Excel does not have a Stiff Diagram chart option in the charts. But, we can create a Stiff Diagram in Excel by using a scatter chart and a freeform diagram in the shapes tool. Tweaking a bit of the coloring of the chart will give us the perfect Stiff Diagram. Here’s how.
Creating a stiff diagram
These are a few basic steps on how to create Stiff Diagram in Excel.
Enter the values of cations and anions. Use the anion values in the negative as shown below.
Select 1, 3, and 5 (press Ctrl key, so select cells individually) and copy (ctrl+c).
Right-click on empty cell -> Paste special -> Transpose
Select the data in this table (2, 3, 4)
How to plot a stiff graph?
Now, go to Insert -> Charts -> Insert Scatter
Assign the data labels according to the values in the first table. Select the blue dots by clicking -> right-click -> format data labels.
Select a value from the cells and then provide the range of cation names.
Format Data Labels -> Size and Properties -> Text Direction -> Rotate 90 degree
Select free form diagram from Insert -> Shapes -> Freeform. Click on the dots to connect them into the shape below.
Remove the gridlines. Copy the chart and paste it as an image. Then Format -> Rotate 90 degree.
To delete the point colors, right click on them and select color as white.
You can also add a horizontal axis to the chart by right-clicking -> axes -> Primary horizontal axis.
Your Stiff Diagram is ready to use.
