Question

Two groups wanted to determine which size of parachute, when released, fell to the ground the slowest. Each group's design and results are shown in the table below.
Each group designed their parachutes as follows:
Design and Results by Group

Group 1
6 20 cm pieces of string
1 50 g package
24 cm round plastic parachute

Results
6 seconds
Group 2
6 20 cm pieces of string
1 50 g package
12 cm round plastic parachute

Results
3 seconds

Which of the following explains why this exercise represents a carefully designed experiment?

A.
They used the same mass of package in all the trials.
B.
They altered only one variable in their design and testing.
C.
They used the same materials when making each parachute.
D.
They confirmed that the smaller the parachute, the faster it falls.

Answer 1

The correct answer is B) They altered only one variable in their design and testing.