For a party, Leon made a pan pizza from scratch. The number of squares he cuts the pizza into will depend on the number of people attending the potluck. $\newline$ $s =$ the number of squares Leon cuts the pizza into $\newline$ $p =$ the number of people attending the potluck $\newline$ Which of the variables is independent and which is dependent? $\newline$ Choices: $\newline$ (A) $s$ is the independent variable and $p$ is the dependent variable $\newline$ (B) $p$ is the independent variable and $s$ is the dependent variable

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Math Problems

Grade 8

Identify independent and dependent variables

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Q. For a party, Leon made a pan pizza from scratch. The number of squares he cuts the pizza into will depend on the number of people attending the potluck.

\newline

s =

the number of squares Leon cuts the pizza into

\newline

p =

the number of people attending the potluck

\newline

Which of the variables is independent and which is dependent?

\newline

Choices:

\newline

(A)

s

is the independent variable and

p

is the dependent variable

\newline

(B)

p

is the independent variable and

s

is the dependent variable

Define Variables: In this scenario, we need to determine the relationship between the two variables: the number of squares ( $s$ ) and the number of people attending the potluck ( $p$ ). The independent variable is the one that is chosen freely or controlled by the experimenter, while the dependent variable is the one that depends on the independent variable.
Identify Relationship: Leon decides how many squares to cut the pizza into based on the number of people attending the potluck. Therefore, the number of people $p$ is the factor that influences how many squares $s$ the pizza will be cut into. This means that the number of squares is dependent on the number of people.
Determine Independence: Since the number of squares depends on the number of people, $p$ is the independent variable and $s$ is the dependent variable. The independent variable ( $p$ ) is chosen without any dependence on the other variable, and the dependent variable ( $s$ ) changes in response to the independent variable.