an independent variable is the variable that is changed or controlled in an experiment or observation to test the effects on the dependent variable
a dependent variable is variable being tested and measured in a scientific experiment
in this case, the number of help desk tickets closed out is dependent on the number of hours the individual works so y is the number of tickets closed (dependent variable). The number of tickets closed of will be 4 multiplied by the number of hours worked i.e. y=4x
