multiple exploded slices

You want to create a pie chart with 4 slices where the first and last slices are exploded by 0.1 and 0.2 respectively. Which explode tuple should you use?

A (0.1, 0, 0, 0.2)

B (0.1, 0.2, 0, 0)

C (0, 0.1, 0, 0.2)

D (0.2, 0, 0, 0.1)

💡 Hint

The explode tuple order matches the slice order.

The first slice corresponds to the first explode value (0.1), and the last slice corresponds to the last explode value (0.2).

🧠 Conceptual

expert

Effect of explode values greater than 1 in pie chart

What happens if you set an explode value greater than 1 for a slice in a matplotlib pie chart?

A The slice is not exploded at all.

B Matplotlib raises a ValueError for invalid explode value.

C The explode value is automatically capped at 1.

D The slice is pushed far outside the pie, possibly outside the figure area.

💡 Hint

Explode controls the fraction of radius to offset the slice.

Explode values represent fraction of the radius to offset the slice. Values greater than 1 push the slice far outside the pie, possibly outside the visible area.