As we move downward, the percentage of A decreases and becomes zero on the line BC. We have removed the scales of B and C.Īt point A, the composition (or abundance) of A is maximum, equal to 100%. The figure below consists only of substance A. In subsequent sections, we will break the ternary plot into three separate skeletons according to the compositions. You will understand this better as you read the subsequent text. That’s because the sum of the compositions of A, B, and C at any point on the triangle is always constant. Note: Although there are three scales, we only need two compositions to represent a point on the diagram. The three different scales are nothing but sides of the triangle. We have three different scales to measure each of the three compositions. In the same way, point B and point C represent 100% of B and 100% of C, respectively. In the above diagram, point A represents 100% of substance A. Three vertices of the triangle represent three pure substances. Let’s move forward to details.Īs a ternary diagram represents three different substances, it is a three-dimensional plot drawn on a two-dimensional plane. Now, you have understood some basics of a ternary diagram. In the following text, we will continue with equilateral triangles only since they are most commonly used and easy to understand. However, you can do that with a non-equilateral triangle too. Here, we have taken an equilateral triangle, which is very common, to represent compositional data. These alphabets represent three different substances.Ī ternary diagram is always a triangle with each of its three corners representing a pure substance. A typical example of a ternary diagramĪs we can see, each of the three corners of a triangle is labeled by alphabets: A, B, and C. They are mainly used to study compositional data for a mixture of three different substances.īelow is an example of a typical ternary diagram. Ternary diagrams or ternary plots are very common in chemical engineering, physical chemistry, metallurgy, genetics (de Finetti diagram), and other physical sciences.