Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Hi, I am beginning to conduct the "A Matter of Time' experiment and want to make sure of my variables. I am thinking that my dependent variable is time -- the time that is measured after analyzing the independent variable, which, I think in this case are the 3 main ways of measuring time: Standard, Solar, and Sidereal OR would my independent variable (s) be the Sidereal and Solar Time Clocks more specifically? Thanks for any help on this. Also, would I also need to specify that my variable (not independent or dependent) would simply be "time?"

Hi DC-Man,

The independent variable is the thing you change. In this project, you are changing what you use to measure time: standard, sidereal, and solar clocks. The dependent variable (the thing that you measure) will be the difference between the mean and local time, which you calculate in step 8 of the procedure.

Good luck! Post back if you have more questions.

Terik, Thank you very much.