A group of scientists are studying the effects of different fertilizers on the growth of pea plants. They began their study with 10 pea plants. They gave each plant a different type of fertilizer and tracked their growth over a period of 2 months. What’s the independent variable in this experiment?

AThe growth of the plants
BThe type of fertilizer
CThe amount of fertilizer
DThe plants

Verified Answer :

The answer is B. The type of fertilizer.


An independent variable is variable that is not affected in the
experiment. It is what experimenter controls. On the other side, a dependent
variable is called dependent because it depends on the independent variables.
It is what is affected during the experiment.

In this case, the growth of pea plants depends on different types of
fertilizer. So, the growth of pea plants is the dependent variable and different
type of fertilizer is the independent variable.