C165 WGU Physics lesson 1

C165 WGU Physics lesson 1 What are the essential attributes of science? studies the natural world uses ideas that can be tested relies on data gathered from observations or experiments is presented for evaluation to others in the scientific community leads to further questions and research controlled experiment a scientist intentionally changes one quantity and observes how another quantity changes. What type of experiment is this? suppose you want to know how quickly different soil types will absorb water. You would get samples of different types of soil to compare. You would then add the same amount of water to each sample and measure how long it takes the water to be absorbed. You would use the same amount of soil and water for each test to be sure the only difference between your tests was the soil type. controlled experiment independent variable The experimental factor that is manipulated; the variable whose effect is being studied. It's what you change on purpose. Variables factors that can change in an experiment dependent variable The outcome factor; the variable that may change in response to manipulations of the independent variable. control variable The variable that scientists do not wish to study that needs to either be eliminated or kept constant