Suppose you want to test the hypothesis that plants grow taller when they receive more sunlight. Identify and independent variable and a dependent variable for this investigation.

The result that should be established is in the form

y = f (x)

where x, the amount of sunlight is the controlled (independent) variable,

y = height (growth) that corresponds to the amount of sunlight. Therefore y depends on x.

Clearly,

x, the amount of sunlight is the independent variable. It can be controlled.

y, the measured amount of growth is the dependent variable.

Answer:

The independent variable is the amount of sunlight.

The dependent variable is the growth.