A scientist testing the effects of a chemical on apple yield sprays an orchard with the chemical. A second orchard does not rece
ive the chemical. In the fall, the number of apples harvested from each forest is counted. Which of the following is the independent variable in the experiment?
1.the amount of water that each orchard receives
2. the species of trees in the orchard
3.the number of apples that are produced by each tree
4.the size of each of the orchards
An independent variable is the one whose quantity or specification is varied during an experiment in order to test the impact of the variation of independent variable on the dependent variable. From the description provided it is clear that the yield of apple is the dependent variable while the chemical is the independent variable. The application of chemical is varied on the two sets of apple gardens.
