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Compare:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/01/United_S...

and

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/archive/0/01/...

The logarithmic graph makes it clear all percentiles grow at exactly the same rate. The linear one tricks you into thinking the top level grows faster even though it doesn't.




The y-range is different this why the chart looks flatter. Nobody uses log scale for stock prices. A log scale only makes sense if the range of values is over multiple orders of magnitude (1, 10, 100, 1000, 10000, ...).


Well obviously the y-range is different! That's the whole point! The data is identical though.

A logarithmic graphs show differences (i.e. growth or decline) between values, while a linear graph shows absolute values (i.e. what fraction out of a whole).

You do not need multiple orders of magnitude to make logarithmic worthwhile. What matters is the kind of data (change in value, or absolute portion of a whole), not the range.




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