Your family decides to take a long road trip for the summer. You will be riding in the car while it moves at a fairly constant rate for eight hours to reach your destination.
Record your answers to the questions about this road trip below.
1. Which quantity in this situation is the independent variable?
2. Which quantity is the dependent variable?
3. Describe how you know which is which in this situation.
1. The independent variable in this situation is the time it takes to reach the destination, measured in hours.
2. The dependent variable in this situation is the distance traveled, measured in miles.
3. In this situation, the time it takes to reach the destination is determined by the vehicle moving at a constant rate for eight hours. The distance traveled, on the other hand, depends on the time it takes to reach the destination. The time is the independent variable that we can control, while the distance traveled is the dependent variable that is affected by the time.