helppp! gosh i am so irritated and lost?

Question

i have a prject, a very easy project.
i boiled the same amount of water in the same pan, on the same stove.
i boiled distilled water and tap water.
i learned that distilled water boils faster
my hypothisis is "i predict that distilled water will boil faster that tap water when subject to the same amount of heat"

what would be the independent and dependent variable, and what would be the controls
????????????????????

Answer 1

The independent variable is the amount of heat added.
The dependent variable is time it takes to boil.
The control is a little tricky and almost sounds silly, but you would leave a pan of water( distilled or tap) somewhere else in the room(not on a stove). After the main pan boils you check the control to see if anything happened to it.

A scientific control augments integrity in experiments by isolating variables as dictated by the scientific method in order to make a conclusion about such variables. In a controlled experiment, two virtually identical experiments are conducted. In one of them, the treatment, the factor being tested is applied. In the other, the control, the factor being tested is not applied. Effects of the treatment are isolated by comparing outcomes in the two cases.

Here's the link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_control

Answer 2

Variables could be the heat of the stove. Was it electric or were you able to control the elements? Or was it gas and there could have been slight differences in the heat level?
Controls? Sounds as though you had them in place - same volume, same pan, same stove.

Answer 3

You should have known what your variables were before you did the experiment.
This situation is unusual in that you don't have one "true" independent variable.