Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Hello!

For my science fair, I am doing the "What Makes Ice Melt Fastest" project. I was a bit confused on forming my variables.

Here is my project link: https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... ml#summary

For my Independent variable, I put "I would be changing what I put on the ice: sand, sugar, and salt. I don't know what to put for the dependent. I read the definition. For my controls, I put "the amount of sand, sugar, and salt being put on the ice cubes.

Is this correct and what do I do about the dependent variable?

Thanks,
Mandy

Hello Mandy,

An independent variable is something that you as the scientist change in an experiment so that you can observe a response in a dependent variable. You’re on the right track with the independent variable in your project. It’s the materials that you put on the ice cubes.

What are you measuring after you put the different materials on the ice cubes? That is your dependent variable.

A controlled variable (or a constant) is something that is kept the same throughout the experiment. As you pointed out, one controlled variable in your experiment is the amount of material put on the ice cubes. Another one is the refrigerator in which the ice cubes are kept during the experiment. You may be able to list a few more controlled variables.

There’s a nice tutorial about variables here:

https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... bles.shtml


I hope this helps. Please post again if you have more questions.

A. Norman