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Variable

The document defines key variables in experiments: 1) Independent variables are manipulated by the researcher and affect dependent variables. Common examples are types of fertilizer or popcorn brands. 2) Dependent variables are measured outcomes that change in response to independent variables. Examples include plant height or number of popcorn kernels popped. 3) Independent variables are always plotted on the x-axis of graphs, while dependent variables are plotted on the y-axis, making the relationship between variables clear.

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Reizel Joy Borja Rasona
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791 views10 pages

Variable

The document defines key variables in experiments: 1) Independent variables are manipulated by the researcher and affect dependent variables. Common examples are types of fertilizer or popcorn brands. 2) Dependent variables are measured outcomes that change in response to independent variables. Examples include plant height or number of popcorn kernels popped. 3) Independent variables are always plotted on the x-axis of graphs, while dependent variables are plotted on the y-axis, making the relationship between variables clear.

Uploaded by

Reizel Joy Borja Rasona
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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VARIABLES

■ Something you’re trying to measure.


■ It can be practically anything, such as objects, amounts of
time, feelings, events, or ideas.
■ If you’re studying how people feel about different television
shows, the variables in that experiment are television shows
and feelings.
■ If you’re studying how different types of fertilizer affect how
tall plants grow, the variables are type of fertilizer and plant
height.
Two Key Variables
■ The independent variable (sometimes known as the manipulated
variable) is the variable whose change isn’t affected by any other
variable in the experiment. Either the scientist has to change the
independent variable herself or it changes on its own; nothing else in the
experiment affects or changes it.

■ Two examples of common independent variables are age and


time. There’s nothing you or anything else can do to speed up or slow
down time or increase or decrease age. They’re independent of
everything else.
■ The dependent variable (sometimes known as the
responding variable) is what is being studied and
measured in the experiment.
■ It’s what changes as a result of the changes to the
independent variable.
■ An example of a dependent variable is how tall you
are at different ages. The dependent variable (height)
depends on the independent variable (age).
Examples of Independent and
Dependent Variables in Experiments
■ Experiment 1: You want to figure out which brand of microwave popcorn pops
the most kernels so you can get the most value for your money. You test
different brands of popcorn to see which bag pops the most popcorn kernels.

Independent Variable: Brand of popcorn bag (It’s the independent variable


because you are actually deciding the popcorn bag brands)

Dependent Variable: Number of kernels popped (This is the dependent


variable because it's what you measure for each popcorn brand)
■ Experiment 2: You want to see which type of
fertilizer helps plants grow fastest, so you add a
different brand of fertilizer to each plant and see how
tall they grow.

Independent Variable: Type of fertilizer given to


the plant
Dependent Variable: Plant height
■ Experiment 3: You’re interested in how rising sea temperatures
impact algae life, so you design an experiment that measures
the number of algae in a sample of water taken from a specific
ocean site under varying temperatures.

Independent Variable: Ocean temperature

Dependent Variable: The number of algae in the sample


■ For each of the independent variables above, it’s clear that they
can’t be changed by other variables in the experiment.

■ You have to be the one to change the popcorn and fertilizer


brands in Experiments 1 and 2, and the ocean temperature in
Experiment 3 cannot be significantly changed by other factors.

■ Changes to each of these independent variables cause the


dependent variables to change in the experiments.
Where Do You Put Independent and
Dependent Variables on Graphs?
■ Independent and dependent variables always go on the same
places in a graph. This makes it easy for you to quickly see
which variable is independent and which is dependent when
looking at a graph or chart.

■ The independent variable always goes on the x-axis, or the


horizontal axis. The dependent variable goes on the y-axis,
or vertical axis.
As you can see, this is a
graph showing how the
number of hours a student
studies affects the score she
got on an exam. From the
graph, it looks like studying
up to six hours helped her
raise her score, but as she
studied more than that her
score dropped slightly.

The amount of time studied is the independent variable, because it’s what
she changed, so it’s on the x-axis. The score she got on the exam is the
dependent variable, because it’s what changed as a result of the
independent variable, and it’s on the y-axis. It’s common to put the units
in parentheses next to the axis titles, which this graph does.

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