Identifying Variables in an Experiment

Question 1

Rob is in charge of waxing the floor at the local mall. He wants to test a new brand of floor wax called Squeaky Clean. Rob waxes 20 floor tiles with Squeaky Clean and 20 tiles with the original wax brand. After one week he counts the number of scratches on the floor. What is the independent variable?

1. number of floor scratches
2. brand of floor wax
3. 20 tiles with original brand wax

Answer:

The correct answer is - brand of floor wax.

In this scenario, the independent variable is the brand of floor wax, the dependent variable is the number of floor scratches, and the control is the 20 tiles with the original brand wax.

The independent variable in this scenario is the brand of floor wax because it is the variable Rob is testing to see how it affects the number of floor scratches. The dependent variable is the number of floor scratches because it is what Rob is measuring to see the effect of the wax brands. The control in this experiment is the 20 tiles with the original brand wax because it represents the standard or normal condition to compare with the new brand of floor wax.