The dolphin would send an underwater message because the water is denser than air and therefore the sound would be louder and would travel faster. The denser the object the faster the sound travels.
I think the correct answer would be D. The tap water in the experiment is one the three test conditions of the independent variable, the type of water. The independent variable in a experiment is the one being manipulated or the one being changed. In this case, it is the type of water.
With the switch open, there's no current in the circuit, and therefore
no voltage drop across any of the dissipative elements (the resistor
or the battery's internal impedance). So the entire battery voltage
appears across the switch, and the voltmeter reads 12.0V .