There are many cases where the choice of which variable to put on which axis has to do with ease of interpretation of the data. In meteorology, when plotting the state of the atmosphere at a particular time, it makes most sense to plot altitude (or pressure) on the vertical axis and temperature and dew point on the horizontal. This gives one a mental "snapshot" of the air above. Sticking with the dependent-independent rule would give the same information but would be less intuitive and harder to interpret.
Bob at PC
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From: phys-l-bounces@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu [phys-l-bounces@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu] on behalf of John Clement [clement@hal-pc.org]
Sent: Friday, January 13, 2012 12:13 AM
To: 'Forum for Physics Educators'
Subject: Re: [Phys-l] "Looking up" results on a graph
This is a difficult thing, and students often do not know which variable is
independent and which is dependent. I always tell students that this is a
good rule to follow if you do not have a good reason for putting specific
variables on a particular axis.