Question

derrick just got home from playing soccer on a muddy field. he is curious how different brands of laundry detergent compare in removing mud from clothes, so he sets up an experiment. in one laundry load, he puts his muddy socks with brand a detergent. in the next load, he puts his muddy jersey with brand b detergent. in the final load, he puts his muddy shorts with brand c detergent. afterward, he noticed that the jersey came out the cleanest. he concludes that brand b is the best detergent for removing mud from clothes. is his conclusion valid? a. yes, the experiment was set up correctly. b. no, there were too many variables in the experiment. c. no, there were too many controls in the experiment. d. no, derrick was biased toward brand b.

Explanation:

In a valid experiment to compare detergents, variables like type of clothing should be controlled. Here, different types of clothing (socks, jersey, shorts) were used with different detergents, introducing multiple variables. This makes it hard to determine if the cleanliness is due to the detergent or the type of clothing.

Answer:

B. No, there were too many variables in the experiment.