What type of graphical display is most appropriate for representing the concentration of a contaminant in data?

A histogram is the most appropriate graphical display for representing the concentration of a contaminant in data because it effectively illustrates the distribution of numerical values by showing the frequency of data points that fall within specified ranges (or bins). This is particularly useful for continuous data, such as contaminant concentrations, as it allows for a clear visual representation of how the data is spread across different concentration levels.

With a histogram, you can easily identify patterns such as the central tendency and variability, as well as any potential skewness or outliers in the data. This gives insights into the overall distribution of contaminant levels, which is essential for understanding environmental impacts and making data-driven decisions.

Other graphical displays, such as pie charts, are more suitable for categorical data and would not convey the continuous nature of concentration data effectively. Bar charts can represent categorical variables but are not as effective at depicting distributions of continuous data compared to histograms. Box plots summarize data using five number summaries (minimum, first quartile, median, third quartile, and maximum) but do not provide as rich a view of the underlying distribution as histograms do, especially regarding how data is grouped across ranges.