Dependent Variable

examples of independent and dependent variables

examples of independent and dependent variables


They are mathematical or statistical tools that help one have control over an experiment by keeping track of the values in the experiment so that they can be able to draw up its results. Variables are any changing quantities that cause something to vary in a predictable way. They can be different amounts or types of factors, attributes, and or conditions.

For example, it can be numbers/amount, age, time span, type, etc. An independent variable, as the name suggests, stands alone and is not changed by any other variable in your experiment. For example, an experiment is studying the growth rate of a plant when exposed to sunlight for 10 hours (plant A) and the growth rate when the plant (plant B) is exposed to half the sunlight, 5 hours a day.

The independent variable will be the one that you determine or control i.e. the daily exposure time to sunlight. The dependent variable on the other hand 'depends' on the independent variable and factors and cannot be controlled by the experimenter, and in this case it is the growth rate of the plant.

These variables work together to draw up the conclusion of your experiment as you will be able to study the effect of daylight (independent) on the plant growth rate (dependent). In other words, antecedent variable is consequential. Basically, the independent variable will be the factors that are manipulated so that variable is measured to see how manipulation the independent variable had effects on the experiment. This kind of experiment is usually called the 'cause and effect' experiments. For our little experiment here, it determines the cause and effect of sunlight on plant growth rate by comparing plant A and plant B and drawing conclusion over their independent and dependent variables.

Tags: Dependent Variables, Independent Variables, Science Terms, Science Definitions,

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