What are independent and dependent variables in science?

In: Physics, Psychology

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A mathematical equation is an expression that describes one variable as a function of the other.

An equation is a mathematical statement, in symbols, that two things are the same (or equivalent). Equations are written with an equal sign, as in y = 3x+7

In that equation, x is the independent variable, ie, it can independently assume any value that you want it to. y is the dependent variable, that is, it assumes values governed by the value of the independent variable and the equation.

so, in the equation y = 3x+7, x can assume any value like 0, 5 27, -10, whatever. y then assumes a value from the equation. For the examples above, y = 7, 22, 88, -27.

Now the dependent/independent roles are not fixed. The equation above can be rewritten to x = (y-7)/3. Now y is independent, x is dependent variable. we can assign y a value of 22 and solve for x = 5.

In science, an independent variable is the factor that you change, and the dependent variable is what changes due to the change you made.
eg. If you were doing an experiment such as "how does the amount of light a plant recieves affect it's growth"
The amount of light would be the independent variable
How tall it grows would be one of the dependent variables.

First answer by ID1206678028. Last edit by MissFrances. Contributor trust: 0 [recommend contributor]. Question popularity: 55 [recommend question]

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