Biology Question... Probably really simple.?

Question

Ok I'm not that bright...

A team of biology students investigate the relationship between temperature and number of cells for 3 differnet groups of cultured cells. What is the Independent and the dependent variable?

thanxs :D

Answer 1

I think temp. would be the independent, because the number of cells depend on the temp.

Answer 2

Rather than give the answer, I'll give you a way to solve the problem...

One way to look at any question like this is that the independent variable is the variable that the people doing the experiment are actually changing. The dependent variable is the variable that is the result of the change the researcher makes.

So ask yourself...
1) Are the students changing the temperature to see what the resulting number of cells will be?

2) Are the students changing the number of cells to see what the resulting temperature will be?

Another way to think of this type of problem is that the DEPENDENT variable DEPENDS on the INDEPENDENT variable.

If you can think in these terms, you can solve this question and any others like it that may be on a test.

Answer 3

Independent variable is always the part of the experiment that you have changed in order to see what happens. In this case, it's the temperature.

Dependent variable is what you measure, count, or observe -- the results. It's called this because it all depends on what you did to that particular group. In this case, it's the number of cells. (That's the result, and IT ALL DEPENDS on what temperature you decided to test.)

Answer 4

Independent:Temperature
Dependent: Number of cells

Remember, the dependent is affected by the independent; the independent is usually the one that changes and the dependant changes as a result of that change. Hope I helped and didn't confuse you too much. Good luck with Bio. :*)

Answer 5

Independent is the temperature and the dependent are they cells.