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Quite often a chart is drawn using logarithmic scale for one axis (usually the the y-axis). This is often used for abuse when presenting information - logarithmic scale alters greatly how the values are plotted on the plane.

Still I guess there are legitimate cases when using logarithmic scale for one axis which represents a value which is linear in nature (not earthquake magnitude which is already logarithmic itself).

What are examples of such legitimate cases where using logarithmic scale allows for better analysis of plotted data?

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    What do you consider an illegitimate case or abuse of the logarithmic scale? Certainly if one is visualizing a power law or exponential growth/decay then a [semi-]logarithmic scale makes it easier to see.2012-04-12
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    @Rahul Narain: Well, plotting an exponential decay process on log-scale and then presenting it as if it was linear scale is one example of abuse.2012-04-12
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    I feel that the abuse there lies more in *misrepresenting the scale of the graph* rather than in the use of a log scale itself.2012-04-12

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