To test whether a chemical found in many common plastic items is toxic, researchers fed different amounts of the chemical (from 0 to 20 micrograms) to mice and later performed a blood test to determine the amount of toxins present in each mouse.To create a scatterplot of the data, which variable should be listed on the x-axis?
A) independent variable, which is the amount of the chemical given to the mice
B) dependent variable, which is the amount of the chemical given to the mice
C) independent variable, which is the amount of toxins present in the blood test
D) dependent variable, which is the amount of toxins present in the blood test

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The independent variable is the amount of the chemical given to the mice, and this is what is being varied in the experiment. The dependent variable is the amount of toxins present in the blood test, which is being measured as a result of changing the amount of the chemical given. Therefore, the independent variable (amount of chemical) should be plotted on the x-axis and the dependent variable (amount of toxins) should be plotted on the y-axis.

To Test Whether a Chemical Found in Many Common Plastic