Independent variable could be the number (or spacing or size) of the laces and the dependant variable is distance. Possibly levels of the independent variable could be ranges of number of laces.
Chat with our AI personalities
At a constant rate: distance = time x speed Since you are calculating the distance based on the other two numbers, I would say that distance is the dependent variable (it is based on the values of the other variables).
yes. usually you will work with an equal amount of dependent and independent variables. (ie, one dependent variable for every independent variable, and such that there is some kind of relationship between each..) If only. Usually a variable depends on many other variables. Such as, the price of a house depends on its size, number of rooms, distance to schools, age, windows etc.
The independent variable is one that does not depend on the other variable. A dependent variable "depends" on the other variable. Think about the distance traveled by a car over time. You have two variables in that, time and distance. Now think about which depends on the other. Does time depend on distance? No. Time will keep going even if the car stops. Does distance depend on time? Yes. The more time that goes on, the more distance is traveled. So distance is the dependent variable, because it depends on time. Time is the independent variable because it doesn't depend on distance.
The answer depends on the context. A variable can be independent in some studies but dependent in others. Time can be an independent variable in distance-time or speed-time studies but the time (to failure of a component) is a dependent variable. Perhaps confusingly, the same two variables can swap places depending upon the context. Suppose I believe that healthier people are taller (their growth is less likely to be stunted by illnesses) then my independent variable is some measure of their health and the dependent variable is their height. If instead, I believe that taller people are healthier (their parents must have had good genes) then the independent variable is height and the dependent is health.
Independent variables do not depend on any other. Like when you count something with time, the time is independent. If you measure the elevation of a road with distance, the distance is independent.