Independent Variable

An independent variable is a factor in an experiment or study that you change or control to see how it affects another variable. Think of it as the cause in a cause-and-effect relationship. For example, if you want to study how different amounts of sunlight affect plant growth, the amount of sunlight is the independent variable. By altering it, you can observe its impact on the plants, which would be the dependent variable. This helps researchers understand connections and draw conclusions based on their observations.