In the quakes dataset in R, how would you visualise the relationship between depth and mag?

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BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

The question asks how you would visualise the relationship between depth and mag in the quakes dataset using R.
First, consider the goal: we want to explore how one continuous variable (depth) relates to another continuous variable (mag). A scatter-based approach is a natural choice for examining potential linear or non-linear relationships and patterns between two numeric variables.
Next, evaluate common visualization options for two continuous variables:
- Scatterplot: plots each observation as a point with depth on one axis and mag on the other, making it easy to spot trends, clusters, or outliers.
- Line plot: typically used for ordered data over time, not ideal for unstructured pairs of depth and magnitude unless depth were treated as a sequence, which isn't the case here.
- Bar chart or histogram: unsuitable for showing the relationship between two numeric variables; they summarize distributions rather than joint relationships.
- Heatmap or contour plot: could display density of observations in depth-magnitude space, but requires additional processing and is less direct for a simple relationship check.
Now, given that the goal is to visualize how depth and magnitude relate, the scatterplot directly addresses this by mapping depth to one axis and magnitude to the other, allowing you to observe correlation, spread, and potential non-linear patterns.
In R code terms, a straightforward approach would be to use a base graphics scatter plot like plot(quakes$depth, quakes$mag) or a tidyverse alternative like ggplot(quakes, aes(depth, mag)) + geom_point(). The key idea is that each earthquake event becomes a point in the depth-magnitude plane, revealing their relationship at a glance.
Because the answer options aren’t provided here, we can’t compare alternatives, but the rationale above shows why a scatterplot is the appropriate visualization for a depth versus magnitude relationship.

MATH1062/1005/1023 (ND) MATH1062/1005 Data Quiz 2

In the quakes dataset in R, how would you visualise the relationship between depth and mag?

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