This step-by-step tutorial explains how to plot the following Chi-Square distribution in Excel:

Step 1: Define the X Values

First, let’s define a range of x-values to use for our plot.

For this example, we’ll create a range from 0 to 20:

Step 2: Calculate the Y Values

The y values on the plot will represent the PDF values associated with the Chi-Square distribution.

We can type the following formula into cell B2 to calculate the PDF value of the Chi-Square distribution associated with an x value of 0 and a degrees of freedom value of 3:

=CHISQ.DIST(A2, $E$1, FALSE)

We can then copy and paste this formula down to every remaining cell in column B:

Step 3: Plot the Chi-Square Distribution

Next, highlight the cell range A2:B22, then click the Insert tab along the top ribbon, then click the Scatter option within the Charts group and click Scatter with Smooth Lines:

The following chart will be created:

Note that if you change the value for the degrees of freedom in cell E1, the chart will automatically update.

For example, we could change the degrees of freedom to 7:

Notice that the shape of the plot automatically changes to reflect a Chi-Square distribution with 7 degrees of freedom.

Step 4: Modify the Appearance of the Plot

Feel free to add a title, axis labels, and remove the gridlines to make the plot more aesthetically pleasing:

Additional Resources

The following tutorials explain how to plot other common distributions in Excel: