Science experiment help?

Question

well, i have to prove which surface a ping pong ball bounces highest on. So im going use to same ping pong ball, the same height its going to be dropped from and obviously different surfaces its going to be dropped on.

What would be the dependent variable, independent variable and controlled variable? thanks!

Answer 1

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker

Dependant variable- what is being measured in the experiment. so it would be how high the ping pong ball bounces.

Independent variable- What is being changed in the experiment. So it would be the surface that the ping pong ball is hitting. Since that is what your changing

Controlled variable- I'm not sure if what you meant is the constant variable but if it is its what stays the same or is not changed. So in this case it would be the ping pong ball and the height its being dropped from.

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Science Projects I have done

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Asker's Comment:

thankyou. Easy and simple. =)

Answer 2

independent variable is the surface you change. dependent variable is how high it bounces on each surface. not sure what you could use as a control sorry

Answer 3

The dependent variable is the variable that you measure.
That's the height that the pingpong ball bounces.
The independent variable is the variable you are changing.
That's the type of surface that you are dropping the ball on.
The controlled variable would probably be a normal ping-ping table surface.
Hope I helped! :)

Source(s):

I have covered the scientific method every year in my schooling

Answer 4

The dependent variables are those measurements or characteristics that change when other variables are changed. Dependent variables are limited by each other. In this experiment you are told that the height your ball bounces is dependent upon the surface you use.

Independent variables are not changed by other variables. For example, the height your ball bounces is independent of the time of day during which you run the experiment and the surface you use is not affected by the ball you dropped.

Control variables are things that you, the experimenter, control or keep constant for each run of the experiment, such as the materials, amounts being prescribed.

It's unclear what your teacher defines an independent variable as. Not all experiments have independent variables, but they all have control and dependent variables. You can control dependent and independent variables. Experiments are made to measure dependent variables and learn to predict dependent quantities. If you find that a variable doesn't change as you change your control variables, then that variable is independent.

Sometimes sources will say that independent variables are the ones that the experimenter controls. This definition is misleading. Not all control variables are independent variables. A good experiment should try to control all the independent variables possible.

Source(s):

http://www.gifted.uconn.edu/siegle/research/Variables/variablenotes.htm, http://www.lhup.edu/sboland/independent_and_dependent_variab.htm