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Dependent Variable ?
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Dependent Variable ?
by luma007 » Mon Nov 26, 2012 1:54 pm
Hello. My child is doing his science fair project on which disinfectant works best : natural vs chemical. He used slimy bologna on a cutting board and took samples of several disinfectants and observed which disinfectant had the fewest bacterial colonies on several petri dishes with agar. We know that the independent variable is the disinfectant, but what is his dependent variable? Thank you!
- luma007
- Posts: 2
- Joined: Mon Nov 26, 2012 1:04 pm
- Occupation: parent
- Project Question: Hello. My son is doing his science fair project on "which disinfectants work best?" He added his own twist to it by comparing the effectiveness of natural disinfectants against chemical disinfectants. We know that the independent variable is the disinfectant being used, but what is the dependent variable? Thanks so much!
- Project Due Date: 11/28/12
- Project Status: I am finished with my experiment and analyzing the data
Re: Dependent Variable ?
by klhjbh62604 » Mon Nov 26, 2012 4:25 pm
Hello luma007:
What a great project for a young student. Way to teach a child the need to clean surfaces.
You are correct in that the disinfectants are the independent variable.
The dependent variable represents the output - in this case it would be the slime of the bologna that would be on the cutting board. You are testing the disinfectants on their ability to clean the slime off the cutting board.
I hope this helps.
klhjbh62604
What a great project for a young student. Way to teach a child the need to clean surfaces.
You are correct in that the disinfectants are the independent variable.
The dependent variable represents the output - in this case it would be the slime of the bologna that would be on the cutting board. You are testing the disinfectants on their ability to clean the slime off the cutting board.
I hope this helps.
klhjbh62604
- klhjbh62604
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- Project Question: Ask the Expert Volunteer.
- Project Due Date: n/a
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Re: Dependent Variable ?
by luma007 » Tue Nov 27, 2012 10:14 am
Thank you so much for your response. Would it also be correct to say that the dependent variable is the number of bacterial colonies formed?
- luma007
- Posts: 2
- Joined: Mon Nov 26, 2012 1:04 pm
- Occupation: parent
- Project Question: Hello. My son is doing his science fair project on "which disinfectants work best?" He added his own twist to it by comparing the effectiveness of natural disinfectants against chemical disinfectants. We know that the independent variable is the disinfectant being used, but what is the dependent variable? Thanks so much!
- Project Due Date: 11/28/12
- Project Status: I am finished with my experiment and analyzing the data
- drowningfish
- Expert
- Posts: 46
- Joined: Wed Aug 18, 2010 4:10 pm
- Occupation: Student: College First Year
- Project Question: n/a
- Project Due Date: n/a
- Project Status: Not applicable
Re: Dependent Variable ?
by Megara7 » Sun Dec 23, 2012 4:32 pm
Just so you, and other people know, the dependent variable will always be what you measured in the experiment.
I hope his helps!
Meg
I hope his helps!
Meg
“Nobody important? Blimey, that’s amazing. You know that in nine hundred years of time and space and I’ve never met anybody who wasn’t important before.”
— The Eleventh Doctor
— The Eleventh Doctor
- Megara7
- Expert
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