If Independent Variable The Dependent Variable. The independent variable is the one the experimenter controls. You want to compare brands of paper towels to see which holds the most liquid.
The independent variable in your experiment would be the brand of paper towel. A dependent variable cannot be manipulated by the experimenter as the changes are brought by the independent variables. Mostly in mathematical equations dependent variables are denoted by y.
An easy way to think of independent and dependent variables is when you re conducting an experiment the independent variable is what you change and the dependent variable is what changes because of that.
In this sense som. Dependent variables receive this name because in an experiment their values are studied under the supposition or hypothesis that they depend by some law or rule e g by a mathematical function on the values of other variables. You want to compare brands of paper towels to see which holds the most liquid. The independent variable is the one the experimenter controls.