Question

A group of students is investigating whether copper is a better thermal conductor than steel. The students take a copper wire and a steel wire of the same length and diameter. They put equal lengths of wax on one end of each wire and dip the other end into a beaker of hot water. The length of wax left on the wires after 10 minutes is shown.

Experimental Observations:
- Original length of wax
- Copper: 3 cm
- Steel: 3 cm
- Length of wax after 10 minutes
- Copper: 0.7 cm
- Steel: 1.8 cm
What was the dependent variable in this experiment?
a. Type of wire used
b. Original length of wire
c. Original length of wax
d. Thermal conductivity of wire

Answer 1

Actually, here’s more explaining for this question. In the given experiment, the students are investigating whether copper is a better thermal conductor than steel. To do this, they take a copper wire and a steel wire of the same length and diameter. They put equal lengths of wax on one end of each wire and dip the other end into a beaker of hot water. They then observe the length of wax left on the wires after 10 minutes.In this experiment, the dependent variable is the original length of wax. The reason for this is that the length of wax left on the wires after 10 minutes will vary depending on the thermal conductivity of the wire. The independent variables in this experiment are the type of wire used (copper or steel) and the original length of the wire. The students have control over these variables and can choose to use either copper or steel wire of the same length and diameter.The controlled variables in this experiment are the time for which the wire is dipped in the hot water and the temperature of the water. These variables are kept constant throughout the experiment to ensure that any changes in the length of wax can be attributed to the thermal conductivity of the wire and not to other factors. So, to summarize, the dependent variable in this experiment is the original length of wax, while the independent variables are the type of wire used and the original length of the wire. The controlled variables are the time for which the wire is dipped in the hot water and the temperature of the water. Therefore, option C is your answer.

Hope this helps!

-encey6915

Answer 2

Answer: Option c: original length of wax.

In an experiment, there are three types of variables: independent, dependent, controlled or constant.

Independent variables are the ones which do not change but can be changed by the scientist. dependent variables are the ones which change when the independent variables change. This is what a scientist observes. Constant variables are the conditions which are kept the same through out the experiment.

In the given experiment, the type of wire used, the length of the wire, thermal conductivity of the wire are independent variables. The time for which the wire is dipped in the hot water, the temperature of the water are controlled variables.

The original length of the wax is a dependent variable. This is because, as the wire is changed, depending upon the thermal conductivity of the wire, the original length of the wax changes.