Question

A scientist is observing a sample of a radioactive substance. The table below shows the amount of the radioactive substance remaining, in milligrams, with respect to time, in hours, since the scientist began observing the sample. Time (hours) 1 2 3 4 5 Amount Remaining (milligrams) 288 144 72 36 18 The independent variable in the relationship is the and should be placed on the . The dependent variable in the relationship is the and should be placed on the .

Answer 1

Independent y Dependent x

Answer 2

The independent variable in the relationship is Time and should be placed on the x-axis.

The dependent variable in the relationship is amount remaining and should be placed on the y-axis.

Explanation:

We are given table as:

Time (hours) : 1 2 3 4 5

Amount Remaining (milligrams): 288 144 72 36 18

As we know that here we have the observation of the amount of the radioactive element depending on the time.

This means that the amount of radioactive remaining is noted with respect to time and hence the independent variable will be time and the dependent variable will be amount of radioactive element remaining.

Also, the x-axis is generally used to represent the independent variable and y-axis is generally used to represent the dependent variable.