A student adds different amounts of ice to four samples of water and records the change in temperature after 30 minutes. What is the independent variable in this investigation?
1. Initial temperature
2. Ice cubes added
3. Final temperature
4. Amount of time
2. Ice cubes added
The independent variable in this investigation is option 2, "Ice cubes added." This is the variable that the student is intentionally changing or manipulating.
The independent variable in this investigation is the variable that the student purposely changes or manipulates. It is the factor that the student controls in order to observe its effect on the dependent variable.
In this case, the student is adding different amounts of ice to each sample of water. These different amounts of ice cubes are the variable that the student is intentionally changing. Therefore, the independent variable in this investigation is option 2: Ice cubes added.