Answer:
The difference between the independent and dependent variable is that the independent variable is the cause, while the dependent variable is the effect.
Step-by-step explanation:
Imagine a cause and effect scenario. For example, Chris went gambling for 6 hours, and he lost $1,000. The time spent gambling (6 hours) is the independent variable, while the money lost gambling ($1,000) is the dependent variable because you can't lose the money if you never went gambling. The independent variable is the variable that is changed, i.e fertilizer 'x' in an experiment, the dependent variable is the variable affected by this change in the independent variable, i.e fertilizer 'x' affected a plant to grow 'y' amount.