levitating magnets

[Jelman]

In the project for levitating magnets, what would be the scientific constants and variables for the project? Also, what would be the control, or the independent variable that is the most normal that you compare the others to? I think the IVs are the direction of the magnetic poles. Are there others? Thanks!

[Craig_Bridge]

You need to come up with a hypothesis first. This is a statement of what you think is true and you want to construct an experiment to prove or disprove it. Without a hypothesis, we can't know what your are trying to test/prove/disprove. The statement of a hypothesis will ususally provide a strong indication ow what the desired independent and dependent variables in an experiment are. Other factors that could influence the dependent variable must then be controlled in the experiment to eliminate their effect.

If you haven't come up with your hypothesis, take a look at several of the links on this page http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project_guide_index.shtml to better understand the scientific method, formulating your question, coming up with a hypothesis, etc.