Question

consider the scenario. a scientist sets up an experiment to see how sugar in the diet of rats affects their weight. the scientist feeds one group of rats a diet high in sugar, another group a diet of moderate sugar levels, and a third group a diet low in sugar. all of the rats in the experiment are the same species and age and start the experiment at a healthy weight. the rats also receive the same kind of sugar. what is the independent variable? weight of the rats age of the rats type of sugar amount of sugar

Explanation:

To determine the independent variable, we recall that the independent variable is the factor that is manipulated or changed in an experiment to observe its effect on the dependent variable. In this experiment, the scientist is changing the amount of sugar in the rats' diets (high, moderate, low) to see its effect on the rats' weight. The weight of the rats is the dependent variable (what is being measured). The age of the rats, type of sugar, and other factors like species, age, and kind of sugar are kept constant (controlled variables). So the independent variable is the amount of sugar.

Answer:

amount of sugar